Jello Cream Cheese Squares
Jello Cream Cheese Squares
"This is one of my favorite local desserts. It's a sweet treat that you won't be able to resist and no baking is required." – Rebekah Lagua, Sr. Chef de Cuisine
Ingredients
- 2 6 oz. packages Maui Cookies shortbread
- 1 Stick butter melted
- 1 6 ounce box Strawberry Jell-O, prepare
- 3 8 ounce packages Sream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup Sour cream
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoons Lemon juice
- 1 cup Powdered sugar
- 2 8 ounce container Cool Whip frozen whipped topping, thawed
Instructions
- Add the shortbread cookies into a food processor and pulse until finely ground into crumbs. Pulsing instead of continuously blending prevents the crumbs from clumping together.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine cookie crumbs and melted butter and mix using a fork until crumbs are well coated in butter.
- Pour mixture into a parchment lined 9x13 pan. Use the bottom of a measuring cup to firmly pack crumbs into the bottom of the pan. Use your fingers to pack crumbs tightly into the sides and corners of the pan that the measuring cup can not reach. Place pan in the refrigerator for later use.
- Combine cream cheese, sour cream, vanilla extract, lemon juice and powdered sugar in a large bowl and mix until smooth and creamy with an electric hand mixer. Gently fold in the thawed cool whip into the cheese mixture. Use a spatula and fold from the bottom up to ensure that the topping becomes light and fluffy. Be careful not to overmix, as you want to maintain the fluffiness of the cool whip.
- Remove pan from refrigerator and pour cream cheese mixture over the shortbread crust, ensuring the cream cheese goes edge to edge and smooth evenly. Place pan back in refrigerator to cool.
- Following the speed-set method instructions on the back of the Jell-O box, dissolve the gelatin mix in 1 1/2 cups of boiling water. Add ice to 1 cup of cold water to make 2 ½ cups. Stir into the gelatin until it’s slightly thickened. Remove any unmelted ice.
- Remove the pan from the refrigerator and gently pour cooled Jell-O over cream cheese mixture. Cover pan and carefully transfer to the refrigerator to cool and set, at least 4 hours or overnight for best results.
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