No Bake Berry White Chocolate Cheesecake Cups are perfectly portioned for a guiltless summer treat!
Oh, summer, you are finally, finally here! With your attendant pool days and BBQ’s and bonfires under starry skies! (Can you tell that I’m a big fan of summer?)
I love that summer’s arrival happily coincides with my birthday (and, as I learned by reading Tiger Beat as a youth, Prince William’s birthday–hope you had a good one, guv’nor!). And of course we had to celebrate in style, which meant leaving the oven off (heat indexes, amiright?) and whipping up these gorgeous, fluffy No Bake Berry White Chocolate Cheesecake Cups.
Because cupcake-sized things make everything better!
But before I can continue, I have to make a confession.
I used to hate cheesecake.
Yes, it is true. I mean, what’s so good about kind of sour cake? I just didn’t get it. I felt like Ben Wyatt upon witnessing the miracle that is Lil’ Sebastian.
And, oh, did the haters hate. People who love cheesecake can get kind of militant about it. (Militant Cheesecake Lover: “OMG! ARE YOU CRAZY!??? WHO DOESN’T LIKE CHEESECAKE?!!” To which I was all, in a tiny mouse voice, “Um, me?”)
Luckily, I had a come-to-cheesecake moment and was converted via Dulce de Leche Cheesecake (and let’s not forget those Berry Bliss Brownies of yore). And while I adore rich desserts as much as the next human, when summer rolls around I start thinking about lighter, fresher flavors.
Which, for cheesecake, meant the obvious next step: whipped cream cheese. Because what can’t fluffy, airy cream cheese improve? So I hit up the Kroger cheese aisle (AKA, my Happy Place as indicated by the look of pure, goofy bliss below) to pick up my all time favorite, Weight Watchers Whipped Cream Cheese.
Guys, this stuff is the gold standard of whipped cream cheese. I have used it for years on pretty much everything–my morning bagel thin, afternoon turkey sandwich (trust me, it’s delicious with turkey), and for quick dinners like creamy tomato soup. The airy texture makes me a bit weak in the knees and of course the real, cheesy goodness makes my life complete.
And when you put it in cheesecake?
Dudes: it is revelatory.
These cheesecake cupcakes come together so quickly and I just have to reiterate how much you’ll never turn on your oven when you’re making these. You basically pop a vanilla wafer in a cupcake liner, mix all that good, natural whipped cream cheese with white chocolate and a touch of powdered sugar, and you’re done!
While I recommend popping them in the fridge for a few hours to firm up you don’t strictly have to. And trust me, I would totally understand if you didn’t!
But I will insist that–however long you choose to wait before diving in–you must top it with fresh berries. They are just so lovely paired with the smooth cheesecake.
These perfectly portioned treats will satisfy you completely and made my birthday so very sweet!*
*And Warren did good with the whole arranging of the babysitter (um, when did we become actual grownups with a baby that needs a babysitter?!) and taking me out for dinner by the Detroit River. He’s a winner, that one.
No Bake Berry White Chocolate Cheesecake Cups
Ingredients
- 8 ounces white chocolate chips, melted
- 18 Low Fat Vanilla Wafer Cookies
- 8 ounces Weight Watchers Whipped Cream Cheese, room temperature
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 8 ounces lite whipped topping
- 2 cups mixed berries
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Put white chocolate chips in a large glass bowl and melt in the microwave (heat on high for one minute, then stir. Continue in 30 second increments until chocolate is melted). Set aside to cool slightly while you line a muffin tin with liners and put a cookie at the bottom of each liner.
- Use an electric hand beater to fully incorporate the whipped cream cheese into the melted white chocolate. Beat in the powdered sugar. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the whipped topping and spoon into muffin liners (almost all the way up).
- Refrigerate cheesecake cups for 3 hours, or until set. Top with mixed berries tossed in vanilla extract.
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