We’ve been really lucky to keep our power and water, and only had a temporary pipe freeze, but feeling heartbroken for all the people in Texas who have gone through the freezing nightmare.
We have food but running out of some essentials like eggs, milk, and flour. Not deadly by any means but it made me realize how much baking I’d been doing. A form of therapy, no doubt.
Saturdays are for making dessert. So I had to do with what we still have in the house. It had to be eggless, flourless, and without milk.
I had cream cheese and a couple of pears that refused to ripen which I was about to toss but I have a hard time throwing away food. The pears got sautéed with butter, sugar, cinnamon and a bit of lemon juice.
I whipped the cream cheese with sweetened condensed milk that was about to expire to make no-bake cheesecake in a jar (I love the mini jars. We made Chocolate Pot de Crème in them for Valentine’s last Sunday).
Except it turned out we were out of graham crackers which you wouldn’t know because my kids love leaving empty boxes in the pantry (anyone else?) So I grabbed three Oat & Honey granola bars (the crunchy kind) and turned them into crumbs.
The therapy session went well, it’s safe to say.
Here is another favorite cheesecake in a jar recipe. It uses cream which I also didn’t have this time.
Ingredients
- 3 granola bars, a “crunchy” kind (I used Oats & Honey). Or about 1 cup of graham cracker crumbs
- 2 8 oz packages of cream cheese, soft
- 1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
- 2 firm pears
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 – 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ginger and 1/4 tsp nutmeg
Instructions
1. Crush the granola bars with a rolling pin or in a food processor, divide among 10 4 oz jars.
2. Whip the cream cheese with the condensed milk and divide among the jars. You will need about 3 Tbs per jar. Put the jars in the refrigerator to set up for at least 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile peel and chop the pears into half-inch pieces (1 – 1.5 cm). Sautee with butter for about 10 minutes (less if the pears are ripe. Mine were very firm). Add the sugar and spices and sautee another 5 minutes. Let cool on the counter.
4. When ready to eat, spoon the pear mixture into each jar. Any leftover pears sauce can be used as ice cream topping or with pancakes, etc.
*Note: Larger jars can be used instead of 4 oz jars.
I hope everyone’s life is getting back to normal and you all are warm and safe.
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