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‘Twas the week before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring….except for NoshGirl and NoshCat making Mini Cranberry Cheesecakes with a Walkers Shortbread crust!

I’m serious – check out this rare but treasured cameo by NoshCat as she walks into an ingredient shot:

Today I am SO excited to be sharing my recipe for Mini Cranberry Cheesecakes featuring a rich, buttery crust made with Walkers Shortbread.  My history with Walkers Shortbread began in the second grade, when a classmate introduced me to this unassuming but luxuriously decadent cookie.  I partnered with Walkers earlier this year to make Hazelnut Banoffee Tartlets – yum!  So, when I was approached again to celebrate the holidays with Walkers Shortbread, I jumped at the chance.  To get into the holiday spirit, I thought I’d add some fresh cranberries to today’s recipe.  Paired with a Walkers crust, this is a simple and bite-sized holiday treat.

Mini Cranberry Cheesecakes

Makes 8 mini cheesecakes

You will need:

  • 1 package Walkers Shortbread Petticoat Tails
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 8-oz package cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup fresh cranberries
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  1. Preheat oven to 375F.
  2. Line 8 muffin tin spaces with liners and set aside
  3. With a rolling pin, crush Walkers Shortbread until you have fine crumbs.  Combine melted butter with crumbs and press mixture into lined and greased muffin tins.  Bake crumb mixture for 6 minutes and allow to cool.
  4. With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese just until fluffy.  Add in sugar and beat in until combined.  Add in egg, lemon juice, and vanilla, and combine.
  5. Scoop a large dollop into each muffin tin space, so that it is 2/3 full.  Bake for 17 minutes.
  6. Meanwhile, combine cranberries, water and sugar in small sauce pot, simmering until thickened (approximately 8 minutes).  Allow mixture to cool.
  7. Allow cheesecakes to cool completely before finishing with cranberry topping.

These mini cheesecakes are sweet and pleasnatly tart.  But in the words of my favorite 80s educational show, don’t take my word for it – from now through this Thursday, December 19, all of you lovely Noshers can use promo code #BAHOLIDAY at the Walkers Shortbread site and get 20% off your entire purchase (excluding sale items 🙂 )!

There are a bunch of Walkers products that would be great stocking stuffers (or in the case of my parents, much-anticipated snacks for Downton Abbey watching):

  • Shortbread Petticoat Tails
  • Assorted Shortbreads
  • Festive Shapes
  • Mini Stars
  • Mini Mincemeat Tarts
  • Stem Ginger

I admit I was a little wary of the mini mincemeat tarts but they were gooooood stuff.  I also like mini things, so that certainly added a certain degree of bias 🙂

But wait, there’s more!  In addition to 20% off all the shortbread you can eat, I am also hosting a giveaway for a  Walkers Shortbread Holiday Gift Pack that includes the products listed above!  I’m *pretty* sure my mom will be entering the giveaway, but I’ll be keeping things fair with my Rafflecopter widget 😉

For your chance to win, enter via the widget below.  This 52 second video provides a tutorial on how to enter a giveaway for Rafflecopter newbies! There are 4 methods of entry, with the first method (commenting on this blog post) being mandatory and the rest just extra holiday cheer!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure:  Sample product and giveaway prize provided by Walkers Shortbread.  Opinions in this post are my own.

GOOD LUCK! 🙂