No-Bake Cherry Dessert is not only refreshing, but it’s also low-carb and a diabetic-friendly dessert.
If you are like me, you love a great recipe that is perfect for my waistline. Well, let me tell ya, this recipe is one you will want to keep on hand. It’s so easy to make, it’s low-carb and diabetic-friendly. Plus, you can easily tweak it to be any flavor you’d like. How’s that for a winning recipe?
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This recipe requires only 3 ingredients: sugar-free gelatin, reduced-fat cream cheese, and lite whipped topping. You can easily change the flavor of this tasty dessert by simply using a different flavor of gelatin. For this particular recipe, I used cherry-flavored gelatin.
You can literally whip this dessert up in a matter of minutes but it will need to set-up in the refrigerator for a while. I love a great “make-ahead” dessert and this one is perfect for anyone on a low-carb diet. It’s also wonderful to have on hand for whenever unexpected company drops by.
When ready to serve, cut into pie-shaped pieces. Optional – garnish with a dollop of sugar-free cherry or vanilla yogurt and fresh fruit. (Remember that any additional toppings may add more carbs & calories.)
This no-bake cherry dessert is so refreshing on a hot summer day. Make several different flavors for your friends and family: peach, strawberry, strawberry-banana, lime, blueberry, etc… So many options!
No-Bake Cherry Dessert
A delicious, low-carb, guilt-free, make-ahead dessert.
Ingredients
- 2 cups lite whipped topping, thawed (GF Option: use a gluten-free brand)
- 1 (8-ounce) package fat-free cream cheese, softened
- 1 (4-serving) package sugar-free cherry gelatin (or any flavor of your choice) (GF Option: use a gluten-free brand)
- 1/2 cup boiling water
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, cream together the whipped topping and cream cheese until smooth.
- Sprinkle the gelatin mix into the boiling water and stir until dissolved; cool until room temperature. Add gelatin mixture to the cream cheese mixture; stir until well combined.
- Pour mixture into a pie pan and chill for at least two hours, or until set.
- Serve.
Since presentation is always important, be sure to serve your dessert on cute dessert plates!
Enjoy!
Linda
More great no-bake recipes:
Elizabeth says
hey i want to make this for my dad he is diabetic and has hart problems can you tell me the nutrients facts please.
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
Hi Elizabeth,
I’m sorry but we don’t have that information.
Take care,
Linda
Samantha says
I will be attending a social gathering that is slated to run for about 2.5 hours. Is this something I could reasonably make in advance and have out of the refrigerator or would it disintegrate? Think it would work cut into squares rather than a pie? Thanks so much.
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
Hi Samantha,
Yes, this recipe should work well since it can be made the day beforehand. I really can’t answer your question regarding setting out for 2.5 hours because I have never done that. I suppose it depends on how warm the room is. If you are able to place it in a cooler spot, it should work but obviously keeping it chilled is best. Just a thought… I wonder if you can place ice into the bottom of a dish then place your pie pan with the dessert on top of the ice. That may help keep it cold enough. Yes, you can cut it into squares rather than pie shapes. Good luck! Linda
Thanks says
I really enjoyed reading your blog. Thanks for sharing your recipes and taking the time to respond to so many comments. That’s quite impressive! I hope that you will continue to stay encouraged while helping others.
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
Thank you! 🙂
Nancy Nichols says
How Manny carbs on you receipts?
Especially the cheese cake…that’s the whole point to know your car count
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
Hi Nancy,
If you scroll down through the comments, you’ll find we have several discussions regarding your question. But, here is what I have found: One recipe should make 8 servings. When I plugged the ingredients into a recipe analyzer this is what came up: Serving Size 58 g – Amount Per Serving: Calories 181 Calories from Fat 117 % Daily Value* Total Fat 13.0g Saturated Fat 9.4g Trans Fat 0.0g Cholesterol 31mg Sodium 86mg Potassium 34mg Total Carbohydrates 10.2g Sugars 3.2g Protein 3.1g
Amy left the following comment, “Also, for those who are calculating Nutrition-if you use reduced fat cream cheese, regular whipped topping, and sugar-free gelatin you should come up with 4 carbs I believe.” Hope this helps!
Have a great day!
Linda
Karin Knapp says
I have gestational diabetes and was kind of dreading Easter and all the candy and the desserts at our large family gathering. But then I made this dessert and it was amazing! I was not deprived one bit, that’s for sure!! I used peach Jello and added some raspberries on top! Thanks so much for the recipe!!
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
Hi Karin,
I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe and that you modified it to suit your individual taste. There are many combinations of flavors that would be yummy, but the peach Jello with raspberries sounds pretty amazing! 🙂 Thank you for stopping by and leaving a message. I’m thrilled that you had a special treat that you could enjoy during the Easter season. Have a wonderful day! Linda
Stephanie says
How much whipped topping are you considering 2 cups? Measuring out 2 cups with a measuring cup? Because you show an 8 oz container of whipped topping and there are 8 oz in a cup so just wondering if I should have used 2 containers of whipped topping?! Mine tastes mainly like eating a cream cheese block so wondering if I didn’t understand it right! I have gestational diabetes and baby brain so it’s highly possible I’m just having a blonde moment!!
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
Hi Stephanie,
I use 2 cups (16 ounces) of whipped topping, however, please feel free to modify this recipe according to your individual tastes.
Thank you for stopping by and I hope you try this recipe again sometime.
Have a wonderful day!
Linda
Vickie says
can I put this in a graham cracker crust
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
Hi Vickie,
Sure, give it a try! Happy Thanksgiving!
Linda
Ashley says
I followed this to the T the first time I made it, for a coworker with gestational diabetes, she loved it!! As well as most other coworkers, except one…she likes to give me a hard time, and she said it had that “fake sugar”…that didn’t stop the other girls from trying it!
Today I made it in single serving clear 9oz solo cups (to have as a dessert when we go have dinner with my family who are out camping). Except…I made one batch of lime and one of raspberry…layered coursely smashed graham cracker on the bottom then layered the lime flavor first (I tried my hand at piping it in with a ziploc bag…I won’t quit my day job). Then I layered/piped the raspberry on second then popped them in the fridge for 10min then got back out and sprinkled more graham cracker on top to make them look more appealing, since my piping skills are suboptimal!
I am hopeful everyone will love it!
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
Hi Ashley,
I’m so glad to hear that your friend enjoyed this recipe. It’s always fun tweaking recipes and trying new ideas so I’m also glad that you have experimented with other flavors and adding graham crackers. My daughter and I modify recipes all the time in order to make them gluten-free and we encourage others to do the same to suit their taste and dietary needs.
Have fun and thanks for leaving us a note!
Linda
Beatriz says
Hello !! Do you think it would work without the whipped cream ?
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
Hi Beatriz,
Yes, this recipe should work ok with whipped cream. It would certainly be worth a try anyway. If you do try it, please let me know how it turns out.
Take care,
Linda
Beatriz says
I will,
Thank you xxx
Deb says
Tried your No-Bake Cherry Dessert and absolutely loved it! Thank you so much. Very smooth, creamy & decadent. I had to try some other combinations and someone asked about pudding. I tried sugar free chocolate fudge instant pudding mixed it with 1/2 cup low fat milk and combined it with the already mixed cream cheese & whipped topping, let it set and dug in! Wow! Truly quilt free & a chocolate lovers dream! Again, thank you.????
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
Hi Deb!
Hey, thanks so much for stopping by and leaving us a note. I am thrilled that you loved this dessert and appreciate you letting me know about the chocolate pudding combo. It sounds delicious and I want to try it myself sometime. Sounds scrumptious!
Thanks again and have a great day!
Linda
minaharker says
Can I put thawed cherries in it too? 🙂
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
Sure, you can certainly try adding thawed cherries. Just be sure they are thoroughly drained or I’m afraid the extra liquid will make final product too runny.
Enjoy!
Linda
Glynis says
Which would be the best flavors to use?
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
Hi, Glynis,
I think any flavor would work well, although my favorites are cherry, strawberry, raspberry.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy this recipe.
Linda
Amy says
Hello! Just to make sure…you only use hot water to dissolve the gelatin and NO cold water?
Also, for those who are calculating nutrition-if you use reduced fat cream cheese, regular whipped topping and sugar free gelatin you should come up with 4 carbs I believe. Extra creamy whip topping has more carbs and so does fat free cream cheese as I checked when I bought the products since I’m on a low carb (30g/day) diet. Just fyi ????
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
Hi, Amy!
You are correct. Just use the 1/2 cup boiling water ONLY.
Thanks for the tip regarding the ingredients to make the recipe only 4 carbs. That’s really good info to know!
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy this recipe.
Linda
Crystal says
I’m new to the Keto lifestyle and want to give this a whirl. Are you saying this would be 4 carbs for the whole thing or 4 carbs for each slice if you cut it into 8 slices? Trying to break down the nutrition value for 8 slices particularly. Thanks!
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
HI Crystal,
I believe it is 4 g carbs per slice but maybe Amy can confirm this for us.
Linda 🙂
Emma says
Is the gelatin imperative to having this set properly? I’m curious about trying it with pudding mix in place of jello mix, but I’m somewhat concerned that will end up being too sloppy of a consistency to retain shape. TIA!
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
Hi Emma,
I am not sure how this recipe would turn out using pudding in place of gelatin. I would think that a product containing a thickening agent would work, however I’m not sure about the proportions. I am always tweaking and adapting recipes to suit my specific dietary needs, so I would encourage you to go for it. The end result may be more like a mousse than anything, but I bet it would taste good at the same time. If it flops, you can always freeze your creation and make a milkshake with it! Who knows… you might just develop a fabulous new recipe! 🙂
If you do try using pudding, please drop us an note and let us know how it turned out.
Have fun!
Linda
Susan says
Is Nutri -Whip ok to use.Also, do you have any eggless recipes?
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
Hi Susan,
I sorry but I am not familiar with Nutri-Whip. Is is similar to Cool Whip? Where do you purchase it? We may have some recipes that do not call for eggs that might work for you. What type of eggless recipes are you looking for?
Thanks!
Linda
Kristen says
How many carbs is in a slice ?
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
Hi Kristen,
One recipe should make 8 servings. When I plugged the ingredients into a recipe analyzer this is what came up: Serving Size 58 g –
Amount Per Serving: Calories 181 Calories from Fat 117 % Daily Value* Total Fat 13.0g Saturated Fat 9.4g Trans Fat 0.0g Cholesterol 31mg
Sodium 86mg Potassium 34mg Total Carbohydrates 10.2g Sugars 3.2g Protein 3.1g Based on a 2000 caloric diet
Feel free to switch out the lite Cool Whip for sugar free Cool Whip if that help with the end results.
If you have access to another recipe analyzer you can double check these results.
Enjoy!
Linda
rk says
Looks delicious! I am wondering if there are gelatin free products that I can use as substitutes? Any ideas pls? I am a vegetarian and would like to avoid gelatin made from calf bones…thanks in advance for any advice.
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
Hi rk,
Here are a few ideas for you.
http://www.wikihow.com/Find-Gelatin-Substitutes-for-Vegetarians
http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/vegetarian-substitutes-gelatin-4169.html
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/131067/vegan-gelatin/
Hope you can find something that will work for you.
Good luck!
Linda
Judith says
Have you tried this recipes with any other favors of sugar free jello?
Judith says
Flavors*
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
Hi Judith,
I made Frosty Key Lime Treats that are similar https://blessedbeyondcrazy.com/frosty-key-lime-treats/ and they were super yummy!
I suggest you try your favorite flavor of sugar free jello (in place of cherry) and see what you think.
Have fun!
Linda
Maggie Carter says
What’s the consistence of this ? Is this like fudge ? And, If it doesn’t Do you have any low cal, sugar free fudge recipe with similar ingredients or something ?
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
Hey Maggie,
The consistency of this No-Bake Cherry Dessert is fairly dense, yet creamy all at the same time. Imagine taking a bite of the three combined chilled ingredients: cream cheese, whipped topping and thicken jello. When you take a bite, it becomes creamy and kind of melts in your mouth as it warms up. It may be compared to a fudge-like consistency I guess, but it isn’t exactly like it either. As of right now, this is the only recipe that we have that I can think of that may be close to what are looking for.
If you truly do want a fudge recipe, I suggest you do a search on Pinterest for low cal, sugar free fudge recipes. There are several that are available and perhaps one of those will be a good fit for your needs.
I hope I have answered your question!
Enjoy,
Linda
Maggie Carter says
Hi, I was wondering if you got the 2 cups of cool whip out of the 1 package pictured
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
Hi Maggie,
Yes, I did obtain the 2 cups of Cool Whip from an 8 ounce carton. Here is a link from the Kraft website that states: “Actually, there are approximately 3-1/4 cups of whipped topping per 8 ounce tub. The 8 ounce tub is a measurement of the weight of the tub, not the amount IN the tub.”
You can go to the link to read more: http://kraftfoods.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/339
Thanks for stopping by and leaving us a note. We hope that you enjoy this recipe as much as we do.
Linda
Sharon says
Do you need the cup of hot water?
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
Hi Sharon,
So sorry for the confusion. I just updated the recipe. We had a glitch in our blog server a few weeks ago so we updated to a new format/theme and in turn, that forced us to also update each of our post.
This recipe does call for 1/2 cup hot water to dissolve the gelatin. If you look at the post again it will give you the exact directions.
Thanks so much for you patience!
Hope you enjoy this recipe!
Linda
Jennifer says
How many calories please and how much is a serving? Counting calories with good results but love sweets lol.
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
Hi Jennifer,
One recipe should make 8 servings. When I plugged the ingredients into a recipe analyzer this is what came up: Serving Size 58 g –
Amount Per Serving: Calories 181 Calories from Fat 117 % Daily Value* Total Fat 13.0g Saturated Fat 9.4g Trans Fat 0.0g Cholesterol 31mg
Sodium 86mg Potassium 34mg Total Carbohydrates 10.2g Sugars 3.2g Protein 3.1g Based on a 2000 caloric diet
Feel free to switch out the lite Cool Whip for sugar free Cool Whip if that help with the end results.
Enjoy!
Linda
Susy says
I believe you’re missing a half cup of hot water from this recipe. I’ve made this before from this website and I remember using the hot water to disolve the jello.
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
Hi Susy,
Thanks for drawing our attention to that. I will review the recipe. Perhaps something happened when we updated and changed the format.
Thanks again,
Linda
Lynn griffin says
This was so good, I did however make a low carb crust also, using almond meal/ flour 2 tbsp splenda, dash of ground cinnamon and melted butter…sure curved my sweet craving! !
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
Hi Lynn,
Yay! I am sooo glad to hear that you tried this recipe and liked it! Anna and I are always tweaking recipes to suit the needs of our family, so it’s great when others do the same. I love your idea for using the almond meal and Splenda, with a dash of cinnamon! Sounds good!
Thanks for letting us know!
Linda
BB says
Thanks Lynn. I’m going to try to make this crust with this recipe for Valentine’s Day. 🙂
Shirley says
My hubby is a diabetic and this is a really good low cal desert he can eat freely without having to worry about it spiking his sugar. Thanks
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
Hi Shirley,
Both my husband and my mother are diabetic so I totally understand. I’ve made this dessert several times for them and it’s nice to have something they can enjoy without worry. It’s also nice to be able to change-up flavors from time to time.
Thanks for stopping by and dropping us a note.
Have a great day!
Linda
Linda says
Did you put it in the freezer or refrigerator?
Blessed Beyond Crazy says
You put it in the freezer overnight, or until set.
Linda