mini cheesecakes – MINDING MY P'S WITH Q

I found a new flavor of Hershey Kisses…oh my, wait just a minute…I must run downstairs and grab a few before I continue writing this post, or I will be so totally distracted by craving them, I won’t make any sense at all…does that make sense??? I’m laughing…and also in reality…getting up…and finding some Hershey Kisses!

Okay, now that I am eating my “Mint Truffle” and “Cherry Cordial” Hershey kisses I can go on with the posting. A week or so ago I found these delicious nougats of joy in my grocery store. I’ve seen beautiful cookies created with plain kisses, I immediately imagined amazing cookie possibilities concocted with these new flavors. I found a recipe online, softened my butter, gathered ingredients, mixed it all up, baked…and tasted…and grimaced!

The cookies were horrible. I was so glad the kisses were saved until after baking, at least they weren’t wasted. OOPS! I was going to throw the cookies out, but thought twice, and froze them in a ziplock bag to feed the birds and squirrels.

At least the back yard squirrels appreciated my attempt at a cookie masterpiece.

Another good use for cookies that are not up to par is grinding them down and using them as the crust for cheesecakes and other pies. I used my food processor and reduced about six cookies to crumbs, added two melted tablespoons of butter, and pressed this in the bottom of cupcake liners in a muffin tin. I baked this for five minutes in a 325 degree oven. When they cooled down they hardened up into perfect little crusts for my mini cheesecakes. The recipe is below. Oreo halves or vanilla wafers are also options for the crusts.

MINI CHEESECAKES (12 Mini Cheesecakes)

Cookie Crust or 12 Vanilla Wafers/Oreos for Crust
2 8 oz pkgs of cream cheese softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
Any topping desired: fruits, jam, melted chocolate, sour cream, etc.
(I like them plain!)

Oven preheated to 325 degrees.

Use cupcake liners in muffin/cupcake pan. Vanilla Wafers or scraped Oreo halves can be placed in bottom of liner. Another option is using 6 cookies (such as my disappointing recipe) and grind them in a food processor until they are crumbs. Mix with 2 tbs melted butter and press in liners, bake for about five minutes to harden.

Beat with mixer, cream cheese, vanilla and sugar until smooth. Add eggs and mix until blended. Fill each cup to about 3/4 full. Bake 25 minutes, or until no longer jiggly in middle. When cool, remove from pan and place in refrigerator until cold. The mini cheesecakes are super-easy and delicious.

I found a terrific idea for Valentine Tarts in Sunday’s Parade Magazine. For those who aren’t familiar with Parade, the magazine is an insert in many papers in the U.S.A. I doubled the recipe and used four sheets of pie dough. Do not double the filling recipe below as it makes a large amount.

You can find the recipe here: Parade Magazine Homemade Valentine Heart Tarts

The basic instructions and recipe are on this site, along with some filling ideas. I searched around the Internet and found a cream cheese and raspberry filling recipe that I adapted for my tarts. A step by step photo tutorial is pictured below that will show you how I put my tarts together. I also added any little quirks or tips I thought might be helpful.

Filling:

8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Beat these ingredients together.

Heat jam on stovetop until smooth. A wire whisk works well.
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

I was able to get eight to nine tarts out of two pie sheets.

Just a little filling, less than a tablespoon, was plenty. I realized I had made WAY too much filling early on.

If possible leave some wiggle room around each heart, especially near the edges of the pan, my crimping with a fork was very cramped!

The egg wash did add a nice finish to the top of the tarts.

Oh my! I definitely overfilled. The filling bubbled out. The raspberry baked like glue onto the pan. I had to soak them and work at the burnt areas with a teflon safe spatula.

The burnt raspberry jam turns rock hard in moments. Remove the tarts to a cooling rack immediately upon completion of baking.

Let the tarts completely cool before frosting. I should have made a double batch of the frosting. I forgot I had doubled the amount of tarts I had baked.

I had so much filling left over, I crushed some vanilla shortbread, added some butter, and made some small cheesecakes. They turned out terrific.

Although it is a bit expensive to make this special dessert. I will definitely make them again. The tarts are a departure from the normal cookies, large pies, and cakes.

MINDING MY P'S WITH Q

Tag: mini cheesecakes

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