cheesecake in a jar

The other day, Gal made pie in a jar, so I decided to make my own little treats; cheesecake in a jar. I love to make single serving desserts, as people (I) tend to be more satisfied with a good looking but small dessert, rather than just one slice of a larger one. Plus, it's hard to go back for more if there's just enough.

Why make cheesecake in jar? 

• single servings
• a finite ending without the temptation of going for another slice
• less cleanup
• cute
• pie in a jar is all the rage and cheesecake is quite pie-esq

What does my cheesecake have going for it?

• all natural
• high fat
• minimal added sugar
• mostly healthy ingredients
• gluten free
• quasi-paleo, semi-primal, uber-vegetarian, and 100% clean damn eating!

Cheesecake in a jar

Makes 4 cheesecakes in jars

Ingredients

2 8oz packages of cream cheese, room temperature
4 tbsp honey
2 eggs
1 inch vanilla bean (scraped) or 1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp butter or coconut oil
8 tbsp sliced, slivered, or chopped almonds
4 8oz or 16oz wide mouth jars
1 cup sour cream (optional)
1-2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (optional)
2-3 cardamom pods worth of seeds (even more optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°

In a large mixing bowl or mixer, cream the cream cheese and honey together. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Beat by hand or with a mixer until it is relatively lump free. Some lumps are fine. Who's going to know?

Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Add the butter or coconut oil and the almonds. Toast the almonds, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and distribute the nuts on the bottom of each of the four jars.

Using a small measuring cup or scoop, distribute the cheese mixture evenly into the four jars. Wipe the jar rims clean of any batter using a paper towel.

Bake the cheesecakes for approximately 30 minutes (a toothpick or knife should come out clean).

The cheesecakes will puff up dramatically. Allow them this one chance to show their pride...

Remove them from the oven and set aside. Eventually, they will settle down. Let them.

You can use cold sour cream and/or blueberries for a simple little topping. The cold sour cream is easy. Stir it up until smooth and spoon it into the jars.

If using the blueberries, heat them in a saucepan until they start to burst. If desired, grind the cardamom seeds and stir them into the blueberries.

After the cheesecakes have settled, you can spoon the berries into the jars, whether their is sour cream in their or not.

Enjoy!

Where could I have gone wrong?

• they came out a little brown looking
• the blueberries look like olives
• despite only 1 tbsp of honey per jar, someone – who shall remain nameless – said they were a little too sweet
• it could use more crust, which is allowed, but "ups" the calories. ...and as we know, calories are delicious, fattening, and addicting
• if the jars were taller, there would have been more room for toppings like strawberries, bananas, kiwis, and more!

Next time! Because there's always a next time!