Hello there, dessert lovers! Today I am encouraging you to make something cute and rich and..sinfully good. Mini Peanut Butter Cheesecakes. Does that sound good? Of course it does!
You know, since I have gone back to work, I barely have time to do other things like exercise, and do you know too, that I have been eating with abandon since the week I started working again? My regained social life has caused to me dine out more often and the arrival of summer season has allowed me to consume lots of barbecued hotdogs and pork. Bad,bad me,
And then, here is another story. Last weekend was a gloomy, rainy, no-tv -and- internet weekend. For some reasons, our service provider had to cut us off because we were scheduled to transfer service to their rival. So we were left without tv and internet for two days. That's no fun, isn't it? Although I am a bit embarrassed to realize how dependent we have become on technology,tsk,tsk,tsk. I used to survive without tv and laptop during my college days, but now, two days without them seem like forever. Bad bad me.
So the weekend was a perfect excuse to bake these babies. To ward off boredom, we ended up laying a blanket on the living room floor, watched three parts of Fast and the Furious and consumed Mini Peanut Butter Cheesecakes like they are small candies. Bad bad me. But trust me. These are good and definitely worth your time and calories. So just in case, you come across those days when you want to indulge, Go and bake these.
Mini Peanut Butter Cheesecakes ( recipe adapted from Great Cheesecakes from Better Home and Garden)
18 servings
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup chocolate cookie crumbs
- 1 tbsp white sugar
- 2 tbsp melted butter
- 1/3 and 1/4 cup milk chocolate chips
- 2 packages of cream cheese,softened
- 1/3 cup cugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1 tsp shortening
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 325 F. Line a muffin pan with 18 2 and 1/2 inch cupcake liners. In a bowl, combine cookie crumbs, 1 tbsp sugar and 2 tbsp melted butter and mix until incorporated. Press the mixture in the bottom of cupcake liners. I used my clean thumb.You can use the back of spoon too. Put 3 pieces of milk chocolate chips in the center of the each of the crust. Set these aside. You can place them in the fridge as you prepare the cheesecake.
2) In a mixing bowl, Use an electric mixer and mix cream cheese and 1/3 cup sugar until combined. Add in the eggs and the vanilla and mix gently until combined. Add in the peanut butter and gently mix one last time.
3) Using a spoon, gently place cream cheese mixture on top of the milk chocolate chips until the cupcake liners are full. The chocolate chips should remain centered. Bake for 20-23 minutes and cool in the pans for 20-30 minutes.
4) To make the chocolate glaze, melt 1/4 cup chocolate chips with the shortening in the microwave for about 30 seconds a time, until the shortening has melted completely and the chocolate is just starting to melt. Stir in the shortening and the chocolate will melt in it. You can also use a double boiler if you have one. Drizzle sauce over cheesecakes and refrigerate for about 1 hour.
Cheesecakes should be good for three days in the fridge or can be frozen for up to a month.
