Peppermint Crunch Cake
Peppermint Crunch Cake features a sweet and salty cookie pretzel crust with a rich, creamy, peppermint-infused cream cheese filling and a top layer of a sweet and salty cookie pretzel topping.
We love the holidays for a variety of reasons, but one of those reasons is peppermint! Whether you add it to hot chocolate or your favorite baked goods, peppermint is a classic Christmas flavor. We’ve taken a rich cream cheese dessert and infused it with peppermint for the ultimate holiday treat.
Table of contents
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It uses simple ingredients found at any grocery store.
- It’s an easy, no-bake dessert that anyone can make.
- Peppermint is a classic holiday flavor.
- It’s a sweet and salty, creamy dessert everyone will love.
🛒Ingredients
This recipe only takes a few basic ingredients to make, and you can find them all either in your kitchen or in one quick trip to your local grocery store.
All the ingredients you need to make this recipe are listed right here, but you’ll find the exact amounts in the recipe card at the end of the post.
- Vanilla wafers
- Pretzel twists
- Butter – melted
- Cream cheese – softened
- Sweetened condensed milk
- Vanilla extract
- Peppermint extract
- Whipped topping
- Christmas sprinkles
🔪 How to Make Peppermint Crunch Cake
Making this no-bake dessert is a snap. It only takes a few minutes and a few simple steps to make. The hardest part of the recipe is waiting overnight to serve it!
Step 1: Prep
Line a 9×9 baking dish with foil, plastic wrap, or parchment paper.
Step 2: Make the Cookie Mixture
Crush the cookies and pretzels in a food processor. Then, combine the mixture with melted butter.
Step 3: Make the Crust
Press half the cookie pretzel mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.
Step 4: Make the Filling
Mix the cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and peppermint until well combined with an electric mixer in a medium bowl. Then, stir in the whipped topping. Finally, gently stir in 1 tablespoon of Christmas sprinkles.
Step 5: Make the Peppermint Crunch Cake
Pour the cream cheese mixture over the crust. Then, top with the other half of the cookie pretzel mixture and the sprinkles. Press down gently.
Step 6: Freeze
Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4 hours. Remove the cake, slice, and enjoy!
📝Variations
Do you want to change up this recipe and make it your own? Here are some ways that you can do that!
- Different Holidays – Use different sprinkles for different holidays or seasons.
- Nilla Wafers – You can use graham crackers in place of Nilla wafers.
If you love rich, creamy, no-bake cream cheese desserts, then you’ll enjoy this no bake orange creamsicle cheesecake.
🥄 Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Medium bowl
- Food processor
- 9×9 baking dish
- Foil, plastic wrap, or parchment paper
🥫 Storage
Wrap the dish tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months.
What to Serve with Peppermint Crunch Cake
This delicious Christmas dessert is perfect as part of a larger spread with all of your sweet holiday favorites like cookies, cupcakes, cakes, pies, and more.
💭 Tips
- Use an electric mixer when making the filling for the creamiest filling possible.
- 4 hours is the minimum freezing time for this cake, but overnight is better.
- Let your cake thaw for about 10 minutes before cutting to make it easier.
⁉️ FAQ
Do you have questions about this recipe? Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
Peppermint crunch cake is a frozen, no-bake cheesecake made with a sweet and salty crust of Nilla wafers and pretzels, a creamy peppermint cheesecake filling, and a final topping of more cookie pretzel mix and Christmas sprinkles.
Run a sharp knife under hot water. Then, immediately wipe the knife dry with a towel and make your cuts.
Absolutely! It’s so easy to make this for any holiday or occasion by simply changing the sprinkles.
🍽 More Recipes
Do you enjoy peppermint? Then try these delicious recipes:
- Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Copycat Chick-Fil-A Peppermint Shake
- Microwave Peppermint Fudge Recipe
🧾Recipe Card
Want to make this recipe? Print the recipe card below, or pin this recipe, so you can find it later.
Peppermint Crunch Cake
Equipment
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- medium bowl
- Food processor
- 9×9 baking dish
- Foil, plastic wrap, or parchment paper
Ingredients
- 50 vanilla wafers
- ½ cup pretzel twists
- ⅓ cup butter melted
- 16 ounces cream cheese softened
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 8 ounces whipped topping
- 2 tablespoons christmas sprinkles
Instructions
- Line a 9×9 baking dish with foil, plastic wrap or parchment paper.
- Using a food processor crush the cookies and pretzels.
- Combine the cookie/pretzel crumbs with the butter.
- Press half the crumb mixture onto bottom of prepared pan.
- Next in a medium bowl using an electric mixer combine the cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla and peppermint until well combined.
- Next stir in the whipped topping.
- Gently stir in 1 tablespoon of the Christmas sprinkles.
- Pour the cream cheese mixture over the crust in the pan.
- Top with the remaining crumb mixture.
- Sprinkle the remaining sprinkles all over the top pressing down gently.
- Cover and freeze for 4 hours or overnight.
- When ready to serve let the cake sit for 10 minutes to thaw slightly.
- Remove the cake from the pan and slice.
- Serve!
