No-Bake Cherry Cheesecake Cups with Amaretto

These No-Bake Cherry Cheesecake Cups with Amaretto are the perfect single serving desserts to feed you and your friends during the hot days of summer. Make these when cherries are in season and you don’t feel like turning your oven on.

Cheesecake is a favorite around here. In fact, Wyatt usually requests cheesecake for his birthday instead of a traditional cake so it’s something I’ve gotten really good at mastering over the years. However, when you are in the middle of a pandemic and it is only two of you living together, eating an entire cheesecake can be a challenge. That’s why I decided to recipe develop these cheesecake cups instead – they are the perfect little portions for 4 or less people. We both devoured one each the first day I made these and then were excited to have one more portion each waiting for us in the fridge the next day.

The other important element of this No-Bake Cherry Cheesecake dessert is that it’s no bake so you don’t have to worry about turning your oven on in the middle of summer. And the whole things comes together in under 30 minutes so you don’t have to worry about being cooped up in your kitchen for hours on a sunny summer day. There’s a little bit of sour cream thrown into the cream cheese filling for extra tang and the cherries are macerated (soaked in liquid and sugar) to bring out their sweetness and give a little boozy punch. If you don’t have amaretto liquior on hand or don’t want to use it, you could also add a few drops of almond extract instead.

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No-Bake Amaretto Cherry Cheesecake Cups

These No-Bake Cherry Cheesecake Cups with Amaretto are the perfect single serving desserts to feed you and your friends during the hot days of summer. Make these when cherries are in season and you don’t feel like turning your oven on.

Course: Sweets

Cuisine: American

Servings: 4

Ingredients

For the topping:

• 1 cup fresh cherries, pitted and halved
• 1/4 cup Amaretto liquor divided
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar

For the filling:

• 1 8 oz block of cream cheese softened
• 1 Tbsp whole milk
• 2 Tbsp sour cream
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp Amaretto liquor
• 1/8 tsp salt

For the crust:

• 5 graham crackers (about half a sleeve) crushed
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
• 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
• pinch of salt

Everything else:

• mint or basil leaves for garnish

Instructions

For the topping:

1. Combine the cherries, 1/4 cup Amaretto, and brown sugar in a small bowl and toss to mix. Set aside and let marinate while you prepare the rest of the cheesecake.

For the crust:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, sugar, and pinch of salt until all the crumbs are wet and starting to stick together. Divide the mixture evenly into 4 small glasses or serving bowl and press down to compact the crust. Set aside.

For the filling:

1. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk together the cream cheese, sour cream, and milk on high speed for one minute or until light and fluffy.

2. Turn the mixer speed down to low and add in the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, Amaretto and salt and mix until combined, about 10 seconds. Increase the speed up to medium and whisk until light and fluffy, about another minute.

3. Divid the filling evenly into the 4 glasses with the crusts and smooth down the filing so it is even. If serving right away, move to the next step. If serving later, cover both the glasses and the bowl with the cherries with plastic wrap and place in the fridge until ready to serve.

To serve:

1. Divide the topping between the 4 glasses and garnish with mint or basil leaves and serve right away.

Make sure to tag Vegetarian ‘Ventures on Instagram and use #vegetarianventures when trying this dish out!