Mason Jar Cheesecakes

The easiest way to get graham cracker crumbs that i’ve found is to put graham crackers into a ziploc bag and crush them with a rolling pin. This makes for easy cleanup and works for those who don’t have a food processor. I like to use 9 graham crackers because thats how many come in a sleeve of crackers, so it’s convenient!

Brown sugar, unsalted butter, and a pinch of salt. It’s that easy to make a graham cracker crust for these cheesecakes. I love these mason jar cheesecakes because they are super easy to make, portion, store, and take along with you wherever you go.

I love a thick graham cracker crust, It’s probably my favorite part of any cheesecake. When tamping it down be sure to not tamp it down too hard, because it can get very hard once cooled and be difficult to eat. Simply tamp it down gently before baking and you’ll be good to go.

Be sure to set your cream cheese out to soften, room temperature cream cheese is needed for this recipe as we beat it until it’s fluffy. This doesn’t need to be done using a stand mixer, it can be done by hand with a wooden spoon too. Cream the sugar and cream cheese the same way you would butter and sugar for cookies or muffins.

Using a tablespoon to pour the cheesecake batter makes portioning these out easier. I like to leave plenty of room on the top for the fresh fruit, which I add at the very end once the cheesecakes have chilled.

These bake in a water bath, so be very careful when placing into the oven and taking them out. Boil water on the stove and surround the cheesecakes with the boiling water, be sure to not get any water inside the jars. I like to make sure these are throughly chilled before putting in the fresh fruit, so I refrigerate them for at least 4 hours. It’s that easy, and now we have 6 mason jar cheesecakes ready to enjoy whenever you want!

Ingredients

• 9 graham crackers
• 4 tbsp brown sugar
• 5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• pinch of salt
• 8oz of cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 3 tbsp heavy cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• berries for topping

Instructions

1. place graham crackers into a ziplock bag and crush into crumbs using a rolling pin. Add the melted butter, brown sugar, and pinch of salt to the mixture.
2. Evenly distribute into mason jars and press down, I like to use a spice bottle for this part. Just pat the graham cracker crust down, don’t press it down too hard or else it will be hard to eat out of the jar.
3. Bake crust at 325 F for 10 minutes then let cool.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer or using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until fluffy.
5. Mix in white sugar, egg, heavy cream and vanilla.
6. Pour about 3 tbsp of filling into each mason jar and tap on the counter to smooth out the tops.
7. Place the jars into a baking pan with high sides, this is necessary because we are going to cook these in a water bath.
8. Bring some water to boil and pour into the baking pan, around the mason jars. The boiling water should be about halfway up the jars.
9. Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes.
10. Remove the jars from the pan and allow to cool. Once fully cooled put their lids on and put into the refrigerator. Chill for at least 4 hours, you can put your toppings in once the cheesecakes have cooled.