Mini Cheesecakes (BEST EVER) – Dessert for Two

As an alternative of an enormous dessert, I am all the time going to recommend utilizing a muffin pan to make a cute tiny one as an alternative! These mini cheesecakes with graham cracker crust are baked in a cupcake pan. It is a small batch recipe that makes simply 4, however you possibly can double or triple the recipe simply.

Earlier than we get to the land of completely chocolate-glazed mini cheesecakes with coronary heart strawberry cut-outs, we’ve to begin originally. All of us love loaf pan cheesecake. Nonetheless, we are able to all over-do it on cheesecake, am I proper? This isn’t true for the mini egg cheesecake, however–that by no means will get previous.

I have been enjoying with my recipe for small batch mini cheesecakes made in muffin cups for in all probability a decade. To be exact–since the time my roommate in faculty made these by dropping in a nilla wafer as an alternative of bothering with a crust. (I went to varsity earlier than Pinterest existed, and sure, I’m so very previous). That is the tactic I exploit for my mini strawberry cheesecakes, by the way in which.

The gracious factor about mini cheesecakes in muffin cups is you could’t actually over-do it. Particularly once you’re solely making a small batch. This recipe makes simply 4 mini cheesecakes with graham cracker crust. Two mini cheesecake cupcakes for you, two mini cheesecake cupcakes for me, after which none for tomorrow after we ought to get again to our January diets. However, this roundup makes it arduous!

How you can Make Mini Cheesecakes

Sure, we’re making a small batch of graham cracker crumbs to make the crusts for these mini cheesecakes. It is so very price it, particularly should you’re the sort who occurs to assume the crust is the very best half.

Past that, you must know that I all the time taste my cheesecake with vanilla and freshly squeezed lemon juice. The distinctive mixture of vanilla sweetness with lemon juice provides it simply the correct amount of tang. I additionally all the time use an egg for fluffiness.

If you don’t need chocolate on prime, strive utilizing my microwave lemon curd on prime as an alternative!

The Substances

• Graham Crackers. We want ½ cup of graham cracker crumbs, which you should purchase from a field. If you want to make them your self, use 3 complete graham cracker sheets that you simply crush in a meals processor till they’re the feel of coarse sand.
• Butter. We want two tablespoons of melted butter to show the graham crackers right into a crust.
• Cream Cheese. Simply 4 ounces of cream cheese that has been chopped and overlooked at room temperature to melt fully. If cream cheese is not absolutely mushy, it may be lumpy within the cheesecake batter, and the lumps is not going to soften or bake out. Use solely room temperature cream cheese for making cheesecake. Don’t use whipped cream cheese for a baked cheesecake. It is solely okay to make use of whipped cream cheese is once you’re not cooking it, like for the frosting of my sugar cookie bars.
• Granulated Sugar.
• Vanilla Extract.
• Lemon Juice. We solely want one-half of a teaspoon of lemon juice, so it does not must be freshly squeezed. Bottled lemon juice is ok right here.
• Egg. One giant egg that’s at room temperature. For those who forgot to take it out, simply place it in a bowl of heat water for five minutes whilst you make the remainder of the recipe.

For topping the mini cheesecakes:

• Chocolate Chips. You should use semisweet chocolate chips or a bar of your favourite chocolate that you simply chop into small items.
• Coconut Oil. If you need that crisp chocolate shell, you want to use coconut oil. I exploit virigin coconut oil, as a result of I just like the coconut taste that it imparts. If you need the glaze to be extra melty and mushy (like in my mini chocolate cake), then use heavy cream as an alternative of coconut oil.
• Recent Strawberries. That is optionally available, however should you use a tiny coronary heart cutter, you may make the cutest little strawberry hearts such as you see within the pictures. Sliced strawberries are additionally simply wonderful on prime, as are raspberries and blueberries!

The Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 (not 350–we bake cheesecake decrease and slower than an everyday cake). Place paper liners into 4 cups of a muffin pan. It is not essential to make use of non-stick liners.
2. Mix the graham cracker crumbs and melted butter. Combine till it seems like moist sand. Divide it evenly between the paper cups, and use the again of a wood spoon or small shot glass to press it firmly into the paper cup.
3. Subsequent, beat collectively the softened cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and lemon juice. Beat very effectively till homogenous.
4. Lastly, stir within the egg by hand. It is essential to not beat the egg in, as a result of it provides an excessive amount of air to the batter. Then, the cheesecake rise an excessive amount of and crack as they cool.
5. Divide the batter into the paper cups, and bake on the middle rack for about 20 minutes. The tops shall be set (should you gently contact them, batter will not persist with your hand). They are going to be barely puffy, however they’ll deflate as they cool right into a flat floor. It is best to allow them to cool fully close to the oven.
6. As soon as the cheesecakes are cool, transfer them to the fridge and chill for at the least 4 hours or in a single day.
7. To make the chocolate shell, soften the chocolate chips and coconut oil in a double boiler. When absolutely melted, spoon a small quantity over every cheesecake, after which place the cheesecake again within the fridge to set the chocolate. Garnish with strawberries.

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