Mini Blueberry Cheesecakes

A couple weeks ago, I had some extra blueberries to use up, so I used part of my mom's blueberry cream pie recipe and part of a cheesecake recipe to create these little desserts.
 

 Mini Blueberry Cheesecakes

Ingredients:

1 cup blueberries, divided

1 teaspoon cornstarch

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons water

3/4 cup crushed graham crackers

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 teaspoon sugar

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a saucepan, stir the cornstarch and sugar together. Add 2/3 cup blueberries, the lemon zest, and the lemon juice. Cook over low heat, mashing and stirring until mixture thickens and clears. Turn off heat and add the last 1/3 cup of blueberries.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
 
While the blueberry mixture cools, melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Add the crushed graham crackers and 1 teaspoon sugar. Stir. Press the mixture into the bottom of muffin cup liners. I used the bottom of a glass dish to press the mixture down.

Top with a tablespoon of the blueberry mixture.

With a mixer, beat together the cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar, egg, and vanilla. Spoon over blueberry mixture. Bake about 20 minutes or until slightly puffed.

When ready to serve, top with some Cool Whip and a couple extra blueberries.

Yields: about 10 mini cheesecakes

Blueberry Cream Pie

My mom has made this pie for as long as I can remember. This was my first attempt making it, and I have to say it was fairly easy to make.

I like this pie better than a straight blueberry pie because the pudding layer helps to sweeten any tartness from the blueberries.

Blueberry Cream Pie

Ingredients:
1 baked 9" pie shell (graham cracker crust works too)
1 package vanilla cook and serve pudding (not instant pudding)
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups blueberries
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Prepare your pie shell. You can use my mom's recipe here.

Once the pie crust is cooled, you can start to make the cream layer. Cook pudding in saucepan as directed with 2 cups milk. Add butter and vanilla to hot pudding. Stir until butter melts. Let pudding cool 2-3 minutes. Stir again. Let cool another 2-3 minutes and stir once more.

Pour slightly cooled pudding into pie crust. Put in fridge while you make blueberry topping.

In another saucepan, stir cornstarch and sugar together. Add 1 cup of blueberries, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Cook over low heat, mashing and stirring until mixture thickens and clears. (You can use the back of a wooden spoon to do the mashing or an old-fashioned potato masher.)

Turn off heat and add last cup of blueberries. Cool 15 minutes before spooning over cream filling. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Of course, Cool Whip always makes a good bonus topping. :)

Fourth of July Dessert: Berry Brownie Shortcake

I know I'm posting this recipe too late for this year's Fourth of July, but you can keep it in mind for next year. :) Or you can do the Fourth of July Shortcake I made last year. That photo is still one of my favorites. I swear the blueberry in the lower left corner is smiling at me.

This recipe is yet another adaptation of a Kraft Food recipe. The original version was called Easy Brownie Shortcake Dessert. It called for strawberries and kiwis on the top. I switched the fruit to strawberries and blueberries to give it a Fourth of July flair. After tasting the frosting, I also added more powdered sugar because I was tasting too much of the sour cream and not the Cool Whip.

Berry Brownie Shortcake

Ingredients:
1 package brownie mix (plus the ingredients listed on the box)
8 oz. sour cream, divided
1 cup Cool Whip, thawed
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
about twenty-five strawberry slices and at least fifteen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350.

Make brownie batter according to the package direction, but add in 1/2 cup of the sour cream. Pour batter into greased and floured 9-inch pan. Bake for 40-45 min. Cool 10 minutes before removing to wire rack. Allow cake to cool completely before frosting.

For frosting, mix remaining sour cream with Cool Whip, powdered sugar, and vanilla.

Cut brownie horizontally in half. Put one layer on cake plate and spread with some of frosting. Gently top with the other layer. Frost again and then decorate with the strawberries and blueberries.

To go with the patriotic theme of the holiday, I arranged the strawberry slices into five-pointed stars and then placed the blueberries in the middle.

Serves about 12.

Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies

My parents gave me some leftover blueberries before leaving on a trip, and I was desperate to use them up since I already had some blueberries of my own at home. A Google search brought me to this recipe from allrecipes.com.

If you like oatmeal raisin cookies, you'll really enjoy these. They're soft and chewy. I usually allow myself only two cookies at a time, but I found myself downing these in groups of three or four. Oops! Must start giving them away.

Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

In a mixer, cream butter and brown sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla.

In another bowl, stir together the oats, flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Gradually add these dry ingredients to the creamed mixture.

Remove mixer bowl and gently stir in the blueberries.

Drop by teaspoonfuls (or small cookie scooper) onto greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool on wire racks.

Yields 4 dozen cookies.

Fourth of July Shortcake

You've got to have something red, white, and blue for dessert on the Fourth of July, right? This dessert brings back memories of a very patriotic Jello mold my mom used to make for the Fourth of July.

Fourth of July Shortcake

Ingredients for shortcakes:
1-1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. grated lemon peel
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups blueberries

Ingredients for crumb topping:
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup butter, melted

Extra goodies:
Cool whip
Strawberries

Spray a muffin tin (the kind for twelve muffins) with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon peel, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large mixer bowl. Add milk, melted butter, egg, and vanilla. Beat for two minutes or until well blended. Gently fold in blueberries.

Scoop into muffin tins. Each cup should be about 1/2 to 2/3 full.

In a small bowl, combine the 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup flour, and 1/4 cup melted butter. Sprinkle this crumb mixture atop the cake batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes until golden. Cool and then remove from muffin tins.

When ready to serve, slice each cake in half crosswise. Layer with cool whip and diced strawberries. Add a few extra blueberries for a finishing touch.

Serves 12.