
Mini little desserts are always so much fun to make and eat. It is exciting to get your own single serve dessert. Plus it is good portion control. If you are served a little chocolate bundt cake or a cute little jar of dessert you don't accidentally cut yourself a ginormous piece. Not that would ever happen. Never ever. Not here. Uh-uh. No way.
Ok.
Fine.
It happens here.
All. The. Time.
So I am doing us both a favor and keeping these fun treats a reasonable size. So you can eat the whole darn thing. Just try not to go back for a second and you'll be fine!
These were actually born after a conversation at work. One of my friends' son was getting married and she was working on the rehearsal dinner. They were having all of his local restaurant favorites catered in, but they didn't have a dessert figured out yet.

The wedding was going to be at one of those really cool barns. So there was going to be a lot of jars, gingham, galvanized steel and twinkly lights. They even had a trail mix bar! Isn't that fun?! They stamped out cute brown paper sacks and had all of the trail mix favorites in glass bowls, jars and galvanized buckets. I need to steal that idea for one of my parties sometime. The next shower needs to have a trail mix bar, don't you think?
Anyway, we were brainstorming ideas for the rehearsal dinner and I suggested little jar desserts. We did dirt pudding in jars for my sister's wedding, why not for a rehearsal dinner? We were discussing a few different types of no bake cheesecake filling when she thought of key lime. They bride and groom both love key lime and it would be a perfect refreshing end to a fun dinner.

Of course I volunteered to do them for her! A proper wedding dessert needs to be tested and tasted ahead of time. So I made a batch and sent her some pictures. She though I had found them on Pinterest. She didn't realize that I made her a taster batch until I delivered one to her desk the next morning.
When making the testers, I used 8 oz jars. I decided they would be too much after a big dinner, and leaving them half full wasn't the look I wanted. So we decided to do 4 oz jars for the real deal. I am glad we did, they were cute as can be.
Of course you don't have to be throwing a rehearsal dinner to enjoy these. They are a perfect dessert for transporting anywhere. They'd be fun at a BBQ, in a picnic basket, at a potluck or just because. They would also be a fun baby or bridal shower dessert. The filling has a great creamy texture with that citrus zing. They take very little garnishing and still have a wow factor.

So go ahead, buy some cute little 4 oz jars. I already have about 100 more ideas on how to fill them! What are your favorite mason jar desserts?
Yield: 16 Servings

No Bake Key Lime Cheesecake Jars
These cute little key lime cheesecakes only take 6 ingredients and just a few minutes to make. They are a perfect individual dessert that travel well. Make a batch for your next party!
prep time: 20 MINScook time: total time: 20 mins
ingredients:
- 2 (14 oz) cans sweetened condensed milk
- 16 oz cream cheese
- 1 cup key lime juice
- 1 sleeve graham crackers, crushed or 1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
- 4 T butter
- 2 T sugar
instructions
- Stir together the graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Melt the butter and pour it over the graham cracker mixture, stirring to coat.
- Divide the graham cracker mixture among the 16 jars, pushing it down slightly.
- Beat softened cream cheese until it is smooth.
- Add the sweetened condensed milk, a little at a time, beating between until smooth and incorporated.
- Whip in the key lime juice. Be sure the scrape the sides of the bowl multiple times and beat until smooth.
- Spoon cream cheese mixture into jars. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.
- Garnish with lime if desired.
Copyright: Cooking With Carlee 2017
Created using The Recipes Generator

Hi Carlee, you would think that serving smaller desserts would mean portion control, but I do like seconds! I do like a nice cheesecake and these look so pretty dished up into little jars (I do agree that the smaller ones look better) you'd never realize how simple they are to make. I bet they went down a treat!
ReplyDeletexx
I like seconds too! ;-) But we could hope that the controlled portion sizes would make a difference! xoxo
DeleteYou know key lime pie is my favorite so these cute little jars have me over the moon! You are simply the best Carlee!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Andrea! They are so much fun for a party and perfectly easy to make and serve!
DeleteThese look so good and refreshing. What a fun dessert to bring to gatherings. I love this idea!
ReplyDeleteThank you! They are quick, easy and fun!
DeleteLove these as a mini-dessert idea. PERFECT!
ReplyDeleteThank you! They don't get much easier either!
DeleteJust simple to make, a lot of pleasure. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI love this and the single serving portions! Plus serving everyone dessert in their own jar is super cute :)
ReplyDeleteI think so too! No mess for serving and perfectly easy to do ahead! Thanks!
DeleteThese are perfect for any crowd and delicious! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday. Come to next weeks Thanksgiving party on Tuesday at 8:00 am, CST, see you then!
ReplyDeleteMiz Helen
Thanks, Miz Helen!
DeleteThese have me wanting to close down my cookie baking day and make these instead! Yummmmmy!
ReplyDeleteGo ahead and make both! ;-)
Delete