Lemon Drop Cheesecakes
Don’t let their small size fool you. These little cheesecakes pack a punch of lemon flavor. There is lemon zest in the batter and a topping full of lemony tartness. Not too sweet, either, which is a plus in my mind.
I wanted a dessert but didn’t want to make anything too big. With a limited pantry these days, my options were limited, too. These mini cheesecakes were the right solution. The recipe only uses one package of cream cheese and only makes 6. They can be frozen if needed.
For the crust you can use vanilla wafers, but since I didn’t have any, I just trimmed off the edges of some graham crackers, so they would fit in the muffin tins. You can even omit a crust and they are gluten free.
So here is the recipe. I hope you enjoy it.
Lemon Drop Cheesecakes
6 vanilla wafers or graham crackers
1 (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. sugar
Zest of one lemon
1 t. vanilla
1 egg
Topping:
½ c. lemon juice or a combination of lemon juice and pieces of lemon*
½ c. sugar
2 t. cornstarch
Zest of a lemon
Line 6 muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 wafer in each. If using graham crackers, trim them to fit the muffin tins. Beat together remaining ingredients for 1 minute with electric mixer. Divide this mixture in the muffin tins, filling each almost full. Bake 25 minutes at 325 degrees. Cheesecakes will puff up, then deflate as they cool. While cheesecakes are baking, make the lemon topping. Combine all topping ingredients in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until mixture thickens and gets bubbly. Set aside. Once the cheesecakes have cooled down, spoon over the lemon topping. Chill before serving. Store leftovers in fridge. Makes 6. These can be frozen. Serves 2-3.
* I only had 2 lemons, so to get the most from them, I removed the peel and white membrane and used the lemon segments in the topping. I was still a little short, so I added some extra lemon juice to get to ½ cup. You could just use all juice.
Halloween Candy Mini Cheesecakes
Kit Kat Mini Cheesecake
Sometimes you end up with leftover Halloween candy. It’s very cold here today, so I doubt there will be as many kids out as usual. I am sure some of you will have leftover candy.
You could just eat the candy- or you can transform it into a dessert.
The idea I came up with was mini cheesecakes. I’ve made them before, so I used my recipe, and just folded in crushed candy bars. Once the cheesecakes cool they deflate a little, so I also added some crushed candy bars to the top to make them look nice.
Only change from the original recipe was a slight decrease in sugar to compensate for the extra sweetness of the candy. I used what I had, but I am sure a lot of different candy bars would work. I used a small food processor to really crush up the candy bars. I made 2 batches, one with cookies and cream candy bars and the other with Kit Kat bars.
Halloween Candy Mini Cheesecakes
12 vanilla wafers
2 (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/3 c. sugar
2 t. vanilla
2 eggs
2/3 c. crushed candy bars plus 1/4 c. crushed candy bar, for topping
Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 wafer in each. Beat together remaining ingredients (except candy) for 1 minute with electric mixer. Fold in candy. Divide this mixture in the muffin tins, filling each 3/4 full. Bake 25 minutes at 325 degrees. Cool and decorate with extra crushed candy. Makes 12. These can be frozen.
Cookies and Cream Mini Cheesecakes
Leftovers
Black Forest Mini Cheesecakes
Black Forest Mini Cheesecakes
I love when things just fall into place. I had some cherry pie filling left over from making Danish. I wanted to use it up. I also needed a dessert for dinner with a friend. These little cheesecakes worked out as the perfect dessert for us.
To start with, it’s cheesecake, which is always a good thing. It is also a really quick recipe, and simple to make. Finally, the recipe just makes 6 little cheesecakes. Perfect for when you don’t need a whole cheesecake. Nothing stopping you from doubling, or tripling the recipe, if you need a few more. I used cherry pie filling (homemade), but you could top these with almost any pie filling or fresh fruit you liked, or even eat them plain.
Black Forest Mini Cheesecakes
6 vanilla wafers
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 egg
chocolate syrup or sauce
cherry pie filling
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place paper liners in 6 muffin tins and place a vanilla wafer in each one. Set aside. In medium mixing bowl beat together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Beat in egg until just mixed. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins. Bake for 15- 20 minutes. Cheesecakes will puff up and then deflates a little when cooled. Once cooled top each cheesecake with a little chocolate syrup and a spoonful of cherry pie filling. Chill. Makes 6. Serves 2-3.
