Mini Cherry Cheesecakes

From: Cherry Cheesecake Murder by Joanne Fluke

Ingredients:
2 8-oz packages softened cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
24 vanilla wafer cookies
24 cupcake liners
1 can cherry pie filling, chilled

Line two muffin pans with cupcake liners. Put one vanilla wafer cookie in the bottom of each cupcake paper, flat side down. So easy a 2-year old can do it!

Mix the cream cheese with the sugar until blended. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Then mix in the lemon juice and vanilla, and beat until light and fluffy. Spoon the batter into the muffin tin. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Cool on wire racks. Place three cherries on each cheesecake and divide the juice equally among them. Refrigerate for 4 hours before serving.

What I did differently from the recipe:
Nothing.

What I'll do differently next time:
Nothing.

Verdict:
Best recipe ever!! I am a cheesecake addict, so these are heaven to me because it's cheesecake without all the drama of a springform pan. YES! I used vanilla wafer cookies from the dollar store, so you definitely don't need name-brand for these. I was worried because they looked like they'd be a little small but once everything chilled and solidified it was perfect. This recipe only made about 18 for me, though, so I was able to put 4 cherries on each one and still have leftover pie filling. It took just about the 20-minute mark for mine to cook all the way through, so do watch that.

Mini Cherry Cheesecakes

Ingredients:
2 8-oz packages softened cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
24 vanilla wafer cookies
24 cupcake liners
1 can cherry pie filling, chilled

Line two muffin pans with cupcake liners. Put one vanilla wafer cookie in the bottom of each cupcake paper, flat side down. Mix the cream cheese with the sugar until blended. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Then mix in the lemon juice and vanilla, and beat until light and fluffy. Spoon the batter into the muffin tin. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Cool on wire racks. Place three cherries on each cheesecake and divide the juice equally among them. Refrigerate for 4 hours before serving.

Oreo Cheesecake

From: 100 Best Favorite Brand Name Recipes

Ingredients:
1 (20-oz) package Oreo chocolate sandwich cookies, divided
1/3 cup margarine or butter, melted
3 (8-oz) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Finely roll 30 cookies; coarsely chop 20 cookies. Mix finely rolled cookie crumbs and margarine or butter in medium bowl. Press on bottom and 2 inches up side of 9-inch springform pan; set aside.

Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until creamy. Blend in eggs, sour cream and vanilla, fold in chopped cookies. Spread mixture into prepared crust.

Bake at 350 for 60 minutes or until set.

Cool on wire rack at room temperature. Refrigerate at least 4 hours. Halve remaining cookies; remove side of pan. To serve, garnish with whipped cream and cookie halves.

What I did differently from the recipe:
I didn't use a springform pan. I used a 2" deep cake plate instead.

What I'll do differently next time:
Nothing.

Verdict:
Neutral. I didn't think this was that great, but I had three other people taste it and claim they liked it. I'm not a huge fan of Oreos so maybe that was the problem. It was still really easy to make and I like that.

Printable version:

Ingredients:
1 (20-oz) package Oreo chocolate sandwich cookies, divided
1/3 cup margarine or butter, melted
3 (8-oz) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Finely roll 30 cookies; coarsely chop 20 cookies. Mix finely rolled cookie crumbs and margarine or butter in medium bowl. Press on bottom and 2 inches up side of 9-inch springform pan; set aside.

Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until creamy. Blend in eggs, sour cream and vanilla, fold in chopped cookies. Spread mixture into prepared crust. Bake at 350 for 60 minutes or until set.

Cool on wire rack at room temperature. Refrigerate at least 4 hours. Halve remaining cookies; remove side of pan. To serve, garnish with whipped cream and cookie halves.

Raspberry Cheesecake Bars II

Okay, funny story. Remember this recipe? Well, I wanted to make it for Thanksgiving, so I found it in the cookbook and made it, the whole time thinking something was a bit different. Turns out it was a different Raspberry Cheesecake Bar recipe. I have no pictures because I thought I was making a recipe I'd already made. It's not very different. I liked the other recipe better but I also used the wrong size pan for this one! Anyway, I wanted to give you the option to try BOTH recipes and compare them yourselves!

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup stick butter, softened
1/3 cup light corn syrup
2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
3 large eggs
1 cup light corn syrup
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup raspberry jam
Powdered sugar, if desired

Heat oven to 375. Grease bottom and sides of rectangular pan, 13x9, with shortening.

Beat flour, sugar, salt, butter, and 1/3 cup corn syrup with electric mixer on medium speed until dough forms. Press evenly in pan.

Beat cream cheese in medium bowl until smooth. Beat in eggs until well blended. Beat in 1 cup corn syrup and the vanilla until smooth. Pour over dough.

Bake 35-40 minutes or until edges are light golden brown and filling is set. Stir jam; spread over hot bars. Refrigerate at least 3 hours until chilled.

Cut into bars. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if you wish. Refrigerate any remaining bars.

What I did differently from the recipe:
I used a 9-in square pan instead of a 9x13 pan. It made the bars higher but I didn't have to cook them any longer.

What I'll do differently next time:
Nothing.

Verdict:
Neutral. I think I like the other recipe better although I'm not sure why. You try it and see what you think!

Raspberry Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients:
CRUST
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups flour

FILLING
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 egg

TOPPING
4 Tbsp seedless raspberry jam

Heat oven to 350. Spray 9-inch square pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, mix 1/2 cup sugar and the butter until well blended. Stir in flour until crumbly. Press mixture in bottom of pan.

Bake 15-18 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Meanwhile, in large bowl with electric mixer, beat filling ingredients until well blended. Remove partially baked crust from oven. Pour filling over crust. In small bowl, stir 2 Tbsp of the jam until softened. Spoon over cream cheese mixture. With tip of spoon, carefully swirl jam onto top of filling. Don't disturb the crust.

Return to oven, bake 15-20 minutes or until filling is set. Cool 30 minutes. Stir remaining 2 Tbsp jam until smooth; spread evenly over cooled bars. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Store in refrigerator.

What I did differently from the recipe:
Nothing.

What I'll do differently next time:
Nothing. Well, maybe do a different jam for those who don't like raspberry.

Verdict:
Thumbs UP!! I had one tiny little corner and could have eaten the whole thing. My goodness, this was delicious! And so easy to make! I love cheesecake and this is something I could eat every day.

Printable version:

Ingredients:
CRUST
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups flour
FILLING
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 egg
TOPPING
4 Tbsp seedless raspberry jam

Heat oven to 350. Spray 9-inch square pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, mix 1/2 cup sugar and the butter until well blended. Stir in flour until crumbly. Press mixture in bottom of pan.

Bake 15-18 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Meanwhile, in large bowl with electric mixer, beat filling ingredients until well blended. Remove partially baked crust from oven. Pour filling over crust. In small bowl, stir 2 Tbsp of the jam until softened. Spoon over cream cheese mixture. With tip of spoon, carefully swirl jam onto top of filling. Don't disturb the crust.

Return to oven, bake 15-20 minutes or until filling is set. Cool 30 minutes. Stir remaining 2 Tbsp jam until smooth; spread evenly over cooled bars. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Store in refrigerator.