Pretty, pretty, pretty!! That’s what describes these best (ok, and according to Stevo, the little buggers could fall on the floor and meet a dust ball and he’d still eat them).

So let’s start with some cheesecake basics.

1.) The cream cheese better be softened. Here’s what happens when it’s just room temp.

No bueno. You’ll end up with an omelet if you try to mix in the other ingredients with this stiff mess. F! Terrible.

2.) Beat the cream cheese with the sugar and vanilla before adding the eggs.

3.) Add one egg at a time.

4.) When making mini cupcakes there is no need for the water bath.

5.) What is it with recipes calling for doneness when it cracks??? Um, the best cheesecakes should never crack.

OK, here we go:

This makes 48 minis:

24 Oz of cream cheese
3/4 cup of sugar
3 eggs at room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the crust:

3 cups of crushed honey Graham crackers
3 Tbs melted butter

Preheat the beast to 350 degrees.
Put the crackers and melted butter in a zip lock bag and crush them. Smack them good.

Line your mini muffin tin with liners (my phone really wanted to say muffin TOP… Bad phone, bad phone).

Put a teaspoon of crackers in each cup. Pack it down well. Some sites recommend using a clean water bottle cap. A tonic water cap worked just fine. 🙂

Bake for 5 mins.

Put the room temp cream cheese in a double boiler on low… Like super low. As soon as it’s not stiff, take it off and add the sugar and vanilla (5 mins).

See the difference?

Beat the cream cheese for a minute and  add one egg at a time. When it’s perfectly smooth, you’re done. 🙂

Pour the batter into a measuring cup (or something with a spout). Fill each cup.

Bake for 18 minutes. The center should still be jiggly.

Let them rest for 5-10 minutes in the pan before you start the next batch (my pan holds 24).

I topped some with kiwi and blueberry and others with a sliced strawberry and lemon zest.

The possibilities are endless. Get the basics down and then anything goes.

Maggie was my kitchen sidekick. She likes them. 🙂