Cheesecakes in Jars
August 17, 2011 
I like the idea of serving little individual desserts at get togethers and these little cheesecakes do the job. People can just pick one up and go - no slicing and serving required. I made lemon pound cake parfaits in taller jars but these little cheesecakes are in the smaller 4-ounce jelly jars. You can find them easily at your grocery store. They are just about the perfect serving size for all those people who say, "Oh, I shouldn't eat dessert. Well, maybe just a few bites." The toppings that you can use are endless. I had to make a few of these with mini chocolate chips for my sweet guy, Nathan - he doesn't do raspberries. I was also thinking a nice layer of caramel sauce would be heavenly.
The recipe calls for vanilla extract, something I never buy in the grocery store. I've purchased vanilla beans for a long time from Beanilla, a great company that sells the most luscious, plump vanilla beans you ever saw. I love slicing a vanilla bean and scraping out the seeds, or caviar, for desserts. It adds such a depth of flavor. Rob, the founder of Beanilla, has some very interesting items in addition to the vanilla beans. I've used his vanilla bean paste in this recipe. It's a quick way to add the vanilla bean seeds without having to use a whole vanilla bean.
Vanilla Bean Paste from Beanilla
Cheesecakes in Jars
for a printable recipe, click here
makes 24 little cheesecakes. (the recipe is easily halved)
you will need 24 4-ounce regular mouth jelly jars
Ingredients
for the cheesecake:
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs (16 whole graham crackers, ground)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 8 tablespoons butter, melted
- 4 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used 1/4 teaspoon vanilla paste)
- zest of 1 lemon
for the Raspberry Topping:
- 2 pints of fresh raspberries
- strawberry or raspberry jelly
Other toppings: I used mini chocolate chips. You can really do anything you like for the toppings. All kinds of fruit would work, caramel sauce, meringue, etc.
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.
Spray the jelly jars with non-stick cooking spray, making sure to spray the bottoms so the crust doesn't stick.
Blend the graham cracker crumbs, 2 tablespoons of sugar and melted butter in a bowl. Place about 1 heaping tablespoon of the crumbs into each jelly jar and tamp down to make the crust (I used a wine cork).
I used a Rabbit wine cork to tamp down the crumbs for the crusts
In a large mixer bowl, mix the room temperature cream cheese with the 3/4 cup of sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix well. Add the sour cream, vanilla and lemon zest and mix until well incorporated. Fill each jelly jar with about 1/3 cup of the filling, leaving room at the top for your topping.
Place the jars in a large roasting pan or two deep baking dishes. Fill the pan with hot water halfway up the jelly jars. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove jars with tongs and place on a wire rack to cool.
garnish with fresh mint
For the raspberry topping: pick over the raspberries and discard any that are moldy or bruised. Place 7 raspberries on top of each cheesecake. Heat about 1/3 cup of the jelly in a microwave and stir so that the jelly is spreadable. Brush the tops of the raspberries gently with the jelly to glaze them. Refrigerate cheesecakes until ready to serve. Can be made the day before.
Reader Comments (92)
I love this idea - they are so cute! And thanks for the reminder that I have 20 bottles of vanilla extract in the basement I need to give to friends!
This is an incredible fundraiser idea! Thank for this! I definitely will be utilizing your recipe.
tHIS LOOKS amazing!!!!
I can't wait to try these!! I just recently made the Lemon Pound Cake Parfaits in the jelly jars for my Mother's birthday dinner. They were so good! Now the only desert my husband actually likes is Cheese Cake... I will be making these for him for sure!
I love this idea too!!! So cute and tasty looking! I would love to have one as dessert now please! Great for parties.
I really like the idea of dessert in a jar, great idea for parties. You can make an assortment of cakes, parfaits oh the possibilities!
YUM!!
Oh my goodness! How perfect!! I'm having company next week and wanted something fancy but simple; this'll be perfect. I can also see myself popping extras into the freezer. Ingenious, as usual, ma'am!
This is just perfect for parties what a beautiful presentation Elaine!
Individual desserts are great. Maybe it's because you don't have to cut into and ruin a pretty display of baked goods before serving it. Either way I love these.
This is brilliant! I can make some of the cheesecakes gluten-free for my friends with celiac disease without having to make an entire GF cake. Everybody is happy!
I've only just discovered your blog and I love it. These look adorable!
What a great twist on cheesecake! Absolutely wonderful....
What an adorable idea! I'll definitely have to try this one.
scrumptioussaturdays.blogspot.com
These look so cute! I've seen cupcakes in jars before but this is the first time I've seen something different :)
I made these this weekend and they came out SO cute! I made two versions - no bake and baked. Some had homemade strawberry sauce and the others had chocolate chips and sprinkles of sugar/choclate and coffee from my Trader Joe's grinder. I don't like cheesecake but my taste testers at work said it was super tasty.
These are beautiful.. fantastic job! :)
What a grand idea - maybe would help me with "cheesecake portion control" - which I do not have. There's something so beautiful about individual desserts - so personal and sweet.
I was wondering if this would be ok to ship within the US (maybe overnight)? What would you think?
Btw...they look SO good!! I could make these in advance and take one to work with me so I can get my "sweets" craving without worrying about taking the whole cake and something to slice it with and then taking it back home. Then the co-workers wanting some...blah...such a mess.
I love recipes in jars. This is the first time I've seen cheesecakes. Clever and beautiful! Your photos are stunning.
What a fantastic idea! I love making cheesecake and putting them in jars is genius! So so cute
i made this on saturday but with 8 ounce jars because i didn't have 4 ounce ones. AMAZING!!! they were quite the hit.
where do i get the 4oz jars ?
They sell them in the supermarket. I purchased mine from Ralph's supermarket
I had to come over and share that I made this recipe with 8 oz jars for my Bible Study Christmas party that's tonight. They are SO good and so easy. I made the cheesecakes yesterday afternoon and just put the raspberries and drizzle over them tonight. They are so fun to...even just look at. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I know my girlfriends are going to love them.
Cute gift idea.
The ingredients requires 2 tablespoon of sugar than 3/4 cup of sugar. Is the 2 tablespoon of sugar for the crumbs and the 3/4 cup of sugar for the cheesecake itself? So I never made a cheesecake before :-)
From The Italian Dish:
Stacy: Yes, that is correct. I rewrote it so it's a little clearer. Thank you.
What would you charge if it is a fundraiser? My youngest out of six has rett syndrome and they are hopeful to reverse it. I love this idea!
How long do you cook these in 8 ounce jars? Thanks.
The 8 ounce size if I fill them full - how long to cook? Thank you!
From The Italian Dish:
I would cook them about 10 minutes longer, just until still jiggly in the center.
Would these be chilled enough after 2 hours in the fridge?
Do you happen to have or know about apple pie in jars? I saw it posted in one of my e-mails ,thought I saved it but didn't ,if you do could you please post it Thanks Martha
Has anyone tried to freeze these? I have a baby shower next week but would like to make them in advance so I don't have to add something to my list for the day before...
How far in advance can you make these?
Great idea... thank you!
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yes would love to know if these are freezable (is that even a word? lol)
Love the portion size! These look so good!
What about in place of "Zest of one lemon" ? I have an allergy to all citrus actually but I LOVE cheesecakes in any sizes and thought this would actually be really cute to do for my daughters class too ;-)
Could we freeze these for a week?
such a great little recipe..and terrific photography here too...great job folks....love it!
I want to try these little cheese cakes..and it just so happens were cooking for a friends 62 birthday today...hmmm
Keith
I LOVE the idea of eating a small dessert out of a container more substantial than a cupcake paper. So much easier and neater to eat! Cupcake shops take note! Thanks so much for the recipe!
Which jars can go in the oven??? or is it a special way to do it to where they wont break
From The Italian Dish:
Krystal: Not sure what you mean. The jars are baked in a nice little water bath in a roasting pan. They do not break.
For my son's wedding I made 228 of these :) everyone LOVED them!! I make the & froze them for a week, there wasn't any taste/texture difference!! Thank you for sharing this!!
From The Italian Dish:
Dana: Impressive! How great is that. My hat is off to you. Please tell me about the toppings you used and how you froze so many of them!
Wow! These are adorable. I could halve the recipe and maybe freeze a few? or how long could I keep them in the fridge? We don't entertain at home and no family nearby to share yummies. So being able to keep some for later would be even better!
Oh my goodness...a little taste of heaven. Thank you so much, I feel like I can live life a little better when people share such wonderful ideas for the little joys we can create and share with those that we love :)