ToolBox Tuesday: Wide Mouth Half Pints

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I hosted Bunco the other night and wanted a special treat for my guests.  I saw this post on Pinterest about making cheesecake in a jar and thought it would be so cute to have individual cheesecakes for all the ladies.  After searching a while I found these Wide Mouth Half Pint jars on Amazon for about $16.00.  I thought that was a little high for jars, and after reading through the reviews, I saw one person suggested getting the jars from Ace Hardware online.  I went there and they didn't have any available, but I called our local Ace and they were able to order them no problem.  My jars arrived in three days, just in time :0)

The post I saw was for no-bake cheesecakes.  I decided to used my own favorite recipes for baked cakes and was thrilled with how they turned out.

Here is the recipe for the crust:

2c. finely ground graham cracker crumbs

2tsp. sugar

1 stick melted butter

I wasn't sure how much of the crust mixture to put in each jar so I grabbed my TBS and began dropping the mixture in jars by the spoonful.  Turns out, I was able to get 2 packed TBS in each of the 12 jars, even!  Score!

I used a glass cup to flatten out the crust in the bottom of the jar.

Here is where I went wrong.  I didn't realize until I ate one of these cute little treats that by crushing the crust up the sides too made the bottom too thin.  I would recommend just smooshing it in the bottom and not up the sides :0)  The things you find out when you experiment in the kitchen!

Do that to all of the jars and set aside.  

Its time to mix the filling.  I used Chantal's recipe from Allrecipies.com.  It is my absolute favorite cheesecake recipe.  I usually make it in a 9x13 pan so we can have bar-style pieces, but it also worked fabulously for my jars.  **note:be sure to have all your ingredients at room temperature before you start**

I kept filling the jars until the filling was all gone.  I ended up filling the jars until the cream cheese mixture is about 1/4" from the top.  

Once all of the jars were filled, I placed them on a cookie sheet with a rim, placed it in a pre-heated oven, and then added a couple cups of water for a water bath.  

I baked these cuties at 350 for 25min.  I would probably just set the timer for 35 next time.  When the timer goes off, take the cheesecakes out of the oven,   let cool for about 30 min. on a cooling rack, then place in fridge for 6 hours or more until totally cooled.

Ummm...In my Bunco madness I did not get pictures of the final product, but they were fabulous!  I had strawberries or fudge and caramel for turtle cheesecake.  I also made hot fudge pudding cake in a second box of jars, but that will have to be a post for another day.  One great benefit of the cute, little jars was that the ladies could screw the lid on and take their desert with them if they had to roll and run.

So, here are a few more ideas I found that would be great baked into jars...

Baked Breakfast Eggs

Cobbler baked in Jars

Madison's Cutie Pies-yep, from The Sew*CakeMakers :0) 

Lemon Cake

Dinner Rolls

Brownies

Rainbow Cakes

Baked CornDogs in a Jar

Red Velvet CupCakes in a Jar

Chili and CornBread

Banana Split Cake Cups

So here is a thought, why couldn't you make just about anything you bake in individual servings in a jar???

I was actually obsessed with the idea last summer while on vacation with my friend Wendi and her 6 kids.  We were constantly trying to figure out how to eat as cheap as possible while out touring local attractions.  We didn't have jars with us, but it was certainly a thought as far as packing a lunch that would be better for us  than the fast food alternatives.  Jars are also a great alternative for storing leftovers.  You aren't supposed to microwave the plastic containers, but these glass jars can just be thrown into the microwave to heat up your food{after you take the metal lid off} 

Here are a couple different jars I found in my search...

The classic half-pint {bought mine at ACE for $10.99/dozen}

The deluxe half-pints {I saw these at Walmart 4 for $7}

and these super cute Tulip Jars {most expensive of all}

Anyway, put something yummy inside, tie it with a cute ribbon or bow, you have a fabulous treat for yourself or someone special!