Easy Cherry Cheesecake Mini Desserts
Easy cherry cheesecake mini desserts look so pretty and taste so good! They are especially tempting in these little mini coupes, which I found at Pier 1 Imports a few years ago. These mini desserts are a perfect treat to offer after a meal! How can anyone refuse them?
Unlike the mini cherry cheesecakes from an earlier post, these little desserts do not have to be baked. They are quick and incredibly easy. They can be served right away or made a few hours to a day in advance and refrigerated until serving time.
(I think they taste best chilled for at least two hours.)
Cherry Cheesecake Mini Desserts
2/3 cup graham crackers
1/3 cup finely chopped almonds
3 tblsp butter
1 tsp sugar
1 can cherry pie filling
1 - 8-ounce block of cream cheese
1 package instant vanilla pudding
1 cup milk
8-ounce tub of Cool Whip
Combine the graham crackers, chopped almonds, melted butter, and sugar in a bowl. Divide the mixture into each of the twelve mini dessert dishes or shot glasses. Press the mixture down firmly in the bottom of each little dish.
*I didn't use all of the crust mixture. You don't want too much crust! There was enough crust mixture and filling to make a couple of extras for my taste testers!
Place about a tablespoon of pie filling on top of the cracker layer in the bottom of the dish.
Place the softened cream cheese in the bottom of a large mixing bowl with a small amount of the milk. Mix well and continue adding milk until the mixture is combined. Stir in pudding and mix well. Gently stir in half, (4 ounces), of the Cool Whip.
Fill each of the dessert dishes with the cream cheese mixture. Top each little dessert with the remaining pie filling.
*Make this in advance and chill for two hours.
Although I used the cherry pie filling for these, fresh strawberries and the strawberry gelatin glaze would be delicious, too. If blueberries are your favorite, the blueberry filling could be substitued. It's a pretty versatile dessert. It could also be topped with whipped cream or sprinkled with some of the leftover cracker mixture, or both!
Six of these mini dessert dishes fit nicely on one of two white rectangular platters, which I have. When I pulled these out of the refrigerator there were several ahs. These little desserts look so bright, cheery, festive, and the mini glasses with the tiny little spoons are just adorable.
The set of these mini coupes included the spoons but I have seen them sold separately. Some of the party supply stores have the disposable mini glasses and the miniature plastic silverware, too. They come in handy if you don't want to worry about retrieving your good spoons and glasses and they look pretty, too. I've used them before when making mini desserts for wedding dessert tables.
If you have company coming, don't have a lot of time, and want a stand out dessert, you simply must try these easy cherry cheesecake mini desserts!
