Cheesecake Strawberries

Confession: the only Thrive ingredient in this recipe is Thrive Powdered Sugar. Sure, you could make it with regular store bought powdered sugar, but maybe you have some Thrive powdered sugar that is nearing it's expiration date (of 30 years) and you just have to use it right now. And let me tell you, there is no better way to use it than to make these amazingly delicious, beautiful cheesecake filled strawberries.

2 8oz Bars Cream Cheese, Softened
1c Thrive Powdered Sugar
1t Vanilla Extract
48 Strawberries

Wash your strawberries and set them out on a tea towel to dry. Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla using a spatula or hand beater. Taste it and add more sugar if you want a sweeter filling. Set each strawberry on it's top to make sure it will stand upright. I like to leave the leaves on mine because I think it looks pretty, but you might need to trim yours to make the strawberries stand up. Using a sharp knife, start at the tip and cut an X all the way down toward the stem, but don't go all the way through. This will allow your strawberry to open slightly for the filling to go inside.

Now is the time to decide how you're going to fill these babies. If you want to go super low-tech, just put your cheesecake filling into a large zip top bag, snip a little hole in one of the corners and squeeze away. You could also use a piping bag with a pretty tip. I just so happened to find the neatest little contraption at Michaels Craft Store - the Wilton Dessert Decorator Plus. It is easy to use, easy to wash, and was about $15.

Using whichever method you choose, fill each strawberry with the cheesecake filling and stand the filled strawberry upright on your serving plate. The filled strawberries may be refrigerated for up to 48 hours prior to serving. To make your strawberries extra pretty, you can drizzle melted chocolate over them or sprinkle them with powdered sugar.