Delicious Cheesecakes Bites: Turtle, Pumpkin & More

October 15, 2014

Most everyone loves cheesecake, so these mini, bite-size desserts are perfect for any party or holiday celebration. They won’t need a fork or a plate!

I’m going to start by teaching you the basic ingredients for plain cheesecake as we go on I will show you how to make into different flavors, as well as different crust.

Cheesecake

Ingredients:

• 12 ounce cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Mix cream cheese on high until smooth.
2. Add sugar, eggs, vanilla.
3. Mix until all ingredients are combined and there are no lumps.

Flavor Options:

• Pumpkin Flavor: Add 1 1/2 cups of pumpkin, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin spice.
• Key Lime Flavor: Add 1/2 cup of lime juice to the cheesecake mixture, and top with a fresh lime twist!

Crusts

Salted Pretzel

Ingredients:

• 2 cups salted pretzels, blend until fine
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Directions:

1. Blend pretzels in blender until there are no large pieces.
2. Add sugar, stir thoroughly.
3. Add melted butter stir until mixed well. More butter may be added if pretzels mixture is to dry.

Graham Cracker 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups graham crackers, crushed
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon ( optional)
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional)

Directions:

1. Mix crushed graham crackers, sugar and any seasonings.
2. Add melted butter.
3. Mix well. More butter may be added if graham cracker mixture is to dry.

Assembling the Cupcakes

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line cupcake pan with paper baking cups.
3. Press crust of your choice half way up side of paper (for larger cheesecake you can fill liner to top).
4. Fill cheesecake mix half way up liner.
5. Bake for approximately 25 minutes. Cool completely. Remove paper liner. Keep refrigerated.

There are so many different cheesecake flavors you can make with this recipe. In the picture above you’ll see a turtle cheesecake and the pumpkin cheesecake. The turtle cheesecake was made in the pretzel crust. After the cheesecake cooled I topped with a caramel and chocolate drizzle and pecans. The pumpkin cheesecake was made with the graham cracker crust (I used cinnamon and nutmeg). My favorite over the summer is the “key lime” cheesecake in a pretzel crust. Use your imagination be creative and you can create just about any cheesecake you desire!

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