Does this look familiar? I didn’t even realize until I typed out the title to this blog post that this is basically a sweet version of the savoury Roasted Strawberry Goat Cheese Crostini. Well let me tell you, it was much better 🙂

I know we’re far past strawberry time here (and the end of berry season overall) but the farmer’s market near my place still has some good ones out, even into August.  So for the last hurrah of summer strawberries, this is what I chose to make.  I loved the idea of this dessert: little graham crackers, a spread of sweetened ricotta cheese, and a fresh strawberry topping. My only issue is that I’m not all that into ricotta, so I swapped it out for a vanilla bean cream cheese mixture I saw on another blog.

This graham cracker recipe was definitely a step in the right direction; the flavour was on point, and the cookies had a nice snap to them, which was lacking in my prior attempt. Next time I made these, I would definitely leave out the cloves, and maybe half of the cinnamon. I loved the cookies, but I felt these spices were taking them too far in the gingersnap direction.


I packaged up the three components and brought them over to Lydia’s for a barbecue that I decided to invite myself to. They were fun to assemble, and we tried eating them with forks before we gave up and just picked the tartlets up to eat with our hands. Everything was going great until Ethan accidentally kicked Andrew’s plate over, spilling bright ruby red strawberries and juice all over the couch. I froze, but Lyd snapped into action, attacking that couch with Spray n’ Wash and a cloth until every last red drop was cleaned up. Then we ate another round!

Strawberry Cheesecake Graham Tartlets

Source: Smitten Kitchen & Oh She Glows

Ingredients

Cookies

1 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 tsp cinnamon (I would reduce this, or eliminate all together)

1/2 tsp salt

pinch cloves (I would definitely leave this out)

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp honey

1 1/2 tsp molasses

Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese

1 pkg cream cheese

3/4 cup icing sugar

1/2 tbsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

Strawberries

1 pint strawberries, hulled and diced

squeeze of lemon juice

sprinkle of sugar to taste

Directions

  1. For cookies, in a small bowl, whisk the flours, salt and cinnamon and cloves (if using).
  2. In a separate large bowl, beat butter and sugars until well combined, about 1 minute. Beat in the honey and molasses until well combined. Stir in dry ingredients until everything is incorporated, then form dough into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge for an hour.
  3. On a lightly floured surface, roll-out the dough until about 1/8″ thin. I found the dough very soft and a little hard to work with, but it could have been because it was hot outside. When I cut out the shapes with my cookie cutter, I had to flour an offset spatula and gently wiggle it under the cookie to get it off the counter. I also re-rolled the scraps about five times to no ill effect.
  4. Place cookies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, and bake at 350 for 12 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through baking. Cool.
  5. For vanilla bean cream cheese, mix everything together with electric mixer.
  6. For strawberries, combine everything.
  7. To assemble, spread a generous spoonful of cream cheese over graham cookie, then top with many delicious strawberries. Try not to eat near a rambunctious toddler!