Blueberry Yogurt Cheesecakes

Oh hayyyy memorial day!  Summer is officially here!  Barbecues, white jeans, crabs, and beach weekends!  Can you tell this is my favorite season?  This whole weekend I will be showing off some festive and lighter options to bring to barbecues.  Today's pick is a muffin sized blueberry yogurt-based cheesecake with an orange blueberry sauce to top the baby cheesecakes.  Plus it doesn't hurt that blueberries have been on sale for use in patriotic desserts . . .

So the cheesecake base is 0% greek yogurt and cheesecake.  The base was flavored with orange zest, blueberries, and a little vanilla.  I used my food processor to blend up the filling because I wanted to be able to blend up the blueberries.  More blueberries were used with orange zest and juice to create a quick orange blueberry topper.

It is a festive and light dessert, perfect for any patriotic picnic!  And according to Foodista it is National Blueberry Cheesecake day?  Serendipity!

Blueberry Yogurt Cheesecakes
Crust
1 package of graham crackers
4 tablespoons of butter, melted
2 tablespoons of sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Cheesecake
1 8 oz package of cream cheese (room temperature)
10 oz of 0% greek yogurt (room temperature)
4 eggs (room temperature)
3/4 cups of sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
6 oz of blueberries

Orange Blueberry Topping
4 oz of blueberries
juice of 1/2 an orange
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
2 teaspoons of sugar

First, preheat the oven to 350 F.  Begin by preparing the crust.  Using the food processor, grind up the graham crackers into crumbs.  In a separate bowl combine the crumbs, butter, sugar, and salt.

Use a muffin tin lined with paper cups and put a tablespoon of the crust mixture into each cup.  Pat down and bake for about 5 minutes, until it just starts to brown and set.

While the crusts are cooling, prepare the filling.  Combine the yogurt and cream cheese in the food processor until smooth.

Add the eggs, sugar, orange zest, and vanilla, combine.  Finally, pulse in the blueberries.  Pour into the cooled crusts almost to the top.

Bake at 350 F for about 18-22 minutes, until the middles are just set.  Let cool and the refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.

Finally, create the topping.  Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan and cook on medium high until the blueberries are beginning to burst.

Cool before topping the cheesecakes.  Serve up cold and enjoy!