No-Bake Cheesecake Cups
Cookie crumbs, reconstituted cheesecake filling, and freeze-dried strawberries in a mug. Sets while you eat dinner.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 3.6 oz
- cal / oz
- 144
- protein
- 7 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 10 min
- water
- 90 ml cold
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dessert
- No cook
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Cream cheese powder | 1/2 cup | sold for popcorn seasoning and dehydrated meals |
|---|---|---|
| Powdered whole milk | 3 tbsp | stands in for the heavy cream and sour cream |
| Powdered sugar | 1/3 cup | |
| Citric acid | 1/8 tsp | replaces the lemon juice |
| Vanilla powder | 1/4 tsp | extract leaks, powder does not |
| Salt | a pinch | |
| Biscoff cookies | 6 cookies | crushed at home, in their own bag |
| Freeze-dried strawberries | 1/2 cup | |
| Dark chocolate chunks | 2 tbsp | chopped, or a broken-up bar |
| Toasted coconut chips | 2 tbsp | stands in for the granola crunch |
Method
- Put half the crushed cookies in the bottom of each mug or cup.
- Pour 90 ml of cold water into the bag of cheesecake powder mix. Seal it, push the air out, and knead from the outside until there are no dry pockets. Two minutes of work.
- Let the bag sit five minutes, then knead again. The powder needs the time to hydrate or it stays grainy.
- Spoon half the filling over the cookies in each cup.
- Crumble the freeze-dried strawberries on top, then the chocolate and coconut chips.
- Eat it now. It thickens as it sits, but there is no fridge out here and it will not set any further than this.
The original wants a mixer, a fridge, and four hours. None of that travels. Cream cheese powder plus milk powder does the same job in a bag: enough fat and protein to thicken when it meets water, no whipping required. The trade is that you get a thick pudding rather than a set cheesecake, which is fine when you are eating it out of a titanium mug.
Cold water matters. Hot water makes the mix slimy and thin. The five-minute rest is not optional either, since powdered dairy hydrates slowly and the difference between grainy and smooth is entirely that pause. Freeze-dried strawberries are the only fruit worth carrying here because fresh ones bruise and dried ones are chewy and too sweet against the filling.
Packing
Cream cheese powder, milk powder, sugar, citric acid, vanilla, and salt go in one heavy freezer bag at home. Cookies get crushed into a second bag. Strawberries, chocolate, and coconut ride in a third so the fruit stays crisp. Cut a corner off the filling bag and squeeze it into the cups if you want to skip the spoon.
Variations
- Skip the cups and eat straight from the bag. Add the crumbs last so they stay crunchy.
- In cold weather use 75 ml of water. The filling firms up on its own below 40F.
- Swap the strawberries for freeze-dried raspberries if you want more acid against the sugar.
https://mealswithmaria.site/no-bake-cheesecake-cups