Masonable Mondays #7 - Cheesecake

Welcome to Masonable Mondays #7! I know it has been a while. I am sorry about that. But I think this #Masonable will make it up to you. Have you seen those new cheesecake snacks? They sell them as a divided cup with cheesecake filling on one side and chocolate, caramel or cherry topping on the other. What a perfect idea for a masonable! Now I decided to use cottage cheese to make my cheesecake snacks. I had recently seen a Dr. Oz show that boasted the nutritional values of cottage cheese. It is a great source of both protein and calcium. When you blend it up smooth it looks more like yogurt and can be used in both sweet and savory recipes. It works beautifully in these cheesecake masonables. Perfect for a snack, breakfast or dessert! I sweetened it with maple syrup, vanilla and lemon zest. It has that classic cheesecake flavor. But just think about it, the possibilities are endless. You can use light cottage cheese, neufchatel or cream cheese if you like. Any cheesecake flavor you can imagine can be adapted to a masonable. Whether you enjoy fruit toppings or indulgent rich mix-ins. You are just limited by your imagination. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Top with any combination of fresh or frozen fruit. 

I chose thawed frozen dark cherries today. But try blueberries, peaches or strawberries. Heck top with jam or pie filling if you like.

Oreo! Try stirring in or topping with crushed oreos 

or spoon cheesecake filling on thin oreos.

What about Amaretto? Substitute Almond liquor or extract for vanilla or maple syrup. Top with toasted almonds and serve with Italian Amaretti cookies.

Or Peanut Butter Cup!? Stir in peanut butter and drizzle with melted chocolate. Or keep it simple and just chop up some Reese's peanut butter cups.

So many ideas come to mind. I hope you will try this recipe or create your own. Be sure to let me know what you put in your Cheesecake Masonable.

Cheesecake Masonable
Makes 4 - 1/2 cup servings

Supplies

4 wide mouth half pint Mason jar
4 empty fruit cup

Ingredients

2 cups cottage cheese (4% milkfat, small curd)
3 Tbsp. real maple syrup
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
zest of small lemon
20 frozen dark cherries, thawed
24 Honey Nut Thins, Honey Cinnamon flavored

Directions

Place cottage cheese, maple syrup, vanilla and lemon zest in a blender container. Blend until smooth. Divide into 4 wide mouth half pint mason jars. Top with five cherries or toppings of you choice. Place lid on top of the jar. Stack six nut thins on lid. Place fruit cup inverted on top of nut thins and lid. Add mason jar ring to secure everything in place. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Note: You can reduce the serving size and calories by making 6 - 1/3 cup servings. That is almost one a day for an entire week. Yum!

By the way, in case you're wondering. The Honey Cinnamon Nut Thins are AMAZING! They taste buttery and have that cinnamon roll or pancake 

flavor thing going for them. 

But you can use graham crackers or any dippers you prefer.

Picture of a not so thawed cherry.

Cherry Garcia Yogurt Pie

This year in a quest to make Easter dinner a little healthier we opted for a Yogurt Pie for dessert instead of the Coconut Baba I made last year. I still wanted to do something special or different. But I could not get the families' cherry version of the pie out of my head. Of course cherries are not in season, so I could not find them in the produce department. It was Mom that suggested using frozen cherries. Then it occurred to me, what about adding chocolate to the cherry yogurt pie? Do you like Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia Frozen Yogurt? I DO! So I went to search the baking and candy aisles for chocolate covered cherries to add to the mix. I found a bag made by Dove. It turned out really good! Everyone enjoyed it. Dear sister liked it a lot but suggested we try using one cherry and one vanilla yogurt next time. Then she recanted saying she did not want to lose any of the cherry flavor. I think I might add a little pure vanilla next time just to see if it adds anything. I am on the fence about whether or not to chop up the chocolate covered cherries next time. They freeze a little on the hard side, so if you encounter one when you are cutting the pie it is difficult to get through. I think with a few tweaks this pie might just keep me out of the ice cream case in the future.

Cherry Garcia Yogurt Pie
Serves 6

Ingredients

2 cartons of light cherry Greek yogurt
1 cup frozen cherries, thawed
6 oz. bag chocolate covered cherries
8 oz. light whipped topping, thawed
1 prepared Oreo cookie pie crust

Directions

Place yogurt in a mixing bowl, fold cherries and chocolate covered cherries (reserve 7 for garnish) into yogurt. Add an equal amount of whipped topping (about 1-1/2 cups or half of the carton) gently fold whipped topping into yogurt and fruit mixture. Pour into pie crust and spread evenly. Place pie in the freezer and freeze solid. When frozen, spread the top with the remaining whipped topping, and garnish with reserved chocolate covered cherries.

Note: I usually remove the pie from the freezer when we sit down to dinner. That way it is thawed just a bit when it is time to serve dessert.

Want more ice cream inspired treats?

Check out this Banana Split Yogurt Pie

Linking to:

Yesterfood: Treasure Box Tuesday

Kneaded Creations: Tuesdays With a Twist
Dizzy Busy & Hungry: Wine'd Down Wednesday
Love Bake Good Cakes: The Ultimate List of Ice Cream, Frozen Yogurt and Milkshakes