Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Cups
Crushed sandwich cookies layered with a rehydrated cheesecake cream. No oven, no fridge, no bake sale.
- calories
- 610
- weight
- 4 oz
- cal / oz
- 153
- protein
- 8 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 10 min
- water
- 90 ml cold
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dessert
- No cook
- Car camping
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Chocolate sandwich cookies | 16 cookies | Oreos; crush at home, filling and all |
|---|---|---|
| Powdered cheesecake mix (no-bake type) | 1/2 cup | the filling powder only, discard the crust packet |
| Whole milk powder | 3 tbsp | |
| Powdered heavy cream or coconut milk powder | 2 tbsp | this is the fat that makes it read as cheesecake |
| Granulated sugar | 1 tbsp | |
| Vanilla powder | 1/4 tsp | extract works but leaks; powder does not |
| Butter powder | 1 tbsp | stands in for the melted butter in the crust |
| Salt | a pinch |
Method
- Set aside 2 tbsp of the cookie crumbs for the top.
- Stir the butter powder and a teaspoon of water into the rest of the crumbs until they clump. Press half into the bottom of each cup or mug.
- In a bag or bottle, combine the cheesecake mix, milk powder, cream powder, sugar, vanilla powder, and salt.
- Add about 90 ml of cold water in three splashes, kneading or shaking between each. Stop when it holds a ridge. Too much water and it never thickens.
- Spoon the filling over the crumb bases and scatter the reserved crumbs on top.
- Let it sit 15 minutes in the coldest spot you have. It will firm up on its own; cold water helps, but it does not need a cooler.
Cheesecake is mostly fat, sugar, and something acidic holding it together, which means it survives being turned into powder better than most desserts. No-bake cheesecake mix already contains the gelling agents that let it set without heat; the milk and cream powders put back the fat that got carried out with the cream cheese and whipping cream.
The original used a mixer and a fridge. Neither is available, so the water goes in slowly and cold, and the mix does the setting. Butter powder in the crumbs is the one substitution worth explaining: melted butter is what binds a cookie crust, and a spoonful of powder plus a splash of water gets close enough to press into the bottom of a mug.
Packing
Crush the cookies at home and carry them in a sturdy bag. All the powders go in a second bag together. Two bags, one dessert.
Variations
- Skip the crust step and just stir the crumbs into the filling for a one-bag version.
- A spoon of instant espresso in the powders turns it into mocha.
- Freeze-dried raspberries crushed into the topping cut the sweetness.
https://zenandhoney.com/no-bake-oreo-cheesecake-bars