Strawberry Cheesecake Dessert Cups
Strawberry cheesecake dessert cups are fun and delicious! A pretzel crust with vanilla no bake cheesecake filling and homemade strawberry sauce. These dessert cups are easy to make and super fun to eat!
Ingredients for Strawberry Cheesecake Dessert Cups
- Pretzels: Salted pretzels. Grind into fine crumbs.
- Butter: Melted.
- Granulated sugar: For sweetness in the crust, cheesecake filling, and strawberry sauce.
- Cream cheese: Room temperature.
- Vanilla extract: A bit of vanilla extract gives the cheesecake filling great vanilla flavor.
- Heavy cream: Heavy cream makes the cheesecake filling light and fluffy.
- Strawberries: I recommend using frozen strawberries. Be sure they are unsweetened.
- Lemon juice: Lemon juice adds a bit of tartness to the strawberry sauce.
- Cornstarch + water: Helps to thicken the strawberry sauce.
Tools & Supplies to Make Strawberry Cheesecake Dessert Cups
How to Make Strawberry Cheesecake Dessert Cups
- In a medium saucepan, combine strawberries, granulated sugar and lemon juice. Cook on medium heat until the strawberries soften. Mash the strawberries with the back of a spoon. Add the cornstarch slurry and mix well to thicken the sauce. Set aside and cool to room temperature.
- In a small bowl, combine crushed pretzels, granulated sugar, and melted butter. Mix to combine.
- Portion the crumbs into 28 2-ounce plastic cups using a small cookie scoop or spoon. Use one of the plastic cups to press the crumbs into the bottom of the cup.
- In another mixing bowl, combine room temperature cream cheese, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract. Cream together on medium speed until combined and smooth.
- Pour in heavy whipping cream and whip on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
- Fill a piping bag with the cheesecake mixture. Pipe the cheesecake mixture into the cups until about 3/4 full.
- Spoon the strawberry sauce onto the cheesecake cups.
- Seal the cups with a lid and chill. The cups can be served immediately or stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
Strawberry Cheesecake Dessert Cups Recipe Tips
Plastic cups
The plastic cups with lids can be found on Amazon or at your local party supply store. You can also use cupcake liners if you wish!
Yield
This recipe makes approximately 28 2-ounce cups. This is an estimation. You may have a few more or a few less depending on how much cheesecake filling you pipe into the cups!
Making crushed pretzels
Use a food processor to make crushed pretzels for the crust. The finer the better!
Make strawberry sauce ahead of time
To make life a little easier, I recommend making the strawberry sauce ahead of time so it has time to cool.
Storing and serving
These dessert cups can be stored in the refrigerator for about 2-3 days. A great way to serve these cups at a party is straight out of a cooler! When serving, do not leave the cups out for more than 1 hour.
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Strawberry Cheesecake Dessert Cups
Equipment
- 28 2-ounce plastic cups with lids
Ingredients
Strawberry Sauce (Make ahead)
- 2 cups (288 g) frozen strawberries
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp (30 g) lemon juice
- 1 tbsp (8 g) cornstarch
- 1 tbsp (15 g) water
Pretzel Crust
- 1 ½ cups (120 g) crushed salted pretzels
- 2 tbsp (24 g) granulated sugar
- 6 tbsp (84 g) unsalted butter melted
Vanilla Cheesecake Filling
- 8 oz (227 g) cream cheese room temperature
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 2 tsp (8 g) vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups (355 ml) heavy cream
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine strawberries, granulated sugar and lemon juice. Cook on medium heat until the strawberries soften. Mash the strawberries with the back of a spoon. Mix together the cornstarch and water and add to the strawberries, stirring as you pour in the slurry. Mix well and remove from the heat. Cool to room temperature while preparing the dessert cups.
- In a small bowl, combine crushed pretzels, granulated sugar, and melted butter. Mix to combine.
- Portion the crumbs into 28 2-ounce plastic cups using a small cookie scoop or spoon. Use one of the plastic cups to press the crumbs into the bottom of the cup.
- In another mixing bowl, combine room temperature cream cheese, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract. Cream on medium speed until combined and smooth. Pour in heavy whipping cream and whip on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
- Fill a piping bag with the cheesecake mixture. Pipe the cheesecake mixture into the cups until about 3/4 full. Spoon the strawberry sauce onto the cheesecake cups. Sprinkle with any leftover pretzel crumbs.
- Seal the cups with a lid and chill. The cups can be served immediately or stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
Notes
Made This Recipe?
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About Courtney
Baker | 80s Lover | Cookbook Author
Courtney is a self-taught home baker and cookbook author of “Girls Just Wanna Bake Cupcakes”. She loves to create new and unique recipes while simultaneously listening to 80s music.
How long can you freeze them for, and how long do you have to defrost them before eating
I’ve frozen them for about 1 month. Defrosting is really going to depend on how hot the climate is where you are at – the warmer it is, the faster they will defrost. But I would say to generally give them about an hour.
What if I don’t have the little cups? Could I make them in a mini muffin pan? What about sugar cookie dough?
Yes! You could make them using a cupcake pan, but I would recommend using foil liners. You could also use larger cups if you prefer! I’m not exactly sure how to answer about the sugar cookie dough for this recipe. If you are looking to switch up the pretzel crust, you could use crushed vanilla wafers or Golden Oreos as a substitute.
Do you whip the cream before adding it to mixture? I followed recipe but it was somewhat running.
Hi Jeanne! I do not whip the cream before adding it to the cream cheese mixture. You may need to whip it a bit longer – it will thicken up and have a pipeable consistency.
Love them
Thanks
So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
So good!!! Perfect little sweet treat!!
Can you freeze these?
Hi Aisha! Yes you can!
Made this today, using Graham cracker for crust. So in love with all your dessert cups!! Thanks so much
Amazing! Thanks for trying out the recipe! I love that these dessert cups can be versatile and you can use different crusts and different flavors! Thank you for the positive review and comments! Much appreciated!