Irish Cream Cheesecake Jars

I am generally not a fan of no-bake cheesecakes. These are delicious, a bit of a cheat but mostly pure ingredients, and fun – I love that they’re in half-pint jars!

Ingredients

• 8-10 half-pint jars with lids
• 1 bag PC Reverse Decadent cookies (or any other dry chocolate cookie or chocolate cookie crumbs – or graham crumbs if you prefer!)
• 3 tbsp butter, melted
• 2 pkgs cream cheese, not the low fat kind, room temperature
• 2/3 cup 14% sour cream
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 2/3 cup irish cream liquor
• 1-2 tsp vanilla (optional)
• 1 cup heavy cream, whipped to stiff peaks (Note: this means take one cup of 35% cream and whip it, do not measure out one cup of cream after it’s whipped, it’s not the same amount)
• You can whip extra cream for garnish if you wish (I don’t think you need it)
• a nice chocolate bar for shaving over the top or other garnishes

Put the cookies in your food processor and blitz until you have fine crumbs. Pour into a bowl and mix with the melted butter.

Wipe out the food processor with a dry towel and then add the cream cheese, sour cream and white sugar. Blend until smooth. Add the irish cream liquor and blend again. Taste and decide if it needs vanilla (I think it does, just a little boost!).

Empty the cheese mixture into another bowl and fold / gently stir in the whipped cream until it’s nicely blended but it doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s so lovely, airy and light at this point, you don’t want to overmix it.

Put about 1/4 cup of crumbs in the bottom of each jar and press into the bottom to make a crust. It helps to have a tart shell press, but you’ll find something that will work well enough!

Add a layer of the cheese and cream mixture, about 2 cm or so of height in the jar. Pour another layer of crumbs on the top and try to spread it out but don’t press it this time – that will not work 🙂 This should use up all the crumbs.

Add one more layer of the cheese and cream mixture, using it up (if you’re lucky, there’s a little bit left for the chef to clean up!). At this point, put the lids on the jars and chill for 3-4 hours. Before serving you can add garnishes – more whipped cream, grated chocolate, sprinkles – whatever you like!