Now that Benjamin is going to school, he needs to have me bring in snack for the class once a month. This month, his day is today, and I thought I would share this really super recipe I found online for mini-muffins. I am a big advocate of making things look harder/ fancier than they really are, so I decided to make mini chocolate cherry cheesecakes. Luckily, a co-worker of mine lent me the mini muffin pan, so that took care of quite a bit.
Anyhow, I got on the internet, and then Googled ‘mini-muffin recipes’. I got several hits, and chose something that looked upscale but super easy to make. It does make a hell of a lot more than I needed, but I decided to give some to my sister-in-laws.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
• For the Bottom:
• 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 8 tablespoons butter, melted, but at room temperature (1 stick)
• 1 box (18.25 ounces) chocolate devil’s food cake mix
For the Filling:
• 2 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature
• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 can (21 ounces) extra-fruit cherry pie filling, drained
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line mini-muffin pans with papers. Place the cherries in a strainer to drain.
For the Bottom:
Cream 4 ounces of cream cheese, 1 egg and butter together on low speed until combined, about 1 minute. Blend in cake mix by hand until combined. It will be very thick, but piable like a soft dough. Press 1 teaspoon mix into bottom of each mini-muffin paper.
For the Topping:
Place cream cheese, 3 eggs, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a small bowl. Begin mixing on low speed until sugar is incorporated. Increase to medium speed and beat until smooth, at least 3 minutes or longer if need be. Drop about 1/2 Tablespoon of mix into each muffin cup over chocolate base, filling not quite to the top of the paper. Press one drained cherry into the filling in each.
Bake at 350 degrees F. for 15 minutes. Cool completely before serving.
Yield: about 6 to 7 dozen mini cheesecakes