For this Butter Brickle Frozen Dessert, an easy graham cracker crust is layered with a luscious no-bake cheesecake, crunchy oat crumble, and a decadent drizzle of butterscotch-caramel ice cream topping. This impressive dessert is a guaranteed showstopper!
Food can evoke certain feelings in us and this lovely Butter Brickle Dessert does that for me in a big way.
It’s a rush of memories from summers past. School is out, running through the sprinklers, BBQ’s, old fashioned 4th of July celebrations, summer vacations, and sleepovers in the tent my Dad set up in our front yard. One bite of this decadent frozen dessert and I’m in summer mode!
Butter Brickle Frozen Dessert is rich, sweet and indulgent and if you set it out at your next gathering, there won’t be crumb left. It’s the most epic summer dessert!
Table of contents
Recipe Highlights
- Graham Cracker Crust: It starts with a simple 3-ingredient graham cracker crust.
- No-Bake Cheesecake: Luscious layers of an easy no-bake cheesecake or “freezer cheesecake”.
- Oat Pecan Crumble: A homemade toasted oat pecan crumble adds crunch and such great flavor.
- Carmel-Butterscotch Drizzle: Store bought ice cream topping is drizzled over the top.
Ingredient Notes
- Graham cracker crust – One sleeve of graham crackers, crushed, melted butter, and granulated sugar.
- Oat-Pecan Crumble – All-purpose flour, quick cooking oats, light brown sugar, melted butter, hopped pecans.
- No-bake cheesecake – Regular or ⅓ less fat Neufchatel cream cheese. This recipe is plenty rich so you won’t be missing a thing if you go with lower fat cream cheese. Or, use one block of each for a happy compromise. You’ll also need granulated sugar, pure vanilla extract, thawed whipped topping (like Cool Whip), a jar of butterscotch ice cream topping. We love butterscotch-caramel and plain caramel works too!
How to Make Butter Brickle Frozen Dessert
Allow the cream cheese to rest at room temperature for about 45 minutes to soften before beginning. This is a vital step to ensure a smooth cheesecake mixture.
Graham Cracker Crust
- In medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and granulated sugar.
- Press into bottom of greased springform pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 6 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely.
After years of exhaustive research, I’ve found that one sleeve of graham crackers yields just the right amount of crumbs for this recipe (1 cups). No need to dirty a measuring cup. Just place the contents of one sleeve of graham crackers in a zippered plastic storage bag and have at it with a rolling pin or even a can of green beans. Or process them in a food processor to make it easy!
Oat-Pecan Crumble
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, oats, pecans, brown sugar, and melted butter.
- Pour the mixture out on to a large rimmed baking sheet and spread it out evenly. Bake at 375 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes, until light brown. Remove from the oven and use a spatula to break up and crumble the mixture while it is still warm. Then, set aside to cool completely.
No-Bake Cheesecake and Layering
- In large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, granulated sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Fold in the whipped topping.
- Spread half of the cream cheese mixture over the crust in the springform pan.
- Sprinkle half of the oat crumbles over the cream cheese mixture, and drizzle about one third of the ice cream topping over the top. Repeat these layers one more time, ending with a final drizzle of ice cream topping. Reserve remaining ice cream topping for serving.
- Cover the springform pan with foil and freeze overnight or for at least 4 hours.
Make-Ahead Tip
Make it the night before and let it rest overnight in the freezer or at the very least get it in the freezer early in the morning the day you want to serve it. It should freeze for a minimum of four hours.
Serving Butter Brickle Ice Cream Dessert
When ready to serve, remove the pan from the freezer and allow it to rest at room temperature for about 5 or 10 minutes, to soften slightly.
Unlock and remove the pan sides. Then, slice and serve with additional ice cream topping drizzled over the top.
More Frozen Desserts You’ll Love
- Buster Bar Ice Cream Dessert
- Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches
- Frozen Peanut Butter Pie
- Peach Frozen Yogurt
- Check out my entire collection of dessert recipes for more inspiration!
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Butter Brickle Frozen Dessert
Ingredients
For the Graham Cracker Crust
- 1 sleeve graham crackers, crushed (approximately 1¼ cups graham cracker crumbs)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup butter, melted
For the Oat-Pecan Crumble
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup quick cooking oats
- ¾ cup chopped pecans
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup butter, melted
For the No-Bake Cheesecake Layer
- 16 ounces cream cheese (regular or ⅓ less fat Neufchatel), softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 8 ounces frozen whipped topping (like Cool Whip), thawed
- 8 ounces butterscotch-caramel ice cream topping, or your favorite flavor
Instructions
- Cream cheese should rest at room temperature for about 45 minutes to soften before beginning.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Graham Cracker Crust
- In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs with ¼ cup granulated sugar. Add ⅓ cup melted butter and mix well. Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared springform pan.
- Bake for 6 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely.
Oat-Pecan Crumble
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, oats, pecans, and brown sugar. Add ½ cup melted butte and mix until well combined. Pour out and evenly distribute onto a large rimmed baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until light brown. Use a spatula or spoon to crumble while still warm. Set aside to cool completely.
No-Bake Cheesecake
- In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, ½ cup granulated sugar, and the vanilla until smooth. Fold in the whipped topping.
Assemble
- Spread half of the cheesecake mixture over the cooled crust in the springform pan. Sprinkle half of the oat-pecan crumbles over the cheesecake layer, and drizzle about one third of the caramel ice cream topping over the top. Repeat the layers one more time. Reserve remaining ice cream topping for serving.
- Cover the springform pan with foil and freeze overnight or for at least 4 hours.
- When ready to serve, remove the pan from the freezer and allow to rest at room temperature for about 5 or 10 minutes. Remove the pan sides, slice, and serve with additional ice cream topping drizzled over the top.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
This recipe was originally published on June 6, 2013. It has been updated with new text and images.
Adapted from Allrecipes
More Ideas
This is so incredibly good. If you are looking for a show stopper be prepared to share the recipe with everyone. This has become a must have at all my events! Thank you! I had an ice cream at Bruster’s called butter brickle and I was searching for something similar and came across this. I make it just like this!
Hmmm…making this now and my oat mixture did not need crumbling, it was already loose and crumbly. Did I do something wrong?
Don’t have a springform pan and I would need to double the recipe. Could this be done in a 9×11 casserole dish?
Yes, it can be done in a 13″ x 9″ pan. Just be sure to spray it first with non-stick cooking spray to making serving easier.
what other nuts can you use….not a fan of pecans or walnuts?
Danielle
I think you could substitute any nuts you like. Almonds and peanuts would both work well. Good luck!
Looks good
I made this for Father’s Day and it was a hit! Yummmmmy!!!!!
I love your pictures and recipes, they are mouth watering. Would love for you to share them with us at foodieportal.com. Over at foodieportal.com we are not photography expert snobs, we are just foodies, so pretty much all your pictures will get accepted.
WOW, Val! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more scrumptious looking summer dessert! This is incredible. A must-try for sure!
OMG!!! Heavenly! =D
My mouth is watering and my tummy rumbling.
omg.
Sweet Heavens Above – Pure Bliss!
OMG…this looks DELICIOUS, Valerie!! I know what I’m making this weekend! 🙂
I hope you enjoy it Linda!