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Our no-bake Orange Creamsicle Pie recipe is an easy dessert with a tasty twist on a traditional ice cream treat, but this one takes only 10 minutes to make and is prepared in a pan, minus the popsicle stick!
A premade graham cracker pie crust is piled high with a light and fluffy orange jello-flavored filling, packed with bursts of bright mandarin orange bits, and topped with Cool Whip.
Jello Creamsicle Pie
This easy Creamsicle Pie with jello is so simple to make using a handful of ingredients to create its thick and fluffy filling that sits inside a no-cook crust.
While a classic orange cream pie calls for egg whites, sweetened condensed milk, and cornstarch, my recipe swaps the egg for Cool Whip and combines it with bloomed gelatin to produce a perfectly thick, smooth texture and adds orange jello and extract to form the fruity flavor.
With a taste like my favorite throwback frozen dessert, this orange dreamsicle pie is the best bite of childhood nostalgia, but made in the form of an easy orange creamsicle dessert that’s eaten with a fork.
For more delicious no-bake Jello desserts, check out my Easter Jello-Pie, Strawberry Cool Whip Pie, and Layered Jello Pie.
Why We Love This Orange Cream Pie Recipe
- Quick and easy no-bake recipe.
- Uses simple ingredients to recreate the creamsicle popsicle flavor in the form of a pie.
- Smooth, creamy, light, and fluffy filling poured inside a cookie crust.
- Great make-ahead sweet treat when you don’t want to heat up the house.
- Delicious warm weather dessert or spring and summer snack.
- Perfect for potlucks, backyard barbecues, and parties.
Ingredients
- Premade graham cracker crust
- Unflavored gelatin
- Water
- Orange-flavored gelatin
- Ice
- Pure orange extract
- Whipped topping or Cool Whip
- Canned mandarin oranges
- Canned whipped cream (optional garnish)
SEE FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD BELOW
Substitutions and Additions
- Serve It Semifreddo: For a semi-frozen creamsicle dessert, you can place the pie in the freezer until it is semi-frozen, and serve it semifreddo-style.
- Change The Crust: Feel free to make your own graham cracker crust or even substitute a premade shortbread crust for the graham cracker crust. For those with gluten sensitivities, use a gluten-free pie crust to make this GF.
- Forgo The Orange Flavor: You can change up the fruit flavor of the pie filling depending on the flavor of jello you use. Make a key lime pie with lime-flavored gelatin, a lemon chiffon pie with lemon-flavored gelatin, or use your other favorite flavors.
Recommended Tools
- Mixing bowls and tools
- Measuring tools
How to Make A No Bake Creamsicle Pie
This no-bake orange creamsicle pie recipe is the easiest, most straightforward way to recreate the cool and creamy flavors reminiscent of the classic creamsicle popsicle, prepared as a pie. In a matter of minutes, you can form a fluffy fruit filling and pile it into a premade cookie crust for a refreshingly delicious summer dessert.
- Bloom The Gelatin: Sprinkle the unflavored gelatin packet over cold water, stir, and allow the gelatin to bloom for 1-2 minutes.
- Form The Filling: Add the bloomed gelatin to boiling water, stir in the orange extract, sprinkle in the orange gelatin powder, and stir until dissolved. Stir in the ice until dissolved and then fold in the whipped topping and mandarin oranges.
- Prepare The Pie: Add the filling into the pie crust, cover, and chill for 4 hours.
- Serve: Cut into 8 slices and garnish with a swirl of whipped cream and a mandarin orange. Enjoy!
Tips
- If you want an even stronger orange flavor, you can add 2 teaspoons of fresh orange zest.
- If your pie crust is in a foil tin, I recommend sitting it (foil pan and all) inside a glass pie dish to give it a bit more stability when taking it in and out of the fridge.
- Make sure you give this pie plenty of time to chill in the fridge so that the filling sets fully before serving.
Storage Tips
- To Store: Store any leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- To Freeze: Freezing this no-bake Jello Pie is not recommended. When the pie thaws, it will cause the bottom of the pie to become soggy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can absolutely make this pie the night before to save time, especially since it needs time to chill before serving.
If you do not have access to orange extract, you can use fresh orange juice instead. 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice = 1/2 teaspoon orange extract. For this recipe, I use 1 teaspoon of orange extract which is the equivalent to 2 tablespoons of fresh orange juice.
Yes, it is easy to make your own whipped topping. Simply whip heavy whipping cream for a couple of minutes with a hand-held mixer until there are soft peaks. Sprinkle confectioner’s sugar over top and keep mixing on high until stiff peaks form. Check out our How to Make Whipped Topping recipe!
Blooming gelatin is a step integral to ensuring the smooth texture of a finished product. You simply allow the unflavored powder to sit for a few minutes until it has absorbed the liquid and the granules have dissolved. The granules will swell as it blooms.
Other Easy Pie Recipes
Creamsicle Pie
Ingredients
- 6 ounce premade graham cracker crust
- 0.25 ounce packet unflavored gelatin
- ¼ cup cold water
- 3 ounce box orange-flavored gelatin
- ½ cup boiling water
- ¼ cup crushed ice
- 1 teaspoon pure orange extract
- 8 ounce container whipped topping thawed
- 15 ounce can mandarin oranges drained and halved (reserve 8 whole slices for garnish)
- Canned whipped cream (optional garnish)
Instructions
- Add the ¼ cup cold water to a small bowl. Sprinkle the unflavored gelatin packet over the cold water, and stir to combine. Allow the gelatin to bloom for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the ½ cup boiling water to a medium-sized mixing bowl.
- Add the bloomed gelatin to the boiling water.
- Stir in the orange extract.
- Sprinkle the orange gelatin powder over the boiling water and stir until the gelatin completely dissolves.
- Stir in the ¼ cup crushed ice until the ice is completely dissolved.
- Fold in the whipped topping and halved mandarin oranges.
- Pour the pie filling into the premade graham cracker crust. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 4 hours. Slice into 8 slices. Just before you are ready to serve, garnish with a swirl of the canned whipped cream. Place 1 of the whole segments of mandarin oranges on top of the swirl.
Jenn’s Notes
- To Store: Store any leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- To Freeze: Freezing this no-bake Jello Pie is not recommended. When the pie thaws, it will cause the bottom of the pie to become soggy.
- If you want an even stronger orange flavor, you can add 2 teaspoons of fresh orange zest.
- If your pie crust is in a foil tin, I recommend sitting it (foil pan and all) inside a glass pie dish to give it a bit more stability when taking it in and out of the fridge.
- Make sure you give this pie plenty of time to chill in the fridge so that the filling sets fully before serving.
