Mini Cheesecake Galore

If you’re a cheesecake nonbeliever, then prepare to be converted.

These cheesecakes are so amazing. So so so amazing. (Can you tell I’m excited about this recipe?)

Not only did the pictures turn out fabulous (yay for scrapbook backgrounds and my camera alhamdullilah!), but these mini cheesecakes actually taste better than they look. Don’t ask me how. I’m still in awe.

At first glance, it looks like the crust is overpowering the cheese. But it’s not. It’s the perfect ratio, I promise you. The only reason the crust looks uneven if because I don’t think I let it harden enough in the oven. It doesn’t even matter–the crust has the most perfect taste and texture known to cheesecake-kind.

I made these beautiful creatures one moon eclipse ago (yesterday, for those who don’t know. Did anyone catch the the lunar eclipse?) for my grandfather’s birthday. My mom didn’t want me to make a cake, since they’d already bought one. I was disappointed since I had been really excited about making another fondant cake, since the iPhone cake had turned out so well… but you know what?

I’m so glad I made these!

(Sick of the pictures yet? Still a few more to go!)

This is officially my new favorite dessert to make.

1. It was all kinds of delicious (way better than the cake my family bought, which was some kind of chocolate-ice-cream-cheesecake hybrid. Just sayin’).
2. It’s a bite-sized dessert, which I love because they don’t make you feel guilty after you’ve had one (or two).
3. It is way easier to make than regular-sized cheesecakes.
4. They’re delicious.
5. They look super elegant, and are easily portable (if you’re going to take these babies to a party to show off or something. Don’t forget to thank me).
6. After they’re finished cooling in the fridge, you can make as many flavors for the cheesecakes as your heart desires. I made strawberry, blueberry, and caramel.
7. Did I mention these were delicious?

Okay, enough talk. *shoos you away to your kitchen* Run along and make these. You can shower me with gifts and gratitude later.

The following recipe makes about 24 mini-cheesecakes. Knowing my family, I split it in half and made 12 (which I will probably be doing from here on out). If you feel like your family is normal, then don’t make any changes to the recipe. 24 will probably be a perfect amount.

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1 ½ cup graham cracker crumbs
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter; melted
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon

Cheesecake Filling:

• 3 (8 ounce) bricks of cream cheese; softened. (This is about 2 and 1/2 to 3 cups).
• 3/4 cup sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon imitation vanilla (non-alcoholic)
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup heavy cream (I just used regular milk)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 cupcake pans with 24 paper liners.
2. In a small bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, sugar and cinnamon. Stir together with a fork until well blended and all dry ingredients are moistened and look like wet sand. Press 1 tablespoon of the mixture into the bottom of each cupcake liner. Bake until just set, about 5 minutes.
3. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
4. In a medium bowl beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed with an electric mixer just until smooth. Beat in sugar until well incorporated. Mix in the salt and vanilla. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, add in the milk. Be careful not to over-mix.
5. Spoon cheesecake batter over the crust in each cupcake liner using an ice cream scoop or two spoons (I used my 1/4 cup measuring cup).
6. Bake until the filling is just set, about 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and let cool to room temperature. Transfer to the refrigerator and let chill for at least 4 hours before topping and serving, preferably overnight.

adapted from My Baking Addiction.

For the toppings, just use your imaginations and go crazy. But in case you want to know what I did for the toppings:

1. Strawberry using low-sugar strawberry jam with pieces of strawberry inside. Saved me so much time and effort and tasted amazing.
2. Blueberry, making the sauce myself from leftover blueberries. This was a last-minute decision, but it was the best decision ever. The ingredients were: blueberries + lemon juice + sugar + flour + cinnamon. You heat them together on the stove. It’s divine. I don’t have the exact quantities for the blueberry sauce, since I was mainly winging it, but you can probably google it for the quantities you need.
3. Caramel, using good old caramel sauce.

Happy baking! :)