Galaxy Mini Cheesecakes Recipes

MINI CHEESECAKES I

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line miniature muffin tins (tassie pans) with miniature paper liners.
• Crush the vanilla wafers, and place 1/2 teaspoon of the crushed vanilla wafers into each paper cup.
• In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. Fill each miniature muffin liner with this mixture, almost to the top.
• Bake for 15 minutes. Cool. Top with a teaspoonful of cherry pie filling.

GALAXY MINI CHEESECAKES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in medium bowl with mixer until blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended.
• Pour half the batter into separate bowl. Add blue food coloring to batter in one bowl and violet coloring to the remaining batter.
• Place 1 cookie in each of 12 paper-lined muffin cups; cover with violet-colored batter. Top with small spoonfuls of blue batter; swirl gently with knife.
• Bake 20 min. or until centers are almost set. Cool in pan 10 min. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. Refrigerate 3 hours.
• Top with COOL WHIP and sprinkles just before serving.

MINI CHEESECAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Line muffin tins with 12 paper baking cups. Place a vanilla wafer in each one.
• In a medium mixing bowl beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add eggs, lemon juice, and sugar. Beat until smooth and thoroughly combined.
• Fill each baking cup 2/3 full with cream cheese mixture.
• Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 17 minutes. Cool on a rack. Top with fruit pie filling. Pipe whipped cream or sweetened cream cheese into a rosette on top of each cheesecake just prior to serving, if desired.

MINI CHEESECAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Line a 12-count muffin pan with cupcake liners and set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, stir together the graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Add the melted butter and mix until all of the crumbs are moistened. Evenly distribute the mixture between all 12 liners and firmly press it down into one even layer.
• Bake at 325°F (163°C) for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside. Keep oven temperature at 325°F (163°C).
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, mix the cream cheese and sour cream together until smooth and creamy. Add the sugar and vanilla extract and mix until fully combined, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix in the eggs, one at a time, on low speed until just combined.
• Evenly distribute the batter between all 12 liners in the cupcake pan, filling each one almost all the way to the top.
• Bake at 325°F (163°C) for 17-20 minutes or until the tops of the cheesecakes are set.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 1 hour. Carefully remove from the pan and chill in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours or overnight.

MINI NO-BAKE CHEESECAKES

Steps:

• Line two standard 12-count muffin pans with cupcake liners. Make sure you have room in your refrigerator for both pans. (You refrigerate them in step 6.)
• If your graham crackers aren't crumbs yet, use a food processor to pulse them into fine crumbs. Pour crumbs into a medium bowl and stir in the brown sugar and melted butter until combined. Mixture will have the consistency of wet sand. Spoon 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons of the crust mixture into each muffin liner and use the back of the spoon to pack it down tightly.
• The next step is optional. Though it's not required, I recommend baking the crusts for a quick 5 minutes in a 350°F (177°C) oven. The crusts are a little sturdier this way. However, if you can't use an oven or simply don't want to, you can skip this step. The crust will just be a bit crumblier. If baking, let the warm crusts cool for 10 minutes before adding the filling on top.
• Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the cold heavy cream into stiff peaks on medium-high speed, about 3 minutes. Set aside. Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and granulated sugar together on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth and combined, about 1 minute. Make sure there are no large lumps of cream cheese. If there are lumps, keep beating until smooth. Using your mixer on low speed or a rubber spatula, fold the whipped cream into the cheesecake filling until combined. This takes several turns of your rubber spatula. Combine slowly as you don't want to deflate all the air in the whipped cream.
• You can use a spoon or piping bag to transfer the filling on top of the crusts. Spoon or pipe about 2 Tablespoons of filling over each crust. I prefer piping the filling because it's a little easier and neater. Fit your piping bag with a large star or round piping tip, then transfer the filling to the bag and pipe. (You could also use a plastic zipped-top bag. Spoon the filling inside, snip an end off a corner, and pipe.) Use the back of a spoon to smooth the tops so they are flat.
• Refrigerate the mini cheesecakes in the pans for at least 3 hours and up to 2 days. If refrigerating for longer than 3 hours, I recommend covering with aluminum foil or plastic wrap.
• Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Serve with optional toppings (see recipe Note). The cheesecakes begin to soften and stick to the liners after about 30-60 minutes at room temperature.
• Cover and store leftover mini cheesecakes in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.