Hope you all are having a wonderful day!
I've decided to have some of my favorite bloggers guest post every so often. My goal is to get more recipes to you, so you have more recipe choices for your family!
Today Joy of Lunches + Littles is sharing a no-bake mini berry cheesecakes recipe. She shares all sorts of tasty, kid-friendly recipes . She also shares her on feeding and meal times. Not only does she love making meals fun with the use of natural pops of color and unexpected flavor combos. Joy enjoys posting about how she gets her family to not only eat, but eat lots of healthy options. She's no rookie in the "feeding kiddos department", because she's a full-time Mama to three little ones (ages 2, 3 and 4 years).
Without further ado, I'll hand it over to Joy.
Happy Memorial Day Weekend! Any big plans? Do you attend a big get-together, or keep things a little closer to home?
My family and I are heading off to a larger gathering of family on Monday morning, and we are really looking forward to it. I am in charge of a few kid-friendly side/ treat options for after lunch, as well as a big ole’ fruit bowl and homemade fruit dip. I'm also bringing some of these No-Bake Mini Berry Cheesecakes w/ Granola Nut Crust.
What about you? Are you still looking for last-minute dessert idea? Or perhaps just a fun treat to make for your family? Well, youre in luck! These mini cakes are such a cute little treat, and they are made perfectly festive with an assortment of fresh berries on top. So delicious!
My kids love a special treat, especially for a family get-together and I'll be honest–So do I! And, I love how easy these no-bake mini berry cheesecakes are to make, and how they are the perfect size for little or big hands. This recipe is also a great one for getting your kids in the kitchen with you. I use a stand-mixer to combine and beat everything (though you can also use a hand mixer), and my oldest two just love helping with turning on and off the mixture and checking to see if things are just right.
See the full recipe below, and I hope you enjoy this festive treat. And, with the red, white and blue - these would also be great for the 4th of July (if you are anything like me and already planning ahead for that)!
Recipe
No-Bake Mini Berry Cheescakes
Ingredients
For the crust
- ½ cup almonds
- ½ cup walnuts
- ¼ cup pecans
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 to 2 tbsp water
- 3 pitted dates
For the filling
- ⅛ cup cold water
- ½ tbsp unflavored powdered gelatin (I use Knox)
- 1 ⅛ cup whipping cream
- 8 ounce package of cream cheese (room temp)
- 1 tbsp fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ tsp kosher salt
For the topping
- assorted fresh berries
Instructions
- Place muffin/cupcake liners in wells of a regular-sized muffin/cupcake pan. Set aside.
- Then, start making your crusts: In a large capacity food processor, combine all of the crust ingredients, minus the water, and process until a sticky dough starts to form. Then shut off and add in a little water.* Start with just 1 tbsp and see if it is moldable enough for the crust (you want something that is still clearly made up from pieces of nuts – be careful not to over process). Add more water as necessary.
- Once you have your ?dough? ready to go, press it into the bottom of your prepared pan (in liners). Press down/smooth as much as possible. Then place pan in the freezer for 1 hour.
- While dough is firming in freezer, start working on your filling...
- Pour cold water into a small saucepan (your smallest one, as it is only a little water!) and sprinkle gelatin over top water. Let sit for 5 min. Then, gently whisk mixture and cook over medium heat until the gelatin dissolves completely. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
- In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer bowl, beat whipping cream until thickened and stiff peaks form. Set aside. *If using a stand mixer and you only have one mixing bowl, remove cream from that bowl and place in another bowl. You need to use the stand mixer again in the next step!
- In a separate bowl or empty stand mixer bowl, combine: cream cheese, lemon juice, sugar, sour cream, vanilla and salt. Beat until completely smooth.
- Next, add a small amount of the cream cheese mixture (above) to the gelatin you set aside earlier to cool. Whisk until well combined.
- Then, fold that combined gelatin mixture into the remaining cream cheese mixture. Fold together until completely smooth.
- When time is up, remove prepared crusts from freezer, and divide filling between the crusts as shown below. Smooth out the tops, as needed. Then, place mini cheesecakes back in freezer for 2 hours, or refrigerate overnight (if time allows).
- Prior to serving, top with fresh fruit of choice: for these I used: blackberries, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries. For an extra festive touch, try using a mini food cutter to cut out star shapes, as seen above!
- If traveling with these, freeze prior to taking them. Or keep in a cooler. You want these to be served chilled!
Notes
Nutrition
Thank you Easy Toddler Meals for having me here to share today. For more delicious, colorful recipes that are both vibrant and nutritious, be sure to check out my feed, @lunchesandlittles, where I am serving up easy and family-friendly dishes, treats and more all the time!
