NO BAKE PEPPERMINT CHEESECAKE BARS

So, I did something scary last night. My husband and I did a live post on my Facebook page. Honestly, I thought I would be more nervous as it got closer to our start time, but it wasn’t until right before he pushed the play button that I forgot everything I wanted to say.

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The video started sideways, so it totally made me more relaxed because that’s just life. Nothing is perfect, and you just have to roll with it, right? We shared some family holiday traditions and then answered some questions about blogging and baking. It was so easy and fun, that we are planning on doing more in the upcoming year. Does that sound good to you?

This fun, bright, colored, crazy cheesecake is another thing I just had to roll with. Earlier this year I made these fun no bake rainbow unicorn cheesecake bars, and everyone has gone nuts for them. The original video got a lot of views, and the pictures have been pinned tons of times on Pinterest. Well, that got me thinking. How could I turn those fun cheesecake bars into a holiday treat?

Since the unicorn bars have lots of colored marshmallows inside it, I had to find a bag of peppermint marshmallows for the filling because I love the texture that softened marshmallows add to this dessert. I checked two of our local grocery stores, but neither one had the marshmallows I was looking for.

Thank goodness for Target. You saved me once again by having bags of peppermint marshmallows in your holiday department. Of course, then I promptly put a few other things in my cart. Why can’t I go into Target for one thing?!?!?!?!

My original thought for this dessert was to make a chocolate crust like in this peppermint Oreo cheesecake, but I really liked the taste and texture of the wafer cookies in the unicorn cheesecake. So, vanilla wafers it is.

Ingredients

For the Crust
2 - 14 ounce packages Vortmann vanilla wafer cookies
12 Tablespoons butter, melted
green gel color
For the Cheesecake
2 - 8 ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons peppermint extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 - 16 ounce container Cool Whip, thawed and divided
3 1/2 cups mini peppermint marshmallows
pink gel color
1 red glitter gel frosting tube
sprinkles
candy cane pieces
24 peppermint pretzel stars

Instructions

Line a 9x13 pan with foil. Set aside
Crush enough wafer cookies to equal 4 cups of crumbs. You will use one whole package and part of another. Mix the crumbs with the butter and mix completely.
Stir in green gel color until you get your desired color. Press the crumbs evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Refrigerate.
Beat the cream cheese until creamy. Add the sugar, extracts, and cream and beat again until creamy.
Fold in 4 cups of Cool Whip gently. Add pink gel color until you get your desired color.
Stir in the marshmallows. Spread the mixture on the prepared crust. Refrigerate for a few hours.
Cut the cheesecake into 24 squares. Top with the remaining Cool Whip, frosting, sprinkles, and candy canes right before serving. Store the cheesecake in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.