No-Bake Peppermint Bark Cheesecake Shooters

Today we have Natasha sharing a fantastic holiday recipe to serve at your holiday party. Here’s what she has to say:

Hi, it’s Natasha from The Cake Merchant. Today I’m here to share one of my favorite things — dessert shooters. After I’ve had my fill of Halloween candy and pumpkin pie this season, all I need is a few small bites to satisfy my sweet tooth until Christmas comes around. These cheesecake shooters were inspired by the Peppermint Bark Cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory. I presented my miniature version in 2.5 oz. shot glasses, but any small container will do.

Peppermint Bark Cheesecake Shooters
Cheesecake recipe adapted from Joy of Baking
makes 8-10 servings

Ingredients:

• 4 chocolate graham crackers
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 6 squares peppermint bark, finely chopped (I used Ghirardelli)
• 1 can Reddi-Wip

Directions:

• Crush the graham crackers into crumbs. I did this by putting the graham crackers in a Ziploc bag and crushed them with a rolling pin, but you could also do this with a food processor. Mix the graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter and set aside.
• With an electric mixer, beat the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
• With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract until smooth. Gently stir in the whipped cream until combined. Set aside about 2 tablespoons of the peppermint bark and stir the rest into the cream cheese mixture.

To Assemble:

• Put the cream cheese mixture into a decorating bag fitted with a large round pastry tip. Alternate layering the graham cracker crumbs and the cream cheese mixture into the shot glasses.
• Finish by piping some Reddi-Wip onto the top of each shot glass and topping with additional peppermint bark for garnish.