No Bake Banana Split Dessert is a classic! It layers a graham cracker crust, cream cheese-based filling, bananas, pineapple, strawberries, whipped cream, nuts, chocolate & a cherry on top! Part banana pudding and part icebox cake, it’s a great dessert for the most special holidays or simple gatherings.

Each year, around Easter, I start to get a hankering for this no bake banana split dessert, which is peculiar to me, because I can only remember eating it once or twice ever, and that was at least 10 or 15 years ago. For some reason, it has stuck in my mind and I associate it with Easter. It’s quite possible that my mom made it for an Easter dessert a couple of years in a row, and then moved on to something else. A few years ago I finally asked my mom if she had the recipe for the “banana split dessert thing” that she made a long time ago, and she was able to dig it up for me. It took me approximately 2.2 seconds to assemble what I needed and I’ve been enjoying it at least a couple of times a year ever since!

Ingredients

For the Crust:

• 2 cups (168 g) graham cracker crumbs
• ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter, melted

For the Cream Cheese Layer:

• 12 ounces (340.2 g) cream cheese, at room temperature
• ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
• 8 ounces (226.8 g) Cool Whip

For the Fruit & Toppings:

• 3 to 4 bananas, sliced
• 20 ounce (566.99 g) canned crushed pineapple, drained well
• 16 ounces (453.59 g) strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 8 ounces (226.8 g) Cool Whip
• ½ cup (58.5 g) walnuts, chopped
• Chocolate syrup
• Maraschino cherries

Instructions

Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish; set aside.
In a medium bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs and melted butter with a fork, stirring until all of the crumbs are evenly moistened. Dump the crumbs into the prepared pan and press into an even layer. Refrigerate while you prepare the next layer.
In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the Cool Whip until thoroughly combined. Spread the cream cheese mixture on top of the graham cracker crust.
Arrange the banana slices in a single layer on top of the cream cheese filling, top with an even layer of the crushed pineapple, and then an even layer of the sliced strawberries.
Cover with the Cool Whip, smoothing the top. Sprinkle with the chopped walnuts, then drizzle with chocolate syrup and top with maraschino cherries. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight. Leftovers can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.