Deviled Strawberries (Made with a Cheesecake Filling)

These sweet cream cheese stuffed strawberries are the most delightful finger food for just about any party. They're also fun for Valentine's Day or girl's night in! Either way, this spectacular table display will be the hit of the party.

Ingredients

• 18-24 large strawberries
• 1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese (softened)
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 2/3 cup white granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (optional)

Instructions

• Prep the strawberries by cutting off the stems and slicing them in half. Next, cut a small sliver off of the back of each strawberry half so that they sit up straight. Then use a small melon baller to carefully hollow out the middle (you don't need to take out much, just make a small enough indent so that the cream cheese filling doesn't slide off). *Pictorial Above *
• Place the softened cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, vanilla extract and lemon juice in a medium sized mixing bowl (DO NOT add the heavy whipping cream). Beat with an electric mixer until smooth. 
• In a different medium sized mixing bowl, beat the whipping cream until stiff peaks form (about 5 minutes). 
• Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until well incorporated. 
• Fill a piping bag with the cream cheese mixture (I used a star tip), and pipe it onto each sliced strawberry.
• Finish with a sprinkle of graham cracker crumbs.
• Serve and enjoy! 

Recipe Notes

• The number of strawberries you need to match the amount of cream cheese mixture really depends on the size of the strawberries. I bought a large container of medium sized strawberries from Costco, and still ended up with a bit of leftover cream cheese mixture.
• You CAN make the cream cheese mixture (including whipped cream) the day before. My leftovers were the perfect consistency the next day. I may or may not have been eating it with a spoon.
• The strawberries can also be cut and prepped the day before, just be sure to place them in an air tight container with a paper towel so that they don't get soggy or end up with that weird refrigerator taste.