Tropical Cheesecake in a Jar

     This is another one of my dessert creations that was 1% planning and 99% random improvisation. Lately, I've been a little obsessed with cute food served in jars, so this is my first attempt at that. I call it a cheesecake because I have a very loose definition of what cheesecake, but it tastes more like a pudding or a yogurt. It's very refreshing for summer and very easy to make. If you don't have a bunch of half-pint glass jars just lying around, you could serve these in small mugs or drinking glasses, and they'd be almost as cute.

INGREDIENTS: (makes 4 servings)
about 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 8oz block cream cheese
1 6oz container of plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons sugar
a splash of coconut milk
about 1/2 cup of some kind of tropical mixture of frozen fruit (I threw in a handful of one with mango, pineapple, and peaches.)
1/4 cup shredded coconut

DIRECTIONS:
1. Mix the melted butter into the graham cracker crumbs to make the crust. I made my own crumbs out of whole crackers in a food processor, but I don't see real advantage to doing that. In fact, I like the pre-crumbled ones better, but I just ran out of them.

2. To top these off, I used some leftover toasted coconut I had. To toast shredded coconut, spread it out on a baking sheet and bake at 400 for about 7 minutes, maybe less for such a small amount. Don't take your eyes off of it.

3. For half-pint jars, put about 2 big spoonfuls of the crust mixture into each and press it into an even layer. I always think that graham cracker crusts are the best part of any dessert, so I usually make them
much thicker than they're supposed to be anyway.
4. In a blender, blend the cream cheese, yogurt, coconut milk, sugar, and frozen fruit until it's really smooth. Then, fill the jars/glasses with the filling and sprinkle a big pinch of toasted coconut on top of each one.

5. You'll want to refrigerate these for a couple hours before serving, but be sure to eat them the same day you make them!

     I loved the flavors of the tropical fruit in these, but someday I do want to experiment with different frozen fruits to see how they work with this recipe. I'm thinking a combination of berries would be pretty good too! Enjoy, and come back tomorrow for some fancy chicken!