A mini, personal cheesecake is always going to be cuter than a slice of cheesecake. And all you have to do to create these mini cheesecakes is divide the batter between baking cups instead of spreading it into one large pan. I prefer using stiff baking cups without ridges to regular cupcake liners for these cheesecakes, because then I can peel the paper off of each cheesecake and reveal a perfectly smooth, elegant, mini cheesecake. Don’t forget the generous drizzle of milk chocolate!
Crust:
1 cup ground cookies of choice
1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar
½ stick (2 ounces) butter, meltedCheesecake:
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
Topping:
½ cup sour cream, room temperature
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
About 3 ounces milk chocolate, melted
- Preheat oven to 350⁰F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with baking cups or cupcake liners.
- Prepare the crust: In a food processor, grind the cookies and measure out one cup. Blend ground cookies with the confectioners’ sugar and butter until a mixture resembling wet sand forms. Press a heaping tablespoon of mixture into the bottoms of the baking cups. Bake for 5 minutes and then set aside to cool slightly.
- Prepare the cheesecake batter: In a food processor or electric stand mixer, cream together cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, vanilla extract, and salt and blend until smooth.
- Use an ice cream scoop to divide batter evenly over the pre-baked crusts. Bake cheesecakes for about 16 minutes, or until just set.
- Increase oven temperature to 400⁰F. Stir together sour cream, sugar, and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Spoon mixture over each cheesecake cup and spread evenly. Place cheesecakes back into oven and bake for an additional 5-8 minutes.
- Let cheesecakes cool at room temperature. Then, place into the fridge for several hours before drizzling with milk chocolate.
Yield: 12 mini cheesecakes
