Individual No-Bake Cheesecake Cups

I am so excited to share this recipe with you today.  It is pure genius!  It's one of those recipes that is kind of dangerous to know, because it's so easy to make that you'll find yourself making it all too often.  

My sweet friend, Brenda, made me (and my family) a lovely steak dinner on Sunday for my birthday.  It was amazing!  She made smashed red potatoes and a really yummy pan sauce made with goat cheese. Mmm! And roasted Brussels sprouts, which are my fav.  So good.  I brought dessert.  I wanted to make a cheesecake, because I love cheesecake, and because I had gotten a jar of chocolate raspberry sauce with my last Pampered Chef order, and what better to drizzle it over than cheesecake?  But alas, my oven was broken.  Cheesecake would not be happening.  So I scanned my "Easy Dessert Recipes" board on Pinterest for some no-bake inspiration.  I ran across a pin for "Name Your Flavour Cheesecake Pots" at Always Leave Room For Dessert and thought that sounded perfect.  Probably not quite as good as traditional cheesecake, but kind of the same idea, and easier too.

The awesome thing about these individual cheesecake cups (aside from how easy they are), is that you can very easily change up the flavor in countless different ways.  You can make them fruity by using fresh or frozen berries or fruit jam of any type.  You can make them chocolatey by using a chocolate ganache or Nutella.  I haven't tried it, but I bet you could even use peanut butter or caramel.  If you can stir it in, it will work! 

Because I can never make a recipe exactly as it is written, I added a little something to these.  Since they are cheesecake-y, I added graham cracker crumbs to the bottom.  A little added touch which I think really takes these over the top.

Individual No-Bake Cheesecake Cups

Ingredients:

½ cup graham cracker crumbs

2 tbsp melted butter

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

¼ cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup of mix-in of your choice:

·        Nutella

·        Pureed fresh or frozen fruit

·        Seedless fruit jam

·        Peanut butter

·        Anything else that sounds good!

2 – 4 tbsp milk, if necessary

Whipped cream

Directions:

Combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter in a small bowl.  Put 2 tbsp crumb mixture into each of 4 small juice glasses or dessert cups.  Press down to pack.

In a mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar.  Stir well to smooth out any lumps.  Stir in vanilla.  Stir in whatever mix-in you have chosen.  If using a thick ingredient like Nutella or peanut butter, stir in 2 tbsp of milk.  If still thick, stir in another 2 tbsp until smooth.  If using fruit jam, you will probably not need the milk.  The consistency should be somewhat thick, but still pourable.

Put ⅓ cup of filling in each dessert cup on top of the graham cracker crumbs.  Use a spoon and try not to get it on the sides as you are filling them.  Cover each cup with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least an hour, or until filling sets.

Right before serving, top each with whipped cream.

Makes 4 servings.

 Nutella No-Bake Cheesecake Cup.  Amazing!  

Raspberry No-Bake Cheesecake Cup made with seedless raspberry jam.  This was really good too.  It turned out thinner than the Nutella one; I probably should have left out the milk.  But it was still incredible as it was.

 Aren't they just too cute!  These are perfect for parties.  

I am so glad I came across this recipe.  I can't wait to try it with different ingredients.  What flavor would you choose?