Canada Day is quickly approaching this Friday and I’ve been busy planning a few recipes for our BBQ get together. I love holidays because they challenge me to put on my culinary thinking cap and create festive recipes that highlight what we love about the holiday.
For Canada Day, it’s all about the red and white, of course!
Any excuse to buy more local strawberries is a-ok in my books. I may need an intervention.
My goal was to create a quick and easy dessert recipe that could be thrown together in no time, but still taste delicious! I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen when I have guests to entertain. These Strawberry Cheesecake Bites are the perfect dessert to whip up, allowing you to keep your cool even on a hot day.
To make the Strawberry Cheesecake Bites, you start with a Graham Cracker Base. This is the ‘crust’ of the cheesecake!
I used this graham cracker recipe and I bought a Maple Leaf cookie cutter from Golda’s Kitchen.
The recipe made about 13-15 maple leafs, so you might want to double the recipe if making for a large group.
There are a couple reasons why I used graham crackers for the base:
1) They can be made ahead of time
2) They are very firm and crunchy and won’t get soggy from the toppings
Time saving tip: If you are really tight on time, just whip out a box of graham crackers! They will have the same effect in a pinch.
After that, I whipped up the vanilla bean cheesecake frosting layer!
I grabbed a tub of non-dairy cream cheese and sifted in about 1/2 cup-3/4 cup of organic icing sugar. Beat until light and fluffy and add in a couple scraped vanilla beans or a dash of fresh lemon juice.
I originally tried to make this using maple syrup (so Canadian!), but it made it too runny and didn’t work. I wouldn’t suggest using liquid sweetener in this case. However, you could use some Maple Extract for a fun kick of maple in the frosting.
Once you whip up your cream cheese layer, just dice some strawberries and layer away!
Add a tablespoon of the cream cheese frosting and then sprinkle with strawberries and a pinch of sugar. That’s all she wrote!
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Strawberry Cheesecake Bites
Inspired by Hungry Foodies Pharmacy.
Ingredients:
- Homemade or store-bought graham crackers
- 1 (8-oz) tub non-dairy cream cheese
- 1/2 cup- 3/4 cup icing sugar (confectioner’s)
- 2 vanilla beans or 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 pint strawberries, hulled and diced
- Sugar, for sprinkling
Directions:
1. Make your homemade graham crackers in advance or simply purchase graham crackers from the store.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Slowly add the icing sugar to taste. Add in a couple scraped vanilla beans and maple extract or a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice if you prefer. Store in fridge. You can also make this in advance!
3. Hull a pint of strawberries and dice.
4. Lay your graham crackers onto a large serving plate and spread with cream cheese frosting. Sprinkle on diced strawberries and sugar.
Notes: The homemade graham cracker recipe made about 13-15 maple leafs, so you may want to double the batch. I had leftover cream cheese frosting, so 1 tub should cover about 25 maple leafs depending on how much you use.
Be sure to bake your graham crackers a couple minutes longer (I think I baked mine for 17-18 minutes) so they were extra crispy once cooled. That ensures that the cream cheese frosting won’t make the cracker get soggy (it will get a bit soft after 20-30 minutes, but not too much).
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The great thing about this recipe is that it is easily adapted for the Fourth of July!
And then you can invite me over for your party. ;)
Just use store-bought or homemade graham crackers (cut into rectangles or stars), and add a few blueberries on top! If you are feeling really creative you could use the berries to create the flag on the cracker.
I’m really happy with how these turned out! They are light enough for summer, but still feel like a fun dessert.
Anyone want to help me eat these things? :)
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{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
Fab idea!!! Colorful festive and perfect for an easy elegant dish for a gathering! Thanks! :)
Those look amazing. I’m dying for a snack right now. I think I’ll go get my graham crackers, put some creme cheese on them and add some fresh blueberries and that will be a great snack. Not as fancy and pretty as yours, but it will do for right now. Those would be great for 4th of July with Blueberries and Strawberries.
Very cute. I love the Canada pride :-)
Such a wonderful and simple recipe! Love it!
Happy Canada Day Angela. I would love to come by for some cookie. The maple leaf cutters are a lovely touch.
xo
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- I wish I was married to you. DELISH!
Tooooo cute! As I was scrolling through I thought to myself “too bad I’m not Canadian…” and there you go with the 4th of July friendly bites! You are totally invited to South Carolina for the 4th. Just prepare for extreme humidity and temperatures close to 100F! As always, your photography is absolutely stunning!
Holy hell I will help you eat this!!!
They look delicious! Bookmarked!
Just found your site tonight…so inspired by your recipes! I read your before and after, and thought I was reading my own story. :) I’m a little older though…39. I yo-yoed and was obsessed by the scale for years. A bad case of food poisoning turned me back on being a vegetarian. Six months later I was dealing with serious sinus issues. I went vegan over 2 years ago, and have never felt better. I haven’t had any sinus issues, and feel so much better. I joined the gym 1 1/2 years ago, and threw out the scale too. I am stronger, healthier, and emotionally so much better. Looking forward to following you and trying some recipes!
Thanks Julie :)
You have such flair lady! Great idea and so patriotic. Reminds of the Canada Day I spent with an ex (ex boyfriend not ex Canadian ;) ). We were living together in London at the time and I think all of the Canadian ex-pats in London were crammed together in one 20m x 10m cobbled stone street outside “The Maple Leaf” pub…I know, so original right? ;). Was the best fun and an ongoing sea of red and white. My red hair fit right in :)
Hahaha, how many smiley faces could I possible use in a short comment??!! I’m seriously holding myself back from using another one right here right now…argh…I must be addicted…oh ok, go’ on then….;)
Bahahahahaha!
such a cute party addition, easy and yummy, I like it!! :)
That’s so patriotic of you. They look amazing too!
I will most certainly be trying these bad boys!!! Wow! That is all I can say..WOW!
This post is going to have me thinking all day what healthy treat I can make for…America Day on Monday.
Hi!
Maybe this is a silly question, but I’m used to seeing cream cheese in the box packages… How many pkgs would one tub equal? :)
the tub is 230 grams :)
Oh goodness – these look soo delicious!!
So cute. I must get me one of those Canadian flag cookie cutters!
Oh don’t those look fabulous! They’re like something out of a magazine (although a magazine would tell me to use cool whip for some terrible reason)! Yummy!
If you wanted the maple kick, you could replace the white sugar with Maple Sugar, which is just syrup boiled down until it reaches its granulated form. It’s a bit on the pricey side ($13-15 American per pound), but ohhhh is it a wonderful ingredient.
I just made these the other day. Delish! I love the graham cracker, I will definately be making those again. The frosting is dangerous though, I could eat the whole bowl:) Thanks for another good one.
I just made these- they were so easy to make, and really good!!!
These look fantastic! I look forward to trying this recipe for the Fourth of July. For y’all north of the border (U.S.A.-centrically speaking, of course! ;-D ), do you think that using maple sugar for sprinkling would work and give the effect that you want?
Wow, these look so delicious, wish we would’ve come across this a few weeks ago, but we’ll still have to try them, perhaps for the August Long Weekend…thanks!
I love recipes with fresh fruit!
These look appetizing and scrumptious and tantalizing and delicious!!:D
“1 tub non-dairy cream cheese”
That’s hardly an accurate measurement for publishing a recipe!!
How many grams are in a “tub”??
Sorry about that – it’s an 8 ounce tub. I’ve updated the recipe.
These cheesecake bites are very cute and look tasty. I haven’t tried to make them yet but I would definitely like to try them.
However, I do wish that you post at least one vegan recipe of traditional cheesecake. While I would not hesitate to try these tasty-looking treats, I also serve to people who are not so open to trying anything that is out of the ordinary for them. That is why I would like to gather some good vegan recipes of several common desserts. I hope to see more of those recipes on this website, since I am very pleased with the recipes I have tried so far.