Perfect for holiday gatherings, these No Bake Cranberry Cheesecake Jars feature a golden brown cookie crumb crust, easy cranberry jam layer, and creamy vanilla cheesecake. Made in individual cups or jars and without baking are the perfect quick treat.
These lovely pink Individual jars make for an ideal holiday season dessert. It tastes like a cranberry pie but in mini versions. They're simple to prepare, can be made in advance, and won't occupy valuable oven space.
More Christmas treats? Try these: cranberry orange bread, pumpkin muffins, spritz cookies, no chill gingerbread cookies.
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Why You'll Love These Cheesecake Jars
A perfect holiday dessert doesn't need complicated instructions or numerous ingredients. With just a few simple ingredients and a bit of prep time, you'll have a delightful batch of creamy dessert cups ready to serve at your dinner party.
- Made for sharing. Ideal for a crowd, these are grab-and-go delights.
- Easy dessert. With only a handful of ingredients and three simple steps, these are extra speedy!
- The perfect texture. While traditional cheesecake tends to be dense, these no-bake cheesecake jars result in a light and airy texture, creating a delightful fluffiness.
- Delicious toppings. Top them off with orange cranberry sauce, fresh fruit or sugared berries, or your preferred toppings such as caramel sauce.
🛒Ingredients
- Cream cheese - opt for room temperature cream cheese. Whether you're using regular or non-dairy, this recipe won't succeed with cold cream cheese. Make sure to take it out of the fridge at least an hour before beginning. You can also make your own cream cheese recipe. Only use blocks of real cream cheese, avoiding cream cheese spreads.
- Yogurt - helps to create a lighter, airy and extra creamy texture to the cheesecakes.
- Vanilla extract - pure vanilla enhances the cheesecake's flavor. For more fun flavors, try adding almond extract, or orange or lemon zest in the batter instead.
- Cookie crumbs - you can break them into small pieces or crush them with a rolling pin in a ziptop bag. I used Biscoff lotus cookies, if you don’t have these you can use vanilla wafers or graham cracker crumbs or even oreo cookies.
- Cranberry sauce - I like to use regular or homemade orange cranberry sauce for this recipe. If you are in a rush, grab a cranberry jam, pie filling or sauce from the grocery store. Feel free to switch things up by using a different filling next time, anything goes from apple filling to blueberry or lemon.
- Sugared cranberries (for garnish) - I used fresh cranberries mixed with sugar and some fresh rosemary sprigs. Feel free to add more topings: chocolate chips, sprinkles, or fresh berries.
For the full list of ingredients, please scroll down to where you'll find the recipe card.
🥣Instructions
Make the cookie crumb crust: Combine crushed cookies with melted butter in either a food processor or a mixing bowl.
Get 8 small jars ready. Place 2 tablespoons of the crushed cookies into the bottom of each jar and press it down firmly.
Creamy filling. For the cheesecake filling, use a handheld mixer to blend cream cheese, Greek yogurt, orange juice, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl until well combined. Of course, you can also mix everything in a bowl of a stand mixer.
With a spatula fill a piping bag with the cream cheese mixture. Divide the mixture evenly among the jars, leaving some space for the cranberry sauce on top.
The cranberry topping. Finish by adding a layer of cranberry sauce over the cheesecake mixture in each jar.
Chill. Let the jars chill in the fridge for 24 hours. If you're short on time, refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
Make Sugared cranberries. In a medium saucepan, combine ¼ cup water and ¼ cup sugar. Bring it to a boil and let it simmer over low heat for 2 minutes. Then, remove it from the heat.
Add the cranberries to the syrup, ensuring they're fully coated. Let them sit for 10 minutes, then remove them using a slotted spoon. Place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet or metal rack to dry for 30 minutes.
In batches, roll the cranberries in the remaining ¼ cup sugar to coat them. If you have any leftover fresh cranberries, consider using them for another dessert, freezing them, or as a topping for overnight oats.
Topping. The sugared cranberries and rosemary. Prior to serving, garnish with sugar-coated tart cranberries, whipped cream, and rosemary stalks for an appealing presentation.
⏲️ Recommended Equipment
- Rubber spatula
- Piping bag
- Small mason jars or slightly bigger
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Food Processor
- Electric Stand Mixer or handheld mixer
No Bake Cheesecake Popular Substitutions
- Cream cheese: Cream cheese is key in this recipe. I used regular cream cheese, but you can opt for vegan alternatives like almond or cashew-based cream cheese.
- Cookie crust: I used Lotus cookie base but you can also use DIY buttery Graham cracker crust, oreos, vanilla wafers.
- Greek yogurt: I prefer using full-fat Greek yogurt for its rich flavor and texture. While lower-fat options could be used, I don't particularly recommend them for this recipe.
- Powdered Sugar: it is ideal for texture and helps the cream cheese to set. If you leave it out, the cheesecakes may still turn out great but the texture will be different. In this case, for sweetness, add a drizzle of honey to the creamy mixture.
📋Tips
- To achieve the best sugar-coated cranberries, ensure they're prepared just before serving to maintain their freshness. Refrigerating them may cause moisture buildup, altering their texture.
- If you've forgotten to set out your cream cheese to soften, be sure to checkout these tips on how to quickly soften cream cheese.
- Ensure the cream is chilled before whipping to achieve a nice, fluffy texture. Before blending it with the sugar, make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature to prevent lumps in the cheesecake ''batter''.
- Preparing for a party? These festive cheesecake jars can be made ahead up to 4 days. And topped before serving.
Can You Make These No Bake Cheesecakes Ahead Of Time?
- If you're a planner, these No-Bake Cranberry Cheesecakes are for you. They stay good in the fridge for up to 2 days, though the crust may lose some texture after that.
- This allows you to prepare these a day in advance. Simply prepare the cheesecakes and store the cranberry sauce separately.
- Before serving, add the cranberry sauce on top of the cheesecakes, sprinkle some fresh orange zest for garnish, and present them as if you've spent hours in the kitchen!
Storage Instructions
- 🍱To Store. These no-bake desserts can be covered and kept in the refrigerator for up to 2-4 days. While they remain enjoyable for an extra day or two beyond that, the crust's texture might slightly deteriorate afterward.
- 🥶Freezing. For freezing, exclude the topping (ideally the base too) and store these no-bake cheesecake jars for up to three months. Thaw in the fridge overnight and add your toppings and jam before serving. Avoid freezing them with the topping, as it may affect the thawing process.
- Try these cranberry overnight oats if you want another idea for using up leftover cranberry sauce!
Delicious Christmas Dessert Recipes
For all tasty treats, scroll through our Desserts archives.
🤷Frequently Asked Questions
No! Using a freshly prepared or canned cranberry sauce is completely fine. However, I personally believe that homemade cranberry sauce offers a superior taste which can’t compare to store-bought options, so I highly recommend choosing that option.
You could freeze these for up to 3 months, but only the creamy filling (ideally without the base and topping).
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📖Recipe
Individual No Bake Cranberry Cheesecake Jars
Ingredients
For Cheesecake Jars
- 1 cup crushed cookies such as Biscoff Lotus
- 3 tablespoon salted butter melted
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- ¾ cup Greek yogurt room temp
- ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
- 2 tablespoon orange juice
- 1 cups cranberry orange sauce or store bought cranberry sauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For Sugared Cranberries
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cups granulated sugar divided
- ½ cups fresh cranberries rinsed and dried
Instructions
- Make the cookie crumb crust. Combine crushed cookies with melted butter in either a food processor or a mixing bowl.
- Get 8 small jars ready. Place 2 tablespoons of the crushed cookies into the bottom of each jar and press it down firmly.
- Creamy filling. For the cheesecake filling, use a handheld mixer to blend cream cheese, Greek yogurt, orange juice, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl until well combined. Of course, you can also mix everything in a bowl of a stand mixer.
- With a spatula fill a piping bag with the cream cheese mixture. Divide the mixture evenly among the jars, leaving some space for the cranberry sauce on top.
- The cranberry sauce topping. Finish by adding a layer of cranberry sauce over the cheesecake mixture in each jar.
- Chill. Let the jars chill in the fridge for 24 hours. If you're short on time, refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
- Make Sugared cranberries. In a medium saucepan, combine ¼ cup water and ¼ cup sugar. Bring it to a boil and let it simmer over low heat for 2 minutes. Then, remove it from the heat.
- Add the cranberries to the syrup, ensuring they're fully coated. Let them sit for 10 minutes, then remove them using a slotted spoon. Place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet or metal rack to dry for 30 minutes.
- In batches, roll the cranberries in the remaining ¼ cup sugar to coat them. If you have any leftover fresh cranberries, consider using them for another dessert, freezing them, or as a topping for overnight oats.
- Finishing Touches. Prior to serving, garnish with sugar-coated tart cranberries, and rosemary stalks for an appealing presentation.
Notes
- 🍱To Store. These no-bake desserts can be covered and kept in the refrigerator for up to 2-4 days. While they remain enjoyable for an extra day or two beyond that, the crust's texture might slightly deteriorate afterward.
- 🥶Freezing. For freezing, exclude the topping (ideally the base too) and store these no-bake cheesecake jars for up to three months. Thaw in the fridge overnight and add your toppings and jam before serving. Avoid freezing them with the topping, as it may affect the thawing process.
These cranberry individual cheesecake cups are perfect for upcming holidays!