Hellobee

If you ask me, almost nothing is yummier than cheesecake, and everything tastes better when served in individual little glass jars. Making cheesecake in a jar takes this already easy no-bake recipe to an even easier place (no crust-making!), so you can easily and quickly make cheesecake for an army (or just for a big party or buffet table), and it is So. Crazy. Good.

I’ve been making this easy no-bake cheesecake from Martha Stewart (kids) for ages. It is super easy to make, you don’t have to plan too far ahead, and it’s delicious. It’s also easy to vary – you can change up the crust and the flavoring in lots of ways (see the bottom of this post for ideas).

Here’s how:

Mini No-Bake Cheesecakes in a Jar

• 20ish cookies (I used OREOs, but you can use graham crackers, ginger snaps, digestives, or pretty much any other cookie)
• 2 8-oz packages of cream cheese (or a little more if you like your cheesecake cheesier)
• 1 14-oz can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice (or other flavorings – see below)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Sweet little glass jars (baby food jars would be perfect – I use the jars that fancy french yoghurts come in), glasses, or disposable cups
• Blueberries, raspberries or another garnish of your choice

Crumble your cookies into the jars. I used around one and half cookies per jar, but just make sure the bottom of the jar is coated. The finer you crush your cookies, the better the cheesecake will spread around them.

Put the cream cheese in a mixing bowl and mix it with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until soft and smooth. Beat in the condensed milk a little at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Lastly add the lemon juice and vanilla and beat until well-combined.

Pour the filling your jars, and jiggle them a little so that the filling settles around over the biscuits and so any big air bubbles come out the top. Smooth the tops a little if you wish. Cover with plastic wrap (or use the lids of the jars), and refrigerate until firm, a couple of hours. Top with blueberries – they are wonderful together with the lemon cheesecake.

Some other great flavour combos:

• Plain vanilla cheesecake, digestive biscuits and strawberry garnish
• White chocolate cheesecake, gingersnap biscuits and pomegranate topping
• Chocolate cheesecake, Oreo cookies, and chocolate flake topping
• White chocolate cheesecake, digestive biscuits and raspberry topping