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  5. You'll Want to Make These Luscious Cream Cheese Desserts Right Now

You'll Want to Make These Luscious Cream Cheese Desserts Right Now

By Lynn Andriani December 07, 2021
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three layer apple cake on cake stand
Credit: Mike Krautter

Cream cheese is the secret ingredient in the smoothest cheesecakes, creamiest frostings and fillings for cakes and pies, and cookie dough. Here, we're sharing our favorite cream cheese dessert recipes.

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three layer apple cake on cake stand
Credit: Mike Krautter

Soft, mild-tasting cream cheese is not just for bagels. Its wonderful texture and flavor make it a pairing natural for sweets, bringing cheesecakes to next-level with smoothness and richness and giving frostings a delightful tang. As you'll throughout this entire collection of cream cheese dessert recipes, there are so many treats that can benefit from a bit of cream cheese in the mix.

We've got two gorgeous cheesecake recipes in the slides ahead—sure, cream cheese may not be the most detectable flavor in each bite, but it does play a strong and important supporting role. There's a pumpkin chocolate rendition with an intense chocolate crust as well as a peanut butter and jelly take that you cut in squares. And just for kicks, you'll also find an inventive take on cheesecake where a no-bake cream-cheese filling floats on a crisp and buttery press-in crust and is topped with fresh fruit. Cream cheese also adds richness and moisture to cookie doughs, particularly rugelach—our Pistachio and Dried Apricot Rugelach is a perfect combination of tart and sweet.

Where cream cheese really shines, though, is in frostings and fillings, like the Apple Layer Cake with Cream-Cheese Frosting that you see right here. We also have a lemon cake with a raspberry cream cheese frosting that might just become your new favorite go-to, a spiced honey cake gets an incredible lift from a satiny-smooth lemon curd and cream-cheese frosting, and a red velvet cake, which is topped with cream cheese frosting to brilliantly offsets the cake's richness.

The majority of desserts made with cream cheese aren't complicated to make, but in most cases you'll want to make sure you allow your cream cheese to soften before using. This will ensure it combines well with the other ingredients, and, in the case of cheesecake and frostings, that they turn out lump-free.

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Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake

chocolate drizzled on pumpkin-chocolate cheesecake
Credit: Dana Gallagher
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This knockout dessert combines a delicately flavored cream cheese and pumpkin filling with a deliciously intense chocolate crust. Serve it as is, or pour a stove-top chocolate-caramel glaze on top for a glossy, glamorous finish.

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Lemon Snack Cake with Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Lemon Cake with Raspberry-Cream Cheese Frosting
Credit: Chris Simpson
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A single-layer confection meant to be sliced into any time of day, the snacking cake is one to add to your repertoire. Here, lemon juice and zest brighten the batter, and ground freeze-dried raspberries give classic cream-cheese frosting a natural rosy tint. Pile on whole berries, then help yourself.

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Whole-Wheat Almond-Butter Sandwich Cookies

almond-butter-cookie-md110878.jpg
Credit: Alpha Smoot
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Here's an updated version on the classic peanut-butter sandwich cookie, starring almond butter and toasted almonds. The filling includes cream cheese, honey, and vanilla.

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Pistachio and Dried Apricot Rugelach

Pistachio and Dried-Apricot Rugelach
Credit: Aaron Dyer
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Simmered dried apricots with a hint of vanilla are a perfect combination of tart and sweet. You slather this mixture on rounds of cream-cheese dough, and then slice it into wedges, roll it into crescents, and bake for a delicious cookie.

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Lemon Honey Cake

lemon honey cake
Credit: Johnny Miller
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This rustic cake is infused with the tastes of honey, lemon, and a hint of ground cardamom, almost like a flavorful cup of tea. And the filling is a satiny-smooth cross between lemon curd and cream-cheese frosting.

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Berry Shortcakes with Whipped Cream Cheese

blueberry-shortcakes-a130315-03-4487-md109207.jpg
Credit: John Kernick
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Although berry shortcakes are usually served with whipped cream, this cream cheese version is a pleasant departure. Tangier, thicker, and all around delicious.

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Cherry-and-Cream-Cheese Hand Pies

cherry and cream-cheese hand pies
Credit: Kate Mathis
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A cross between a sour cherry pie and a cheese Danish, these flaky pastries are easier to make than you might think, calling for frozen (and thawed) puff pastry. The cream cheese provides a nice counterpoint to the sweet fruit.

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Peanut-Butter-and-Jelly Cheesecake Squares

pbj-cheesecake-bars-094-d113040-1.jpg
Credit: Bryan Gardner
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How'd we get this cheesecake so smooth? It's a one-two-three combo that includes creamy peanut butter, room-temperature eggs, and cream cheese.

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Peach and Blueberry Tart with Cream Cheese Filling

peach and blueberry tart with cream cheese filling
Credit: Paola + Murray
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You can't not love this no-bake take on cheesecake, as it's easier than a traditional one and in tart form. The cream-cheese filling floats on a crisp and buttery press-in crust. Top it with fruit and serve.

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Vanilla Bundt Cake with Chocolate-Cream Cheese Filling

vanilla bundt cake with chocolate-cream cheese filling
Credit: Kate Mathis
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Cutting into this beautiful Bundt reveals its rich cheesecake-like chocolate filling, and the whole thing is glazed with a sumptuous chocolate ganache.

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Red-Velvet Sheet Cake

red-velvet sheet cake recipe
Credit: Con Poulos
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With cocoa powder, butter, sugar, eggs, and sour cream, this red velvet cake has an almost fudgy flavor. Swoops of tangy cream-cheese frosting offset the richness (and give it a nice contrast in hue).

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Black Bottom Cupcakes

black-bottom-cupcake-0372.jpg
Credit: Mike Krautter
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Though unfrosted, these chocolate cupcakes with a marble-topped cream cheese filling aren't lacking in flavor or appearance. Consider them the perfect to-go cupcakes, as there's no frosting to muss.

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By Lynn Andriani

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    1 of 13
    2 of 13 Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake
    3 of 13 Lemon Snack Cake with Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting
    4 of 13 Whole-Wheat Almond-Butter Sandwich Cookies
    5 of 13 Pistachio and Dried Apricot Rugelach
    6 of 13 Lemon Honey Cake
    7 of 13 Berry Shortcakes with Whipped Cream Cheese
    8 of 13 Cherry-and-Cream-Cheese Hand Pies
    9 of 13 Peanut-Butter-and-Jelly Cheesecake Squares
    10 of 13 Peach and Blueberry Tart with Cream Cheese Filling
    11 of 13 Vanilla Bundt Cake with Chocolate-Cream Cheese Filling
    12 of 13 Red-Velvet Sheet Cake
    13 of 13 Black Bottom Cupcakes

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