Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

A few weeks ago, I saw cheesecake stuffed strawberries online. I immediately knew I had to try them. I just needed a reason. Today was that reason. No, not Groundhog Day, my boyfriend's birthday! I usually make cupcakes for my friend's birthdays but this time, I decided to try this recipe. It may not be as awesome as a cupcake, but it's still really yummy AND a lot healthier. I made it even less fattening by using reduced fat products. Of course, there are plenty of ways to make this just as unhealthy as a cupcake (three words - chocolate, chocolate, chocolate) but I chose to stick with the basic recipe.

The basic recipe is a sweetened cream cheese filled strawberry with graham cracker crumbs. It really doesn't get much easier than that. I used an old potato peeler (the completely metal kind) to core the strawberries. For the most part, they already have a slightly hollow center, but you still need to cut a hole in the top to get to the hollow part. I scraped some extra strawberry out of the middle, but not much. If you don't have pastry/frosting bag, then cut a small hole in the corner of a sandwich bag. This works just as well and doesn't require cleaning. To make this recipe even sweeter, try dipping the strawberries in chocolate, drizzling them with chocolate, or adding mini chocolate chips to the cream cheese. Do whatever you want with them. Marshmallow fluff or whipped cream would probably be pretty amazing too.


Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

Ingredients:

1 pint strawberries
4 oz reduced fat Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
reduced fat graham crackers (about 1-2)
Baker's chocolate, chocolate chips, or any other yummy addition (optional!)


Directions
Cut the tops off of the strawberries. Using a small knife or a potato peeler, cut out the inside of the strawberry. Set the strawberries aside.

Add the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla to a small bowl. Using a spatula, mix the ingredients together until combined. (If adding extra ingredients - mini chocolate chips, etc...put them in now!) Cut a small hole out of the corner of a sandwich bag and add the cream cheese mixture. Pipe mixture into the center of the strawberries, overflowing a little bit.

Smash the graham crackers into crumbs in a bowl. Dip the strawberries in the crumbs to coat the cream cheese coming out of the top. Serve immediately.

*If you wish to dip your strawberries in chocolate, melt a few blocks of Baker's chocolate. Dip the strawberries and set on a piece of wax paper to harden.