Celebrating National Ice Cream Day with Homemade Blueberry Sauce

Growing up, one of my favorite parts about long summer vacations from school was going blueberry picking with my mom. At Moore's Blueberry Garden in Fort Wayne you could pick blueberries for 50 cents a pound. My mom and I would eat the blueberries as we picked them because she always said they don't weigh you beforehand so they can't charge you for the blueberries you eat.

Sadly, that blueberry garden is no longer open. And even sadder, I don't have long summer vacations.

But we still love blueberries and everything you can make with them -- including this wonderful, homemade blueberry sauce!

We put this sauce on everything: pancakes, waffles, oatmeal, cheesecake, etc. But since it's NATIONAL ICE CREAM DAY (yahoo!) I decided to put the blueberry sauce on a big bowl of (Fort Wayne made) Edy's vanilla ice cream and make a homemade blueberry sundae!

The contrast of warm blueberry sauce and cool vanilla ice cream tastes like "summer" and is just short of heavenly!

EASY HOMEMADE BLUEBERRY SAUCE

Makes about 2 cups of sauce

Printable Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
• Dash of salt
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups blueberries
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in saucepan.
2. Stir in water.
3. Add blueberries.
4. Place saucepan on stove-top and and set burner heat on medium high.
5. Bring mixture to boil and then let simmer for 2-3 minutes.
6. Remove sauce from heat and stir in lemon juice

No-Bake Mason Jar Cheesecakes

Today on Fox59 morning news I talked about last minute Fourth of July dessert recipes and made these adorable No-Bake Mason Jar Cheesecakes! 

I wanted to make a really light dessert because during the summer it’s hot and people are typically running around playing outside. And I know when I eat something really heavy like pie or cake I just feel sluggish.

These little cheesecakes are very low in fat and calories, but they still satisfy your sweet tooth.

You can whip up the filling in a matter of minutes, and you don’t have to worry about heating up your oven!

Additionally, You can use this same cheesecake filling to make a cheesecake or a fruit dip, as you'll see in my segment!

No-Bake Mason Jar Cheesecakes

Servings: This recipe makes enough for about 12 mason jars

Calories: 188 calories per mason jar

Ingredients

• 15 low-fat graham crackers (8 ounces)
• 2 bars (8 ounces each) non-fat cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups non-fat Cool Whip
• 2 cups fresh berries

Directions

1. In a food processor, pulse graham crackers until finely ground and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy, or about 3 minutes.
3. Add confectioners' sugar, yogurt, vanilla, and salt; beat until smooth.
4. With a rubber spatula, fold in whipped cream.
5. Fill mason jar 1/3 of the way with graham cracker crumbs
6. Spoon or pipe in cheesecake filling so that the jar is 2/3 of the way full
7. Top cheesecake filling with fresh berries and serve