These cheesecake balls are the perfect bite sized dessert for cheesecake lovers! They are made with only 5 simple ingredients that you may find in your kitchen!
These are made by mixing graham cracker crumbs, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, and a little bit of lemon zest.
They can be coated with any of your favorite coatings like sprinkles, coconut, and nuts they can be dipped in melted chocolate, and much more!
These delectable treats are made by rolling cheesecake mixture into small balls and then coating them in various toppings such as crushed cookies, chocolate, or nuts.
They are perfect for parties, dessert platters, or simply as a sweet snack.
Whether you prefer classic flavors like vanilla or chocolate or more adventurous combinations like salted caramel or raspberry swirl, cheesecake balls are sure to satisfy your sweet tooth cravings.
We love making cheesecake flavored treats, check out our mini cheesecake bites, mini oreo cheesecakes, twix cheesecake, oreo cheesecake cookies, and our cheesecake with strawberry sauce.
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Why this recipe works
- No bake dessert- this recipe is a completely no-bake dessert that tastes amazing and doesn't require turning on the oven!
- Perfect for any occasion- these balls are perfect for any occasion from birthdays to holidays to parties, and they are customizable as well!
- Ease- these balls are extremely easy to make, use a few simple pantry staple ingredients, and take minutes to prep.
- Flavor- these cheesecake balls are loaded with rich cheesecake and graham cracker flavor which is the perfect snack for cheesecake lovers.
- Customizable- you can roll these in many flavors and toppings like different themed sprinkles, cocoa powder, crushed Oreos, mini chocolate chips, and much more!
Ingredients
Before you start to make this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
Full measurements are in the recipe card below.
Cream cheese- the most important ingredient in this recipe, is the cream cheese. Make sure that you are using full-fat cream cheese, and make sure that it’s at room temperature.
Granulated sugar- you will need one cup of granulated sugar for this recipe. The cheesecake will be sweet, but not too sweet. ⅓ cup of sugar is the perfect balance of sweetness for this recipe.
Vanilla extract- vanilla extract adds extra flavor.
Lemon zest- you will need ½ teaspoon of lemon zest. It's optional but gives these a delicious flavor and aroma.
Graham crackers/ tea biscuits- we like to use tea biscuits or digestive biscuits, but graham crackers will work as well.
Instructions
Into a large mixing bowl, add the softened cream cheese, lemon zest, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract, and mix with an electric hand mixer until creamy and smooth.
Crush the digestive biscuits. The best way to crush them is in a food processor or in a blender. If you don't have a food processor or a blender, place them in a ziplock bag and smash them with a cup until fine crumbs form.
Add the crumbs to the cream cheese mixture and mix well.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. This way it will be easier to roll the balls.
Use a small cookie scoop to scoop out the balls (or about 1 tbsp). Roll them into balls using your hands and place them onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
Freeze the balls for about 20 minutes so they will not crumble when you coat them with toppings.
Dip the balls in your favorite toppings. We used sprinkles, coconut flakes, melted chocolate, and nuts.
Carefully place each ball onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
Place the balls in the fridge to firm up for about 30 minutes, serve, and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Add some of your favorite add-ins! Make this recipe your own and add your favorite muffins add-ins: chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, chopped pecans, chocolate chunks, M&M, caramel sauce, white chocolate, kinder, toffee, and more! Be creative!
- Make sure you line your baking pan with parchment paper to prevent the truffles from sticking to the pan.
- Use a cookie scoop to scoop out the balls, that way you will have even-sized balls, plus it ensures that your balls cool evenly.
- Keep the truffles chilled in the fridge before serving. if you place the truffles at room temperature, they will lose their shape and be too soft.
- Use whole fat cream cheese. Don't use low fat in this recipe. light cream cheese can be not as rich in flavor and not as creamy.
- Make sure that your cream cheese is at room temperature. An hour or two before making these treats, take the cream cheese out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature.
- The cream cheese should be soft to the touch. If your cream cheese is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps in the batter of the truffles.
Faq's
These will last up to 5 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Cover the balls with plastic wrap or foil to prevent them from drying out.
Yes! if you don't have a food processor or a blender, place the graham crackers in a ziplock bag and smash them with a cup until fine crumbs form.
Mix the softened cream cheese with a whisk or a wooden spoon until it's creamy, then add the crumbs.
Yes! Cheesecake bites contain dairy from the cream cheese which needs to be refrigerated so it won't go bad.
Storing
Store this dessert in the fridge (because it contains dairy) covered tightly with plastic wrap for up to 5 days.
Freezing
To freeze these, you will need to wrap the balls in plastic wrap or foil and seal them in an airtight container or in an airtight resealable bag. You can freeze these for up to 2 months.
Thaw in the fridge for a few hours or at room temperature for an hour or until it's thawed.
Substitutions
Gluten-free - if you want to make this recipe gluten-free, simply replace the graham crackers with gluten-free graham crackers. And the flour with cornstarch!
Dairy-free- to make this dairy-free, replace the cream cheese with vegan plant-based cream cheese.
Variations
Biscuits- you can replace the graham crackers with Oreos, vanilla Oreos, and digestive biscuits.
Flavors- add your favorite flavors to the batter like almond extract, lemon juice, cinnamon, cocoa powder, etc.
Toppings- top these balls with chopped nuts, your favorite sprinkles, cocoa powder, oreo crumbs, cinnamon sugar, coconut flakes, mini chocolate chips, and much more!
Spread- you can substitute the cream cheese with your favorite spread as well like Nutella, dulce de leche, peanut butter, marshmallow fluff, chocolate ganache, etc.
Cheesecake pops- stick these cheesecake balls in a lollipop stick like you would do with cake pops, and serve it for any occasion like parties, holidays, birthdays, after-school snacks, etc.
Equipment
- Mixing bowl (set of 3)
- Baking sheet and rack set (our fave)
- Cookie scoop set of 3 (the best cookie scoop we used)
More bite-sized desserts
Oreo balls- These oreo balls are made with only 3 ingredients! These oreo balls are covered with chocolate and are perfect for Christmas or any other day!
Chocolate truffles- These chocolate truffles are made with only 4 ingredients, are rich in chocolate flavor, and can be covered in many different toppings like coconut, cocoa powder, etc.
Mini donuts- These mini donuts are made with a simple vanilla cinnamon cake-like batter and tossed in a cinnamon-sugar mixture. These are so cute and so fun to make!
If you tried this recipe, don’t forget to leave a rating and a comment below. We love hearing from you.
If you liked this recipe:
📖 Recipe
Best Cheesecake Balls (No-Bake)
Ingredients
- 230 g Cream cheese
- ⅓ cup Granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon Lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ¾ cup Digestive biscuits
Instructions
- Into a large mixing bowl, add the softened cream cheese, lemon zest, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract, and mix with an electric hand mixer until creamy and smooth.
- Crush the digestive biscuits. The best way to crush them is in a food processor or in a blender. If you don't have a food processor or a blender, place them in a ziplock bag and smash them with a cup until fine crumbs form.
- Add the crumbs to the cream cheese mixture and mix well.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. This way it will be easier to roll the balls.
- Use a small cookie scoop to scoop out the balls (or about 1 tbsp). Roll them into balls using your hands and place them onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Freeze the balls for about 20 minutes so they will not crumble when you coat them with toppings.
- Dip the balls in your favorite toppings. We used sprinkles, coconut flakes, melted chocolate, and nuts.
- Carefully place each ball onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Place the balls in the fridge to firm up for about 30 minutes, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
- Add some of your favorite add-ins! Make this recipe your own and add your favorite muffins add-ins: chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, chopped pecans, chocolate chunks, M&M, caramel sauce, white chocolate, kinder, toffee, and more! Be creative!
- Make sure you line your baking pan with parchment paper to prevent the truffles to stick to the pan.
- Use a cookie scoop to scoop out the balls, that way you will have even-sized balls, plus it ensures that your balls cool evenly.
- Keep the truffles chilled in the fridge before serving. if you place the truffles at room temperature, they will lose their shape and be too soft.
- Use whole fat cream cheese. Don't use low fat in this recipe. light cream cheese can be not as rich in flavor and not as creamy.
- Make sure that your cream cheese is at room temperature. An hour or two before making these treats, take the cream cheese out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature.
- The cream cheese should be soft to the touch. If your cream cheese is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps in the batter of the truffles.
Rebecca says
Tried the recipe last week and ohhh my goodness what a delightful treat… shared with work colleagues and it was a winner. This will be my go to treat, snack, dessert.
Thanks for sharing this recipe a must have for anyone ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️