Cutest Little Cheesecakes Ever!

      It is blazing hot in Phoenix! Temperatures are hitting 120 degrees.  We made the mistake last Sunday of turning on the oven to make my husbands birthday dinner.  It took a long time for the air conditioner to catch up with that!  So now, I am looking for every way that I can to feed my family without heat! I am also looking for cute treats that are possibilities for my daughters bridal shower. So, looking through Pinterest, I found this pin.  I was so excited about it! Unfortunately, the recipes on that pin were baked.  As I said, that is not happening, but I knew I could do some unbaked things that would be delicious!
     Everyone seems to be on the mason jar kick lately.   I use the jars for canning, of course, but using the lids like tiny spring-forms is genius! I just happened to have these cute blue ones that my daughter picked up for me on clearance.

    I love the shiny blue color!  Ball is a great brand for canning supplies!
    So, the first thing I did was make a graham cracker crust.  When the weather cools off again, I will try this with my mom's famous pie crust and make some cute fruit pies. For now, here is how I do a graham cracker crust.
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     Hover over the pictures to get the directions.  
      I mean, you could do all of that in your food processor, but then you have to clean it.  Who wants to do that?
      Now, it is time to put the crust into the lids. See how they are like mini spring form pans?
     

       Normally I would give a little toasting to my crust in the oven because the sugar melts a bit and helps to set the crust.  Then, by refrigerating it, the butter hardens again throughout, also holding the crust in shape.  So, I had to rely on the butter since I think I have already mentioned that the oven was not going to be turned on.
     For the filling, I just used the basic cream cheese, whipped topping mixture.

      I just realized that I forgot to photograph some of these steps, but I think you can picture it.  Use the beaters to blend the softened cream cheese and 1/2 c. sugar together.  Add a tsp. of good vanilla.  Then, add a tub of whipped topping ( like Cool Whip) and whip together.
     Now, take the crusts out of the refrigerator and start to fill them.

    I whipped up about half of that bottle of cream.  One tip I would give you is to use confectioners sugar to sweeten it.  Then, there will be no little granules of sugar in your cream.  Also, do not sweeten too much, I use just a couple Tablespoons.  Whipped cream doesn't need to be overly sweet, especially in this already sweet treat.  Then, I piped on the cream to the top of the cheesecakes and added a slice of strawberry for garnish! They are adorable, rich and creamy! More photos! 

You can push it up out of the lid!

That is my husband's hand holding up this sweet tidbit! He was happy to finish it off.

     After all of the photography, someone had to finish off this little delicious dessert! I sacrificed myself!
    Now that I have discovered this fun technique, the possibilities are going to be endless! Think Key Lime! Think Pumpkin! I will keep you posted! Better yet, give me your flavor ideas!