Name: (Almost) No-bake Pineapple Dream Dessert

Ingredients:

• Crust:
  • 2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs divided use
  • 1/2 cup butter
• Filling:
  • 4 oz cream cheese (1/2 block), softened
  • 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), room temperature
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 (8 oz) container frozen whipped topping (Cool Whip), thawed
  • 1 (20 oz) can crushed pineapple, drained well

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 300ºF.
• Drain crushed pineapple.
• Crust:
  • Melt 1/2 cup (1 stick butter) in the microwave in a medium, microwave-safe bowl.
  • Add 2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs to the melted butter and stir until combined.
  • Measure out 2 cups of the crumb mixture and press it firmly into the bottom of an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 square baking dish
  • Bake crumb mixture for about 8-10 minutes and then allow to cool completely.
• Filling:
  • In a stand mixer (or using an electric mixer), beat the cream cheese and butter together until creamy.
  • Add the powdered sugar slowly until it is all incorporated and smooth.
  • Add in a heaping tablespoon of the drained pineapple and give it a good stir.
  • Spread the cream cheese mixture over the baked and cooled graham cracker crust.
  • In a separate bowl, combine the whipped topping with the remaining drained crushed pineapple.
  • Stir well. It will get thick and clumpy.
  • Spread whipped topping mixture over the cream cheese layer. Drop it by the blob-full all over and then gently spread it using the back of the spoon.
• Sprinkle the rest of the graham cracker crumb mixture on the top.
• Cover the whole dish with plastic wrap or aluminum foil.
• Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before slicing and serving.

Comments: 6/12/2021 - I used 15 graham crackers, 9 oz of Coca Whip, and substituted 1/2 cup of 2% Greek yogurt for the cream cheese. I mixed everything manually with a fork. I cut it into 12 pieces (4x3). It is a very soft dessert, but tasty.
9/10/2021 - I used 13 graham crackers and the other ingredients as specified. I baked the crumb mixture in the toaster oven, but did not leave enough time for it to cool, so Gail put it in the freezer for a while. The bowls I used were too small especially when using the mixer; I should have used the largest ceramic bowl.
11/16/2021 - I used 18 graham crackers (2 packages) that I broke up by hand and then crushed with a fork in the large brown bowl. I mixed everything with a fork. I forgot to thaw the Cool Whip, so it took a lot of mashing to mix it with the pineapple. I cut it into 16 pieces (4x4). Twelve would have been better.
This might work also with red raspberries, thawed and smashed, substituted for the pineapple.
2/8/2022 - A raspberry version! I used 16 graham crackers (2 packages) that I broke up by putting them in a used, but washed, gallon plastic bag and running a roller pin over it. I got nearly 4 cups of crumbs! I used 2 pounds of frozen raspberries, thawed, with a tablespoon of sugar added to bring it up to pineapple’s sweetness. I used an 8x8 baking dish. The amount of filling was more than the dish would accommodate so I froze the excess for later use.
4/3/2022 - Raspberries again! I used 15 crackers, crushed by putting them on a sheet of wax paper and then running a roller pin over them to get 2 1/2 cups. I used about 1 1/2 pounds of frozen berries, thawed.
5/27/2023 - Back to the basic recipe with pineapple. I used 15 Graham crackers, finding that 3 crackers makes a 1/2 cup of crumbs. I crushed the crackers, 3 at a time, on a cookie sheet. I covered them with a sheet of wax paper and used a roller pin. This worked pretty well, although I lost some crumbs trying to transfer them from the sheet to a measuring cup. Crushing the crackers took one hour. I made a mistake with the amount of butter for the crust. I only used half a stick, which is 1/4 cup, not 1/2 cup. I tried to compensate for this error by melting another 3/4 stick and drizzling it over the baked crust. The rest of the preparation took about 40 minutes. Clean up took longer.

Source: https://www.thecountrycook.net/pineapple-dream-dessert/

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