Lemon Cheesecake Cream Pie
Seriously creamy Lemon Cheesecake is a great summer-time dessert and totally NO BAKE!
Ingredients
Shortbread Pie Crust
- 6 ounces finely crushed shortbread cookies, plus more for garnish
- 2 tablespoons (28g) butter, melted
Lemon Cream Filling
- 24 ounces (680g) cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1 1/3 cup (293g) confectioners sugar
- Juice of 1 lemon, about 1/4 cup
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract, or more to taste (taste test as you go!)
- pinch kosher salt
- 2 cups (476 g) whipped topping, plus more for garnish
- lemon slices, for garnish
- OPTIONAL: yellow food color for presentation (I did not add any)
Instructions
Shortbread Pie Crust
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In a large bowl, combine the shortbread cookie crumbs with the melted butter. Pour into a prepared 8 in pie dish and firmly press to the edges to form a pie crust.
Lemon Cream Filling
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In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until it is light and fluffy.
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Add in the powdered sugar, lemon juice, lemon extract, and salt and beat until everything is combined. (If you are adding food color, add it here.)
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Gently fold in the whipped topping.
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Pour filling mixture into prepared pie crust.
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Refrigerate for 2 - 6 hours. Top with remaining whipped topping, remaining, shortbread crumbs, and lemon.
Recipe Notes
The lemon extract in this recipe really adds a depth of lemon flavor that is essential in a cream pie. If you don't have immediate access to lemon extract you can substitute additional fresh lemon juice.
Here is a simple equivalency:
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice = 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
This recipe uses 1 teaspoon of lemon extract, so you will need 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice. If you opt for the fresh lemon juice, I do recommend adding about 1/2 tsp. of lemon zest to the shortbread crust to maximize the lemon flavor.