Cheesecake and Strawberry Santa Hats

Happy Holidays Y'all! 

I'm not much of a baker these days, especially since we are empty nesters and have to watch our sugar intake. One thing for sure, though, we all love Christmas treats - whether homemade or store bought! Nothing beats a delicious treat that is homemade! So for this month's Christmas Treats Challenge, hosted by Beverly @Across the Blvd, I decided to look around online for a quick and easy to make homemade treat! And I came across one on the popular Delish site that I loved. Santa Hat Cheesecake Bites! The recipe featured two of my favorite eats - cheesecake and strawberries!  So I have to share my thoughts on making these treats!

The directions said: 1. Make or buy a cheesecake. 2. Make it festive .  .  .

Add a strawberry and some whipped cream on top of cheesecake for the most festive (and adorable) bites ever. How easier can that get! So I bought an 8" cheesecake - I've made cheesecakes before and it can be quite time consuming, so I opted for a tasty store bought one and .  .  .

some luscious strawberries that I rinsed and sliced the tops off of.

Then, using a small biscuit or round cookie cutter, punched out what I thought would be cute, smaller cheesecakes.

Hmmm .  .  . they didn't say how to get the whole cheesecake bites out of the cutter! I tried several ways- pushing, tapping, placing oil on the inside of cutter, and running a thin blade knife around the inside but never got a clean or smooth edge on any of them!  How disappointing! 
Next, the directions said to fill a piping bag with whipped cream and cover the surface of each cheesecake with a swirl. Oh, and then it said for an even easier way, a can of whipped cream should work just as well. I'm all about easy, so I tried using a can of whipped cream!

Big mistake! Now unless you're planning to eat or serve them right way - and I mean right away, don't use whipped cream in a can!

The whipped cream can swirls started to melt within a very short time. And nothing can stop that, including refrigeration! But I continued on, lol! 

Topped the whipped cream with a strawberry, sliced side down!

I must say, they're beginning to look real cute!

And finally, place a dollop of whipped cream on top of the strawberry and serve!

I showed the decorated cheesecakes to hubby without saying a word and he  immediately said they were Santa treats! Yippee! But the whipped cream swirls were melting! Yuck!

Despite having trouble getting the cheesecake out of the cutters, and the melting of the whipped cream, these treats look adorable - just like Santa hats and are quite delicious, too!  We ate and enjoyed them right away! They were delicious!

But for serving to company - here are my thoughts:  I would try a no-bake cheesecake recipe and use silicone cups to make easily removable pieces and of course, handmade whipped cream, too! It's all about presentation!

Quite tasty, nevertheless!

Each month, a group of creative bloggers co-host a themed blog hop challenge. This month, we’re sharing Christmas Treats. Be sure to click on the links below to check out more delicious treats!

Beverly | Across the Blvd   - Mini Cherry Cheesecake Cookie Cups

Gail | Purple Hues and Me - Cheesecake and Strawberry Santa Hats

Joanne | Slices of Life - Eggnog Snickerdoodle Cookies

Julie | Sum of Their Stories - No Fuss Coconut Ice

Terri | Christmas Tree Lane -  Easy Gingerbread Roll Out Cookies