24 ounces of berries (I use a combo of blueberries & raspberries)
For the Graham Cracker Crust Layer:
2 heaping cups of graham cracker crumbs
6 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup melted butter
For the Cheesecake Layer:
16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream (entire 8 oz container)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons lemon or orange zest
- Combine all of the graham cracker crust ingredients (mix with a spoon until butter is evenly coated over crumbs).
- Divide about half of the mixture into 8 12-oz mason jars (reserving some of the crumbs to layer on top of the cheesecake filling).
- Press gently into bottom of jars.
- Mix all of the cheesecake ingredients with an electric mixer – whip until smooth and fluffy.
- Divide evenly among the 8 jars, on top of the graham cracker crust layer.
- Add the remaining graham cracker crumbs over the top of the cheesecake layer.
- Top with berries of choice, cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Serves 8
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SIDE NOTES:
~ I’ve made this twice so far – super yummy! And I love a *no-bake* dessert – just whip everything together and refrigerate!
~ To make it easier for myself going forward (to eliminate having to measure the crumbs) – 23 graham crackers (Annie’s organic honey grahams) tossed into a blender seems to do the trick (about 2.5 of the individually wrapped cracker packages inside the box – there are 9 crackers in each individually wrapped package).
~ I use mascarpone (Italian) cream cheese.
~ About 1 lemon’s worth of zest should do it…. and if you’re an efficient lemon squeezer – 1 lemon should get you the 1/4 cup. I squeezed with my wimpy hands, and needed to dip into a second lemon to get enough.
~ Of course, you can use smaller, pint-sized jars if that’s what you have on hand – in which case, you can cut recipe in half for 6 jars, or follow as is for 12 jars.
~ The original recipe (from keyingredient.com) called for “berry filling” instead of fresh berries and whipped cream on top. I think berry filling is just berries and sugar cooked down, and whipped cream adds even more sugar. It’s already sweet enough as is without either of these extra sugar doses. In fact – I might test out reducing the sugar in the cheesecake layer a little next time – as I think it would be fine (& maybe even a little better according to my taste) slightly less sweet.
~ Can be made in advance / day before and stored covered in refrigerator – though best to add the berries day of or just before serving. These will last for several days in the fridge if you make extra.
Enjoy! 🙂
