These Small-batch No-bake Unicorn Cheesecakes are a perfectly magical, easy-to-make sweet treat.
As long-time readers know, I often partner up with Fandom Foodies to bring you themed nerdy recipes . Last month I even hosted our monthly roundup #AFeastOfThrones and got so many amazing Game of Thrones recipe submissions . (If you haven’t checked them all out, you should!)
This month, Jenni from The Gingered Whisk is hosting, and the nerdy theme she chose was Harry Potter (#PotterPotluck) . Obviously, I was super excited about this because I was a massive Harry Potter book fan growing up–like my original hard covers basically disintegrated from being reread so often.
I was also excited about the theme because diving into the magical and mystical world of fantasy gave me the perfect excuse to hop on one of my favorite ridiculous trends ever, unicorn food! And since, as I mentioned in my No-bake Oreo Cheesecake Bites post, I’ve been a little obsessed with making no-bake cheesecakes this summer, for PotterPotluck, I made Small-batch Unicorn Cheesecakes!
Look at these things!! How cute are they? Do you not just want to make a batch for yourself right now!?
And look, if the answer to that question is no and you are not on board with the whole unicorn food trend, I bet you have someone in your life who is.
Maybe a niece or nephew, a super fabulous coworker or friend. How many awesome points would you score if you whipped out a couple of these the next time you’re together?
I’m just saying everyone could benefit from a little unicorn in their life. (And back to the Harry Potter thing) I mean look how well that worked out for Voldemort. 😉
The recipe for no-bake cheesecakes is pretty standard and simple. It’s softened cream cheese plus sugar and a little vanilla and whipped cream. It takes less than five minutes to make the cheesecake layer.
This recipe adds a little food coloring to the cheesecake then you swirl dollops of that over a fabulous graham cracker crust, refrigerate or freeze, and in a few hours, your life is going to be a heck of a lot more magical.
Ingredients
Special Equipment
- ▢ Handheld electric mixer
- ▢ 4 foil cupcake liners*
Graham Cracker Crust
- ▢ 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs ( 3 full graham cracker sheets)
- ▢ 1 heaping tablespoon ( 16g ) brown sugar
- ▢ 3 tablespoons ( 1.5oz ) butter melted
Cheesecake
- ▢ 1/4 cup heavy cream
- ▢ 5 ounces cream cheese softened
- ▢ 3 heaping tablespoons ( 42g ) granulated sugar
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ▢ Blue food coloring
- ▢ Red food coloring
Optional toppings
- ▢ Whipped cream
- ▢ Sprinkles
Instructions
- Place 4 foil cupcake liners on a plate or tray.
- In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and melted butter and stir until well-mixed and the mixture begins to clump. Divide crust between each of the cupcake liners and press it firmly into an even layer with your fingers or the bottom of a shot glass. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, beat heavy cream with a handheld electric mixer, starting on low, working up to high, until stiff peaks form (when you lift the beaters straight up, the peaks should stand up without flopping over at the tip). Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine softened cream cheese, granulated sugar, and vanilla and beat on high until well-combined and fluffy. Fold in the cream you just whipped until completely incorporated.
- Divide mixture between three small bowls and add 2 drops of blue to the first bowl for baby blue, 2 drops of red to the second for pink, and 1 drop blue, 1 drop red for lavender. Stir each until the color is uniform.
- Drop spoonfuls of each color over the prepared graham cracker crusts until all of the cheesecake mixture is gone. Use a tooth pick or knife to swirl the colors and smooth the top.
- Refrigerate or freeze for at least four hours. Top with optional whipped cream and sprinkles if desired and enjoy!
Notes
This Strawberry Sauce for Pancakes and Waffles is super delicious, super quick, and super easy to make.
Looking for some more breakfast favorites? Try these Classic Crêpes for Two and Mini Strawberry Breakfast Cake or just scroll through the Breakfast Category !
Hey, you know what the best breakfasts in the entire world are? Pancakes and Waffles.
You know the best way to eat them? Absolutely smothered in Strawberry Sauce.
And lucky for all of us, strawberry sauce for pancakes and waffles (and anything else you want to pour it over) is one of the easiest things you can make at home.
You just chop up some strawberries. (This recipe’s GREAT if you have an excess of strawberries from the garden or farmer’s market!)
Whisk together cornstarch and a little water to make a cornstarch slurry.
Add that and some sugar, water, and lemon juice to the strawberries and simmer for three to four minutes until everything is nice and thick and syrupy.
And then pour over pancakes (like my Buttermilk Pancakes for Two ) or crispy waffles and take a little bite of heaven!
Like I said, easy, right?
Oh, and after that crazy good breakfast, if you have any Strawberry Sauce left, it’s also killer chilled and served over cheesecake or (hot or cold) over ice cream.
Just sayin.
As written, this Quick and Easy Strawberry Sauce for Pancakes and Waffles recipe makes enough for two to four servings. To change the recipe yield, hover over the number of servings (or click if you are on mobile) and slide the slider–see recipe notes for preparation changes.
Ingredients
- ▢ 2 cups ( 12oz ) hulled and chopped fresh strawberries
- ▢ 1/3 cup ( 66g ) granulated sugar
- ▢ 1/3 cup water
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice fresh or bottled is fine
- ▢ 1 tablespoon cornstarch whisked together with 2 tablespoons water*
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine chopped strawberries, sugar, water, lemon juice, and cornstarch/water slurry. Stir and bring to a simmer. Keep at a simmer (adjusting temperature as necessary), stirring often until thick and syrupy, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Remove from heat, pour over pancakes, waffles, or ice cream, and enjoy!
Notes
Adapted From Tori Avey
These Small-batch Orange Muffins are like sweet little bits of sunshine baked up just to brighten your day. They’re soft, sweet, and super moist with a crunchy orange glaze on top.
Looking for more Small-batch Muffins? Try my Small-batch Banana Muffins , Small-batch Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins , Small-batch Chocolate Banana Muffins , and Small-batch Apple Crumb Muffins .
Hey, folks. I hope you’re having a lovely Saturday. I sat down to write a lengthy post about how much I love today’s recipe, these cute little Small-batch Orange Muffins, but the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and there’s a new book sitting next to me calling my name, so I’m keeping it pretty short and sweet today.
And really, who wants to be reading about muffins when you could be making them? These muffins are like sweet little bits of sunshine baked up just to brighten your day. They’re soft, sweet, and super moist with a crunchy orange glaze on top. And this recipe makes just five muffins so nothing goes to waste.
But do you want to know the best part about these Orange Muffins?
They’re intensely and wonderfully orange flavored without having to run out and buy orange extract or artificial flavorings. The muffins get their orange kick from orange juice and zest in the batter and glaze. So if you have an orange on the counter and some sour cream in the fridge, you probably have the ingredients to make them right now.
Which you should, because they’re great.
Ingredients
Special Equipment
- ▢ Citrus juicer
Muffins
- ▢ 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons ( 105g ) all-purpose flour measured by weight or the spoon and sweep method*
- ▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ▢ 1/8 teaspoon salt
- ▢ 4 tablespoons ( 2oz ) unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
- ▢ 1/4 cup ( 50g ) granulated sugar
- ▢ 1/4 cup milk
- ▢ 2 tablespoons orange juice *
- ▢ 2 tablespoons sour cream
- ▢ 1 large egg white
- ▢ 1 1/2 teaspoon orange zest very lightly packed
Glaze
- ▢ 1/3 cup ( 40g ) powdered sugar sifted if lumpy
- ▢ 2 to 3 teaspoons orange juice
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon orange zest very lightly packed
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425°F and line your muffin pan with 5 paper liners.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine butter, sugar, milk, orange juice, sour cream, egg white, and orange zest, and whisk until smooth. Add flour mixture and stir until just combined. Do not over mix!
- Divide batter between 5 prepared muffin cups and bake at 425°F for 8 minutes. Turn the temperature down to 350°F and bake for an additional 5 to 7 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out with just a few dry crumbs. Allow muffins to cool in the baking pan until cool enough to handle before transferring to a cooling rack and glazing.
Glaze
- In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons of the orange juice, and orange zest until glaze is smooth. Add up to 1 teaspoon more of orange juice if mixture is too thick to drizzle and spoon glaze over the warm muffins. Allow glaze to set for 10 to 15 minutes and enjoy!
Notes
Adapted from Annie’s Eats
Small-batch No-bake Unicorn Cheesecakes
Ingredients
Special Equipment
- Handheld electric mixer
- 4 foil cupcake liners*
Graham Cracker Crust
- 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs ( 3 full graham cracker sheets)
- 1 heaping tablespoon ( 16g ) brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons ( 1.5oz ) butter melted
Cheesecake
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 5 ounces cream cheese softened
- 3 heaping tablespoons ( 42g ) granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Blue food coloring
- Red food coloring
Optional toppings
- Whipped cream
- Sprinkles
Instructions
- Place 4 foil cupcake liners on a plate or tray.
- In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and melted butter and stir until well-mixed and the mixture begins to clump. Divide crust between each of the cupcake liners and press it firmly into an even layer with your fingers or the bottom of a shot glass. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, beat heavy cream with a handheld electric mixer, starting on low, working up to high, until stiff peaks form (when you lift the beaters straight up, the peaks should stand up without flopping over at the tip). Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine softened cream cheese, granulated sugar, and vanilla and beat on high until well-combined and fluffy. Fold in the cream you just whipped until completely incorporated.
- Divide mixture between three small bowls and add 2 drops of blue to the first bowl for baby blue, 2 drops of red to the second for pink, and 1 drop blue, 1 drop red for lavender. Stir each until the color is uniform.
- Drop spoonfuls of each color over the prepared graham cracker crusts until all of the cheesecake mixture is gone. Use a tooth pick or knife to swirl the colors and smooth the top.
- Refrigerate or freeze for at least four hours. Top with optional whipped cream and sprinkles if desired and enjoy!
