Mini summer fruit tarts are an easy summer dessert that are sure to impress! Homemade sugar cookie cups are filled with rich and creamy no-bake cheesecake, topped with fresh summer berries, and garnished with fresh herbs. These bite-sized desserts are light but luscious, and it takes less than an hour of hands-on time to make enough for a crowd!
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I am BEYOND excited to share this recipe with you! It has quickly risen to the top of my list of favorite recipes, and it's everything that I want in a summer dessert! These mini summer fruit tarts are made with soft and chewy sugar cookie cups stuffed with creamy, flavorful no-bake cheesecake and topped with the freshest summer fruit. They're easy to make, yet your family and friends will be so impressed with these delicious and adorable bite-sized treats!
You won't need any fancy tart pans or hard-to-find ingredients for this recipe! If you have a mixer (a stand mixer or a handheld electric mixer will work), a mini muffin pan, and a handful of common baking ingredients, you're ready to make these mini fruit tarts. Best of all, it takes less than an hour of hands-on time to whip up a whole batch!
How to Make Sugar Cookie Cups from Scratch
The first step in making these mini summer fruit tarts is to bake the sugar cookie cups. For these cookie cups I adapted my favorite recipe for classic, soft sugar cookie dough (also used in this recipe for Blueberry Cookies with Streusel Topping) and baked it in a mini muffin pan, pressing small indents into each cookie cup to create a "bowl" for the cheesecake filling. These cookie cups are simple and easy to make!
- To make the sugar cookie dough, cream butter and sugar, add egg yolks and vanilla, then stir in all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Piece of cake! Chill the dough for 30 minutes.
- Once the dough is chilled, roll the dough into little balls and fill the cavities of a mini muffin pan. Bake the cookie cups for about 10 minutes, just until they're lightly golden. As soon as you take the pan out of the oven, use the back of a teaspoon to press indents into the top of each cookie cup before letting them cool completely.
How to Make No-Bake Cheesecake Filling
This no-bake cheesecake filling is dangerously simple. It comes together quickly with just a handful of basic ingredients, and you're going to want to eat it with a spoon. Consider yourself warned!
- First things first, be sure your ingredients are at the proper temperature. (If you're curious, I have a post all about why ingredient temperatures are important in baking.) You'll need cold heavy cream in order for it to whip properly, and room temperature cream cheese and sour cream will beat into a smooth mixture. If you use cold cream cheese, your cheesecake filling will be lumpy.
- Beat the cold heavy cream until stiff peaks form. (Stiff peaks means that when you turn off the mixer and lift the beaters straight up, you'll see formed peaks with tips that remain upright. Check out my homemade whipped cream recipe, which includes a helpful visual of stiff peaks.)
- In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese and sour cream until smooth. Then add confectioners sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, and salt and beat until combined.
- Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture and chill the no-bake cheesecake for at least 1 hour.
- When you're ready to assemble the mini fruit tarts, here's a tip for how to easily and neatly scoop the no-bake cheesecake filling into the cookie cups: scoop the chilled filling using a teaspoon measuring spoon and use a mini spatula to transfer it into the "bowl" of a cooled cookie cup.
Storage Tips
It’s best to enjoy these mini summer fruit tarts shortly after assembling them, so I'd recommend storing the components separately, if possible and assembling the tarts shortly before serving. The sugar cookie cups can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, while the no-bake cheesecake filling can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
If you end up with leftover assembled mini fruit tarts, they can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. It’s best to remove any herb garnishes from the fruit tarts before storing, since the herbs’ flavors will seep into the cheesecake filling.
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PrintRecipe
Mini Summer Fruit Tarts
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes (includes 30 minutes for cookie dough to chill before baking and 1 hour for no-bake cheesecake filling to chill)
- Yield: 24 mini tarts 1x
Description
Mini summer fruit tarts are an easy summer dessert that are sure to impress! Homemade sugar cookie cups are filled with rich and creamy no-bake cheesecake, topped with fresh summer berries, and garnished with fresh herbs.
Ingredients
for the sugar cookie cups:
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ⅝ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large egg yolks
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
for the no-bake cheesecake filling:
- ¼ cup heavy cream, chilled
- 4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 Tbsp. sour cream, room temperature
- ¼ cup confectioners sugar
- ½ tsp. lemon juice
- ¼ tsp. vanilla extract
- tiny pinch of salt
for the garnish:
- fresh summer berries (like blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and/or strawberries)
- fresh herb sprigs (like basil or mint, optional)
Instructions
- Make the sugar cookie cups. In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter on high speed until smooth, about 30 seconds. Add the sugar and cream the sugar with the butter on high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the egg yolks and vanilla extract and beat to combine.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix on low speed just until combined, being careful not to over mix. The dough should be moistened throughout but still a bit crumbly.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
- While the dough chills, preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray.
- Once the cookie dough has chilled, scoop 1 Tablespoon of dough, roll into a ball using your hands, and place a cookie dough ball into each greased well of the mini muffin pan. You should have 24 balls of dough.
- Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes or just until lightly golden. Immediately upon removing the muffin pan from the oven, use the back side of a teaspoon measuring spoon to press down the centers of each cookie, forming a cup. Let the cookie cups cool in the muffin pan for 5 minutes before carefully removing them from the pan and transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the no-bake cheesecake filling. In a medium bowl, beat heavy cream using a handheld electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
- In large bowl, beat cream cheese and sour cream using a handheld electric mixer until smooth. Add confectioners sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, and salt and beat until combined.
- Add the whipped cream to bowl with the cream cheese mixture and fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the cheesecake filling for at least 1 hour (or up to 12 hours).
- Assemble the mini summer fruit tarts. Scoop 1 teaspoon of chilled no-bake cheesecake filling into each cooled sugar cookie cup. (To do this easily and neatly, use a teaspoon measuring spoon and a mini spatula.) Top each dessert with fresh berries and garnish with fresh herb sprigs (if using). Enjoy immediately.
Notes
Storage: It's best to enjoy these mini summer fruit tarts shortly after assembling them and storing the components separately. Sugar cookie cups can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. No-bake cheesecake filling can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. If you have leftover assembled mini fruit tarts, they can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. (For assembled mini fruit tarts, it's best to remove any herb garnishes before storing, since the herbs' flavors will seep into the cheesecake filling.)
If you prefer, you could fill the cookie cups with whipped cream rather than no-bake cheesecake filling.
- Prep Time: 50 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: mini fruit tarts, sugar cookie cups, no-bake cheesecake filling, fresh summer berries
Bridget
Has anyone tried this with prepare cookie dough? I am notorious for messing up cookies but the rest of this recipe seems totally doable for me!
Kimberley Canfield
How much cream needs to be added to the fruit cups? I only see heavy cream in the ingredients for the filling.
Allison
Hi Kimberley! There is no cream in the cookie cups. In step 2, the sugar should be added to the butter and creamed with the butter. I tweaked the wording of the recipe to make it more clear that cream is not being added to the recipe here and that the butter and sugar are being creamed together (and I've included a link below to a post explaining how to do this.) I hope that helps! Happy baking!
- Allison
https://alwayseatdessert.com/2020/05/27/how-to-cream-butter-and-sugar/
Catherine Folts
These fruit tarts look insanely delicious !! I’m making them today can’t wait !!
Allison
Thank you, Catherine! I would love to hear what you think once you've made them!
- Allison