Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie

My aunt’s Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie recipe is a favorite around here – with a quick press-in shortbread crust that’s perfectly crisp and buttery, a delightfully fluffy cream cheese layer, and a stunning fresh strawberry topping. It’s an easy, summery dessert!

Every summer, this easy Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie recipe is a must-make at our house. It starts with a simple pressed-in crust that has the flavor and texture of a crisp, buttery shortbread cookie. Then the crust is filled with a heavenly creamy-fluffy combination of tangy cream cheese and freshly whipped cream. And the topping, this pie’s royal crown, is a glorious pile of fresh strawberries folded into a sweet strawberry glaze. Do not tarry. Make this pie this summer!

Why We Love This Strawberry Pie Recipe

My first experience with freshly picked strawberries was from my aunt Patsy’s garden, when I was very young. I marveled at the intensely sweet flavor and tender texture of the berries – and I loved her strawberry cream cheese pie. Now I make a point to visit a local strawberry u-pick with our daughters each summer, just so we can make this pie! Here’s why we love it:

• Fresh, seasonal strawberries. The beauty of ripe, fresh strawberries is how juicy and tender they are, and the very best strawberries are only available during strawberry season. If you can pick your own or grab some at a local farmers market, you are WINNING!
• Almost no-bake. Yes, you will need to bake the crust, but it’s a simple press-in crust that takes very little effort – and then you’re rewarded with the most fabulous shortbread crust. That’s the only oven time required.
• That fluffy cream cheese filling! With cream cheese and whipped cream folded together, the creamy-fluffing filling is MAGICAL!

What You’ll Need

Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make this luscious pie. Find the printable recipe card at the end of this post for the exact ingredient amounts.

Shortbread Crust:

• All-purpose flour – Make sure to use the spoon and level method to measure out the flour for better accuracy, rather than scooping up the flour and packing it in.
• Granulated sugar – To sweeten the crust mixture just a bit.
• Salt – A pinch of salt balances the sweetness of the cookie crust.
• Butter – Use unsalted butter and soften it to room temperature.

CREAM CHEESE Layer:

• Cream cheese – Use full-fat cream cheese for the best texture and rich flavor.
• Powdered sugar – This gives light, airy sweetness to the filling.
• Vanilla extract – Pure vanilla extract offers a lovely flavor.
• Heavy cream – This is whipped into glorious fluffiness, to lighten up the cream cheese filling.

STRAWBERRY TOPPING:

• Strawberries – Use the freshest, sweetest strawberries you can find.
• Powdered sugar – This sweetens the glaze.
• Cornstarch – This helps the glaze get thickened and glossy.
• Food coloring (optional) – You can add red food coloring for a more vibrant color, but I find that when I use beautiful strawberries this is not necessary. 

How To Make Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie

I’ve outlined how to make this strawberry pie recipe below. Find the detailed instructions in the recipe card lower down.

• Make the crust mixture. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt, then cut in the butter until crumbly.
• Press in crust & bake. Press the crust mixture evenly onto the bottom and up the sides of a 9″ pie pan. Bake for 23-26 minutes, then cool completely.

• Make the fluffy cream cheese filling. Beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy. In a separate bowl, whip the cream. Then fold the cream cheese mixture and the whipped cream together. Spread over the pie crust.
• Refrigerate. Place the pie in the fridge to set for at least 1 hour.

• Add strawberries. Make the strawberry topping (with optional glaze), or simply add fresh sliced strawberries to the top of the pie.

Tips for Success

Here are my best tips for the ultimate experience for making, serving, and eating this pie:

• Press the crust ingredients into the pan evenly. This press-in pie crust is easy to make. But the best results come from pressing it into the pan as evenly as possibly, creating a similar thickness on both the bottom and the sides. And take care to not press it in too aggressively, as this can make the crust compact, with a harder texture.
• Bake the crust until it turns golden. For a crisp crust, make sure to bake it long enough. It should turn slightly golden.
• Use room temperature cream cheese. As with most cream cheese-based recipes, it’s essential to bring the cream cheese to room temperature before you add to the filling. This will help it whip smoothly – you don’t want to have any lumps of cream cheese to detract from that creamy-fluffy layer!
• Chill thoroughly. This pie is best when that middle layer of filling chills and sets, at least one hour, and preferably 2 hours or more. Hold off on adding the topping while the filling layer chills.
• Use really good strawberries. As with anything you’d serve with fresh ingredients, this should go without saying. The freshest, sweetest berries will make this pie absolutely shine!
• To glaze or not to glaze. This recipe includes an optional strawberry glaze that is sweet and glossy-pretty. When I have gloriously beautiful strawberries, I often skip the glaze or use just a portion of the glaze. And when the strawberries aren’t quite as sweet as I’d like, I include the glaze. You can do whatever you like!
• Make ahead: You can easily make this pie ahead of when you want to serve it. Bake the pie crust and fill it with the whipped cream cheese layer, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour, preferably up to 4 hours. Prepare strawberries according to your preferred method, then refrigerate them in an airtight container. When ready to serve, refer to “To Serve” in the recipe card’s Instructions.

Serving Suggestions

Here are a few more serving tips for this recipe for strawberry pie:

• Add the strawberry topping to individual slices. For cleaner looking slices, and to help the crust to stay crisp longer, add the strawberry topping to individual slices of pie (as shown in my photo above). This also works best best for storing leftovers (see my notes below). However, if you think you’ll consume the pie in one sitting, go ahead and add the strawberry topping to the top of the pie just before you serve it.
• Top with whipped cream. The motto in our family is “more whipped cream is always better” and that carries over to this pie. Make some homemade whipped cream and dollop spoonfuls on top of slices of pie for extra fluffy fun!

How To Store Leftovers

You have several options for how to store strawberry cream cheese pie. If you predict having leftovers, I recommend storing the strawberry topping separately from the pie so that the crust doesn’t get soggy. Place the topping in an airtight container and store it in the fridge for up to 5 days.

To store the pie, cover the pie tightly with foil or place it in an airtight container and store it in the fridge for up to 4 days.

I’ve already talked about my preference for keeping the cream cheese pie portion and the strawberry topping separate. When you’re ready to serve the pie, top individual slices of cream cheese pie with the strawberry topping.

More Strawberry Desserts

• Strawberry Cupcakes
• Strawberry Cream Wafer Cookies
• Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
• Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb Bars

Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie

Yield: 8 servings

prep time: 30 minutes mins

cook time: 25 minutes mins

total time: 55 minutes mins

My aunt's Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie recipe is a favorite around here – with a quick press-in shortbread crust that's perfectly crisp and buttery, a delightfully fluffy cream cheese layer, and a stunning fresh strawberry topping. It's an easy, summery dessert!

4.9 Stars (11 Reviews)

Print

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup sugar
• ⅛ teaspoon Morton kosher salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

Cream Cheese Layer:

• 6 ounces full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Strawberry Topping:

• 3 cups thick-sliced strawberries
• ½ cup powdered sugar, optional for strawberry glaze
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch, optional for strawberry glaze
• red food coloring, optional (not needed when using beautiful strawberries)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325°F.  

Crust:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt. With a rigid pastry blender, cut in the butter until crumbly. Then quickly mix with hands until it forms a dough. Don’t worry if it seems a bit dry. Press dough evenly onto the bottom and up the sides of a 9″ pie pan. Aim for a uniform thickness on all surfaces and don’t press the dough in too hard.
• Place pie pan in oven and bake crust for 23 to 26 minutes, or until it is just lightly browned. Remove from oven, to a cooling rack, and let cool completely.

Cream Cheese Layer:

• In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes on medium-high to high speed.
• In another medium bowl, with an electric mixer, whip heavy cream until stiff.
• With a spatula, gently fold whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until evenly combined. Then transfer mixture to the cooled pie shell and spread in an even layer. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour (2-4 hours is even better).

Strawberry Topping:

• If you prefer to dress the pie with only fresh strawberries and no additional glaze (especially nice when you have sweet, beautiful strawberries), skip to Step 8, and omit the powdered sugar and cornstarch.
• To create strawberry topping with glaze: In a medium bowl, fold together sliced strawberries and 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Let stand for 30 minutes, folding gently halfway through.
• Drain strawberries, saving all accumulated strawberry juice. Add water (if needed) to strawberry juice to equal 1/3 cup of strawberry juice.
• In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine 1/3 cup strawberry juice and cornstarch. If your strawberry juice is not very red, and if you want a deeper red color, add a drop or two of red food coloring. Cook, stirring constantly, until you have a thickened, clear glaze. If the cornstarch forms lumps, simply smoosh out the lumps with a spatula. A small whisk also works well. Once thickened, immediately remove strawberry glaze from heat and let cool completely.
• You have a few options for incorporating the strawberry glaze: 1) fold the strawberries into all of the strawberry glaze (for a heavier glaze), 2) fold the strawberries into a portion of the strawberry glaze (for a lighter glaze), 3) top cream cheese pie with the sliced strawberries and then drizzle some of the glaze over the top of the berries. See Notes below.

To Serve:

• If you plan to eat the pie within a few hours after making it, go ahead and add your preferred strawberry topping (using one of the methods from "Strawberry Topping/Step 5") to the center of the cream cheese pie, leaving an inch of bare cream cheese around the perimeter. This helps to keep any strawberry juices from soaking into the crust, which can make the crust soggy. Slice pie into pieces and serve.

  If you will not be eating all of the pie within a few hours, I recommend leaving the strawberry topping off the pie. To serve, slice individual pieces and place them on dessert plates. Then top the pieces with your preferred strawberry topping (using one of the methods from "Strawberry Topping/Step 5"). This method will give you pie pieces with a cleaner appearance, plus the crust will stay more crisp. 

Notes

adapted from the recipe box of my aunt Patsy Klein

To prepare ahead of time: Bake the pie crust and fill with the cream cheese layer, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour (2-4 hours is even better). Prepare strawberries as desired, with or without glaze, and refrigerate in an airtight container(s). When ready to serve, refer to “To Serve” in the recipe Instructions.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 1 Calories: 519kcal Carbohydrates: 59g Protein: 5g Fat: 30g Saturated Fat: 19g Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g Trans Fat: 1g Cholesterol: 86mg Sodium: 204mg Fiber: 2g Sugar: 41g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by Spoonacular. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee accuracy. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate again with your own favorite calculator.

Did you make this recipe?Please leave a comment below. And share a photo on Instagram with the hashtag #afarmgirlsdabbles or tag @farmgirlsdabble!

© Brenda | A Farmgirl’s Dabbles

Cuisine: American

Course: Dessert

This post was originally published in 2011, and then updated in 2020 and 2024.