Blackberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

I was wandering online and saw something for popsicles. I felt like making a dessert but wasn't sure what kind. There's lots of variations out there of course and we love cheesecake so I looked for that. But today most cheesecake popsicles call for already made cheesecake frozen into balls and dipped in chocolate. I didn't want that .

Ive had cheesecake flavor ice cream before and that's what I was searching for. I found one eventually that I liked. I had all the stuff in the house for it and it sounded much healthier too. And then I remembered I still have one bag of frozen blackberries left from my picking in the woods , end of last summer. Those are like gold and Ive been using them sparingly. I only use them if I think something will be exceptionally good.

The recipe called for popsicles but I decided after searching around for something to use as a mold .......to just make individual ice cream desserts instead. While I could have used these and stuck a stick in them , I had nothing around here to use like that. But these are actually freezer jam containers with lids. And I thought they would be good to store individual desserts in so when we wanted one , we could just take one out. It worked well except for one thing. I have to let them soften a bit first because I cant get the lids off otherwise! lol. I filled them too much. Next time Ill just cover them with foil. Live and learn. :) And here's my recipe....

BLACKBERRY CHEESECAKE ICE CREAM Make 6 8oz. containers.
3 c. non fat Greek yogurt
6oz. cream cheese
4  (3in dia.) snickerdoodle cookies
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 Zap  cream cheese in a microwave safe bowl for about 30sec. to soften, then whisk into the yogurt until smooth. Crumble the snickerdoodles into a bowl. A few chunks are fine. Add the cookie, honey, lemon juice, and vanilla, and stir.

( I used non  fat Greek yogurt cuz its all I had in the house but honestly I think it works perfectly. Its a good spot to cut down on the fat plus its still creamy and rich. Also you could add more cookies if you want. This just added a touch of taste and crunch here and there. I just am not fond of graham crackers and we love snickerdoodles, it was yummy tho. I use local honey that I get at our farmers markets. I buy one that is called Blackberry honey. It doesn't taste like blackberries tho, I just happen to like this one better than some of the others he carries. Most likely it from bees that frequently blackberry flowers.)  

 2 cups blackberries (frozen or fresh)
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

Thaw blackberries a bit so they can break apart easier. Warm the honey for a few sec. in the microwave. Because the berries were frozen, if you don't do this you will get globs of honey in the berry mix that refuse to break down cuz its so cold. You could certainly use fresh berries and skip the heating step. Add the lemon juice and stir well. 

 I layered both in freezer jam containers to make individual desserts. I started with about 2 tsp. blackberry mixture on the bottom then about 2 heaping tbs. of the cheesecake mixture. Keep layering till you use it all up. Cover containers and freeze till solid.

We had some last nite....its rich and yummy. The tart of the berries is nice with the creamy cheesecake but none of it is too sweet. Next time Ill try different berries. I still have some blueberry in the freezer and raspberries. I was even going to put some finely mince crystallized ginger in it but I didn't want to add too many flavors yet since this was an experiment. 

*This will get  quite hard in the freezer so you might want to take it out a bit earlier than when you want to eat it or zap it a few seconds in the microwave...not too much tho, dont want to melt it, just soften it. :)