Monday, July 1, 2013

Cherry Cheesecake Bites

Today I wanted to share a simple treat that you can make for your 4th of July celebration.  It literally took me minutes to put together and is a super cute way to celebrate America's birthday.

I've had these Cherry Cheesecake Bites bookmarked for quite some time but to add to the red, white, and blue festivity, I decided to try to dye my graham cracker crumbs blue.  Not wanting them to get too wet I ended up using gel food coloring.  If you attempt it with regular food coloring please let me know how it turns out!  And of course you could make them with naturally colored graham cracker crumbs, too.

I feel like most Fourth of July desserts feature strawberries and while that would be great as well, I went with cherries.  Because is there anything more American than Cherry Pie?

Looking for more ideas Summer recipe ideas for your Independence Day Celebration?
Cherry Cheesecake Bites


Cherry Cheesecake Bites

Ingredients

  • Fresh cherries (or strawberries, raspberries, etc.), washed and dried
  • 1/2 block (4 oz) low-fat cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • Graham cracker crumbs
  • Blue gel food coloring (optional)
Directions
  1. In a small food processor (love my Cuisinart Smart Stick Hand Blender for this!) or bowl with electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and salt.  Transfer sweetened cream cheese mixture to a small bowl.
  2. In a small ziplock bag, add some graham cracker crumbs.  If desired, add a few drops of food coloring then seal bag and mix to combine.  Repeat until desired shade of color is created.  Pour prepared graham cracker crumbs into a bowl.
  3. Make sure cherries are dry then dip into the cream cheese then graham crackers.  Repeat until you've dipped them all.
  4. Eat and enjoy, taking care not to swallow the cherry pit!
Source: Barely modified from Oh, Bite It!

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