Easy Cherry Cream Cheese Puff Pastries

If you’ve been looking for a single serve dessert with pre-made puff pastry shells and cherry pie filling, you’re going to love these mini cherry cheesecake desserts. They’re simple to make, don’t need a lot of different ingredients and best of all these individual cheesecakes are really tasty! These cherry cream cheese puff pastries are a simple dessert for parties, BBQs or anytime really!

Store-bought puff pastry is the secret to this easy dessert. These doctored-up pastry shells are the perfect shortcut recipe to finish off any meal.

Other easy summer desserts that you might enjoy are mascarpone stuffed strawberries, funfetti cake mix whoopie pies, lemon posset brûlée, or even this tasty strawberry shortcake in a mason jar. For something to drink, try these cherries and cream jello shots or strawberry sour candy cocktails!

Puff Pastry Cherry Dessert Ingredients

To make this mini cherry cheesecake recipe, you’re going to need cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk and Cool Whip for ultimate creaminess. You also need vanilla, sugar, crushed cookies, and cherry pie filling.

Wondering about the crust for these mini cheesecakes? That’s going to be puff pastry shells which are readymade so you simply have to fill them after a quick bake.

Cherry cream cheese puff pastries are quick and easy to assemble and perfect after any kind of meal. They also look pretty just as they are or you could garnish them with a sprig of mint for a splash of colour.

How to Make Cream Cheese Puff Pastries

It’s best to start off with the dairy ingredients at room temperature. They’re just easier to mix that way and can combine better. Whip the cream cheese with vanilla and both brown and white sugar. Add the sweetened condensed milk and then the Cool Whip.

As this creamy mixture chills in the refrigerator, you can put the puff pastry bowls in the oven. Brands vary so just follow whatever it says on the packaging. The next step for making mini cherry cheesecake desserts is to scoop some of the chilled creamy mixture into each one. I’d recommend letting the puff pastry cool down first.

Now add some cherry pie filling on top and sprinkle cookie crumbs on top. Keep these individual cheesecakes in the refrigerator until serving. They are best if you add the filling to the shells just before serving otherwise, they will get soggy over time.

Puff Pastry Cherry Tart Variations

I like this single serve dessert in puff pastry cups but you can also make them in serving glasses without the puff pastry if you want. Not using pre-made puff pastry shells means these really are mini cheesecakes because you don’t have to bake the puff pastry to start with.

If you want to change up the flavor, go ahead and use any kind of pie filling you want. I bet apple pie filling, blueberry pie filling or peach pie filling would work really well in the pre-made puff pastry shells.

The vanilla extract is great with the cherries but feel free to use almond extract instead which also goes really nicely with cherries. For a summertime version, you can’t go wrong with a splash of coconut extract (or get decadent and make it coconut rum instead!) Orange liqueur would also be good in these.

Just before serving, I like to sift some powdered sugar over the top. It just looks pretty. This is completely optional of course. These fruity cream cheese desserts are delicious just as they are too.

Which Pastry Shells are Best?

I love using the Pepperidge Farm pastry shells because they taste good and hold up well with the filling inside. Carefully remove the round top so you can pop it back on top after filling the shell. It’s easy to remove some of the inside layers of the shell with a fork before filling. Take care not to cut through.

How to Serve Mini Cherry Cheesecake Tarts

These can be served just as they are but they also make a great festive gift. You can put some on a plate and wrap it with cellophane then decorate with a bow. This would be a cute gift for friends, neighbors, or for the kids’ teachers. For cherry fans, you could serve these cherry tarts with a cherry galette or cherry brownies.

They are also nice for a potluck meal or similar gathering. If you’re doing this I suggest you add the recipe to the package else I guarantee you will get every recipient on the phone the next day begging you to tell them how to make these unique individual cheesecakes!

So if you’re looking for the easiest, best recipe for mini cherry cheesecake desserts, make these. The pre-made puff pastry shells make it a breeze to prepare this single serve dessert.

Cherry Cream Cheese Puff Pastry Recipe

You can use any kind of pie filling you want and prepare the filling ahead and bake the pre-made puff pastry shells ahead too. Then you simply need to assemble your mini cherry cream cheese puff pastries right before serving them.

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