This post is sponsored by Breakstone’s. Find their creamy cottage cheese and smooth sour cream at a retailer near you.
Bookmark this Cranberry Orange Cheesecake Jar recipe for your holiday entertaining menu! Ultra creamy, tangy cheesecake made with simple ingredients like wholesome Breakstone’s cottage cheese is paired with cranberry orange jam and a graham cracker crust. It’s the perfect dessert for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any holiday – the individual jars make it so easy for guests to grab and eat while they mingle!
make it with:
Easy Cranberry Orange Jam
This holiday jam is a perfect balance of sweet and tart and only requires 5 ingredients!
Cottage Cheese FTW
Cottage cheese may be having a multi-year moment right now, but I’ve loved it for many more years as an easy and versatile way to hit my protein goals. Breakstone’s is the perfect choice for all your cottage cheese creations – it’s made with high quality dairy and whips up into an ultra creamy consistency. As for the protein content, their 4% milk fat version boasts 12 grams of protein per 1/2 cup serving.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Here’s what you’ll need to recreate this Cranberry Orange Cheesecake Jar recipe:
- Breakstone’s Cottage Cheese – I recommend their 4% milk fat version for this recipe to ensure you get a tender cheesecake.
- Cream cheese – Full fat, brick cream cheese softened to room temperature works best here, but you could use the reduced fat kind if you wanted to lighten things up a little. Just ensure that either the cottage cheese or cream cheese are the full fat version for best texture.
- Sugar – Regular old granulated sugar!
- Eggs – I don’t recommend any substitutions for eggs, they’re key to holding the cheesecake together.
- Vanilla – An essential seasoning for desserts, I don’t recommend skipping it!
- Orange zest or extract – This is an optional addition to the cheesecake filling to hammer home the orange flavor! I didn’t use either and thought the hint of flavor from the orange zest in the jam was just enough.
- Easy Cranberry Orange Jam – This 10-minute jam only requires 5 ingredients and I love having some on hand this time of year for charcuterie boards or for on top of cottage cheese as a snack! You can always buy some in the store if you don’t want to make your own.
- Graham crackers – If you wanted to get sporty, you could even use cinnamon graham crackers or gingersnap cookies instead.
- Brown sugar – Since this is for the crust, I like brown sugar for a little extra flavor, but you could use regular sugar if you want.
- Butter – Salted or unsalted will work.
don’t skip these
Key Steps for Success!
After testing (and failing) with this recipe several times before finally nailing it, I learned that these tricks are key to getting it right:
- Blending – For a smooth cheesecake, use a food processor with plenty of room for blending and start with the cottage cheese and vanilla, then slowly add the sugar and eggs to cream them into the cottage cheese. Add the cream cheese last and tap the container on the counter to release as many air bubbles as you can.
- Water bath – Don’t be intimidated, it’s really easy! The water bath helps the cheesecake cook evenly and gradually, which prevents cracking and browning.
- Rest time – After baking, leave the jars in the hot water and cover it with foil and a kitchen towel and rest for an hour on the counter. This will finish cooking the cheesecake and allow them to gently cool, helping to prevent cracks and excessive sinking.
- Cooling before serving – After resting in the hot water bath, these cheesecakes will be perfectly tasty and safe to eat, but the texture will be more fluffy and mousse-like rather than a cheesecake consistency. Give them about an hour in the fridge to cool and set up for best results.
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Cranberry Orange Cheesecake Jars
Creamy, tangy cheesecake is paired with cranberry orange jam and a graham cracker crust in individual jars. Perfect for holiday entertaining!
Servings: servings
Ingredients
Cheesecake Layer
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup Breakstone's 4% Cottage Cheese, (176 grams)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar, (50 grams)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Optional: 1 tsp orange zest or 1/4 tsp orange extract
- 3/4 cup Easy Cranberry Orange Jam, (6 fl oz)
Crust
- 2/3 cup crushed graham crackers, (71 grams)
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp brown sugar, packed
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 375°F and arrange (8) 4 oz mini mason jars in an oven safe casserole dish. Set aside.
- Add cottage cheese and vanilla to a food processor and blend until smooth, then with the food processor on low, slowly add in eggs and sugar through the feed tube. Stop the food processor and add cream cheese and orange zest or extract (if using), then blend again until smooth. Remove the bowl of the food processor and gently tap against the counter to release air bubbles. Set aside in the refrigerator to rest.
- In a small bowl, melt the butter for the crust, then add brown sugar and crushed graham crackers. Stir with a fork until well combined, then spoon into the bottoms of the mini mason jars and press down gently with a cocktail muddler or back of a spoon.
- Spoon the Easy Cranberry Orange Jam over the crust and gently spread to the edges.
- Retrieve the cheesecake filling from the refrigerator and again tap the food processor bowl against the counter to release any air bubbles. Divide evenly into mason jars.
- Create a water bath by pouring warm water into the casserole dish, filling until the water goes at least halfway up the cheesecake in the jars. Bake at 375°F in the middle rack for 30-35 minutes or until the tops of the cheesecakes puff up.
- Remove the cheesecakes from the oven and quickly cover with foil and a kitchen towel and allow to rest on the counter for 1 hour before removing the cheesecake jars from the water. Allow to cool in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving for best texture.
Tips & Tricks
- Water bath and rest time: Both are critical for proper cooking and preventing major cracks in the cheesecakes – they are not optional for this recipe. Allowing the jars to continue to rest in the hot water after removing them from the oven is key to finishing the baking process and preventing cracks. Read more here.
- Storage: These cheesecake cups can be stored in the refrigerator with a tight fitting lid for up to a week.
- Nutrition: Scan the barcode below or search for “Peanut Butter and Fitness Cranberry Orange Cheesecake Cups” to log this food in My Fitness Pal.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1jar, Calories: 279kcal (14%), Carbohydrates: 28g (9%), Protein: 6g (12%), Fat: 16g (25%), Saturated Fat: 9g (56%), Cholesterol: 94mg (31%), Sodium: 231mg (10%), Potassium: 51mg (1%), Fiber: 1g (4%), Sugar: 22g (24%)
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