Mini Chocolate Chip Cheesecakes

I was going to tell you about peanut noodles today.  But then I made these cheesecakes yesterday and today is all gloomy and gray, so I thought maybe you’d like something to make that would warm up your kitchen and make your whole house smell yummy and chocolatey.

So, I’m not going to write much of a blog post today.  Because when you have a post titled, “Mini chocolate chip cheesecakes,” is there really any need to say much else?  I don’t think so… it kind of speaks for itself.

I would venture to say that these are the best alternative to a full-on, par-baked crust, water-bath, sour cream topping, real-life cheesecake that I could possibly think of.  You get all the flavor, creaminess, and decadence of a regular cheesecake in about half the time and without the commitment of making a whole cheesecake.  Also, please note that these are “mini”, but not “bite-size”.  So when you eat one, you get several good bites in… which is incredibly important when talking cheesecake, people.

Ok, so I’ll leave you to it, then.  Oh, one other thing- I made these with a butter cookie crust and chocolate chips.  But you could easily substitute graham crackers for the crust and, say, a little lime juice and zest for the chocolate chips and get something like a key lime cheesecake.  Or use chocolate graham crackers or cookies for the crust and add cocoa to the cream cheese mixture to get a double chocolate cheesecake.  The possibilities are endless!  Just thinking of all of them makes me want to go make another batch…  as soon as I finish off the FOUR mini cheesecakes that are left from yesterday afternoon.  Yes, that’s 8 cheesecakes eaten in less than 24 hours.  Before you judge, I dare you to make these yourself, and see how long they last.

Crust

1/4 cup crushed cookies or graham cracker crumbs
2 tbsp brown sugar
a dash of salt
2 1/2 tbsp butter, melted

Filling
1 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp sour cream
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 cup mini chocolate chips (regular chips would be fine, too)

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Line a muffin pan with 12 cupcake liners.

In a medium bowl, mix together the cookie crumbs, brown sugar, and salt and stir to combine. Pour over melted butter and mix together with a fork.  The mixture should look like sand. Place about a tablespoon of crumb mixture in each of the prepared muffin cups and press down with the back of spoon.

In a large bowl, cream together cream cheese, sour cream and sugar until smooth and creamy. Then, beat in the egg and vanilla extract. Once combined, stir in the chocolate chips.

Evenly divide cheesecake batter between the muffin cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until cheesecakes are set.

Allow to cool for 20 minutes in the muffin pan, then carefully transfer cheesecakes to a cooling rack to cool completely.  Store finished cheesecakes in the refrigerator, with or without paper wrappers.