Cheesecake Cupcakes – Save Room for Dessert

One of the accountants in my company is referred to as “Betty Crocker”, and deservedly so – she makes these incredible, delectable and adorable little mini cheesecakes.  For years I have lusted after these heavenly morsels. 
At the last event, a bridal shower, these wondrous little bits of heaven were present.  And while ungracefully sucking one out of the wrapper, I thought to myself, “These would be great at my upcoming barbecue”.  Then I kept eating.
Honestly, I don’t know why it took me so long to ask for this recipe.  But I’m so super glad I did because WOW, they’re so good! And so, so easy to put together. 
Obviously, I wouldn’t want to present my guests with an untried recipe, so I made a batch this weekend for practice.  I’m a good hostess like that.
Let’s get started then.
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.  Line 24 muffin tins or, if you’re like me and could have sworn you had two muffin tins, line 12 twice.

In the bottom of each wrapper, drop one square from a break-and-bake package of chocolate chip cookie dough.  Or, slice a log of dough into 24 pieces.  But the break-and-bake works better because it’s already sectioned off for you.
Pop these babies in the oven for 8-10 minutes.  The dough will spread out over the bottom of the wrapper and make a lovely crust for your cheesecake.
As the cookies are baking, you can get started on your filling.  Mmmm yum!
Mix up two 8 oz packages of room temperature cream cheese, 14 oz sweetened condensed milk, 2 eggs and 2 tsp vanilla extract.  It’s a good idea to beat the cream cheese by itself for a while to smooth it out, then to mix in the rest of the ingredients.  Don’t be afraid to let this go for a while – if you’ve ever made a cheesecake, you know that it takes some time to get rid of the little lumps of cream cheese.
Once your mixture is smooth and your cookies are baked, fill the muffin tins to around 3/4 of the way full.  Then pop them back in the oven for another 18-20 minutes.
Let the little cupcakes cool and then refrigerate them for at least 1 hour in order for them to fully set up.  Trust me, the wait is worthwhile.
As you can see, I topped mine with cherry pie filling.  It’s…amazing.  And of course you can use whatever you like – strawberries, blueberries, the sky’s the limit!
I may or may not have seen my husband licking one of the wrappers when he was finished.  But I pretended not to.
It should be a crime, I tell ya.  A crime.  But happily it is not!
Enjoy!
Martha (MM)

Oh my these sound wonderful! I know hubby and the kids would really love these, and they are so easy for the non-baker – me. I will of course have to sample several of them to be sure they are ok to serve 😉

elra

This is very unique cupcakes. I am sold already, love cheesecake and love cupcake, why not love this one of yours … 🙂