Every bite was less and less believable, how could it just be biscuits and yogurt? Well, ladies and gents, let me be the first reputable Gaucho foodie to tell you: This is not a drill, the two-ingredient japanese cheesecake is real and easily within your reach. Pihu Jain / Daily Nexus
When it comes to cooking, I am often a creature of simple mind: I see a viral, low-effort, low-stakes recipe, I go ahead and try it. This inclination has led me to some of the best (tanghulu, oh my) and worst (frozen Sprite gummies, not for the faint of heart or teeth) snacks of my early 20s. While these recipes advertise themselves as being “life-changing” and incredibly close to the real version of what they are mimicking, they often fall short. Like mug cakes, viral recipes often scratch at the surface of the real thing but can never come close. That’s what I thought for the longest time, until a few days ago.
I never thought I would eat my words as quickly as I ate the two-ingredient Japanese cheesecake I’m about to talk you into trying.
This weekend, my Instagram feed was bursting at the seams with videos on the two-ingredient Japanese cheesecake, seemingly out of nowhere (though I suspect it has something to do with my sister and I having an in-depth discussion near my phone about the Japanese Soufflé Cheesecakes we had just purchased at Trader Joe’s that morning). I couldn’t believe that a dessert could be so easy to make, but countless swipes on Instagram couldn’t rid me of the recipe, so I decided to pop into my kitchen and put it to the test. Thankfully, my parents had just bought a lifetime supply of Biscoff cookies from Costco and, with a leftover container of yogurt, I went to work. Two minutes later, my budding creation safe in the cool arms of refrigeration, I went to bed, eager to see if the myth of the two-ingredient cheesecake was true.
What greeted me the next morning was nothing short of a dessert miracle. I, who had burned almost every batch of cookies I touched, had somehow created a delicious cheesecake-esque snack. Every bite was less and less believable, how could it just be biscuits and yogurt? Well, ladies and gents, let me be the first reputable Gaucho foodie to tell you: This is not a drill, the two-ingredient japanese cheesecake is real and easily within your reach.
With a rich fluffy texture and all the cinnamon-y, comforting goodness of a Biscoff biscuit, this recipe is not only easy to make but delicious with every bite. See for yourself:
Two-ingredient Japanese Cheesecake
Yield: 2 servings
Duration: ~12 hours
Ingredients:
- 2 cups whole milk yogurt (I used Chobani Greek Whole Milk Yogurt, but any will do)
- 1 pack Biscoff cookies (or any you’d like to try in this recipe)
Instructions:
- Place your yogurt into a medium-sized bowl, ensuring even distribution across the top
- Stuff in as many biscuits as you desire, ensuring they are mostly submerged in yogurt
- You can place the biscuits sideways or vertically, as long as they fit! Breaking them in half seems to also do the trick.
- Leave overnight or at least 12 hours, then take out and enjoy!
Maybe it’s the ease with which it came so close to a cheesecake that has left me in awe, and perhaps after the sugar coma wears off I’ll come to my senses, but for now I’ll remain willfully ignorant and declare this the easiest dessert hack of the year (I don’t care that the year has just begun, this recipe, like “Marty Supreme,” has blown all the other competition out of the water). For me, this plain version has been the best so far because I particularly enjoy the creamy sweet-tartness of a New York cheesecake, which I think this recipe comes close to emulating. I know it’s supposed to mimic a Japanese cheesecake, which it certainly did so in texture (light and fluffy), but for me the flavor was more traditional. It likely depends on the yogurt you use.
If you like a more adventurous flavor profile, you don’t have to stop with just these ingredients. I saw so many different variations of this recipe incorporating Oreos, pistachios, and mixing the yogurt with espresso and dusting with cocoa powder to get a tiramisu cheesecake flavor. This is the only one I’ve tried thus far, but I’m ready to make a strawberry cheesecake next. You could even use a yogurt with a higher protein content and enjoy the dessert as a post-workout reward. Whatever floats your boat, this recipe is “shore” to ferry you with minimal cost and time to that dessert heaven that seems so far away on a busy day.
A version of this article appeared on p. 11 of the January 22nd, 2026 print edition of the Daily Nexus.
