Dulce De Leche No-Bake Cheesecake

I was looking for a new dessert recipe to try and had been reading so much about turning a can of sweetened condensed milk into Dulce de Leche that I decided to give it a try while combining it with our favorite no-bake cheesecake recipe.

It wasn't that hard to make either but if I had it all to do over again I'd see about buying a can of Dulce de Leche that was already prepared.  We had a real time crunch and I honestly thought it would never be ready in time.  Prepare to spend at least 10 minutes turning the sweetened condensed milk into Dulce de Leche.

Here is what you'll need to make the cheesecake:

1 sleeve graham cracker crusts turned into crumbs (about 2 cups)
6 Tablespoons butter, melted
4 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
8 ounces cool whip
1 cup Heath bits

 First I made the graham cracker crust.  I used an entire sleeve of graham crackers; chopped them to crumbs in the food processer and added the melted butter and sugar.  Then I pressed into my pie plate and put it in the refrigerator.

I poured the can of sweetened condensed milk into a very large microwave bowl and began microwaving it in 2 minutes intervals and half power; stirring in between each interval.  As the milk boils it's important to scrape it down and check the consistency and color.

before scraping down the bowl and stirring

after scraping down the bowl. 

 Once I had a nice golden caramel color I gave it one final stir and set it aside to cool.

 In my stand mixer I beat the cream cheese until fluffy then added the cooled Dulce de Leche.  I fretted that I might have overcooked the Dulce de Leche because by the time I added it to the bowl of the mixer it had hardened to a taffy-like texture but I just put the mixer on high and it all mixed together beautifully.  I added the Heath bits and gave it all a good stir.

I slowly added in my powdered sugar on low and then folded in the cool whip.

I spread the whole mixture into my prepared crust and set it back in the refrigerator until ready to serve it.

I really wished I had thought to buy some butterscotch or caramel sauce to drizzle the whole pie and perhaps another bit of cool whip to spread on top too but I didn't think of that until it was too late.

Luckily, the pie tasted delicious even if I didn't think it looked "finished."  We had a nice creamy caramel taste throughout and the heath bits added little bits of crunch and texture that nicely paired with the crumbly crust.

Linking Up With:

Miz Helen's Country Cottage