Mini Turtle Cheesecakes

One of my all time favorite desserts I've ever made! They are full of flavor but are not overpoweringly rich like some cheesecakes. They only take an hour to make (excluding chilling time) and are very worth the effort! As much as I want to eat an entire cheesecake, a bitesize variety is a better alternative....These certainly don't disappoint.

The recipe is here and step-by-step pictures are below:

If you want to make your own Caramel Sauce

The original recipe, which I modified, is from here: https://www.handletheheat.com/mini-turtle-cheesecakes/

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 9 graham crackers

• 3-5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

• 1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar

Filling:

• 12 oz. cream cheese

• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

• 1/4 cup heavy cream

• 1/4 tsp. fine salt

• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

• 1 large egg

Topping:

• Caramel sauce (store-bought/homemade)

• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped and toasted

• Chocolate sauce (1/3 cup chocolate chips, 2 tbsp. butter, 3 Tbsp. heavy cream)

Directions:

Crust:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Add cupcake papers to a cupcake pan.

2. Crush graham crackers until finely ground. Mix in sugar and melted butter (the finer you grind them, the less butter you'll need to get the mixture to stick together).

3. Distribute mixture evenly among 12 cupcake wells and firmly press into the bottoms (see pictures below).

4. Bake the crusts for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and reduce to 325°F.

Cheesecake:

1. With a hand mixer or a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and brown sugar on medium-high speed until smooth and fluffy and no cream cheese lumps remain (see pictures below).

2. Add the vanilla, cream, salt, and cinnamon and mix in until smooth.

3. Mix in the egg until just combined. Divide the mixture among each cupcake well.

4. Bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until set. I prefer 18 minutes which yields a very soft result, but cooking for about 24 minutes gets a firmer result.

5. Let cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

6. To make the chocolate sauce: melt chocolate, cream, and butter in a microwave for 20-40 seconds and mix well to combine.

7. Once chilled, decorate cheesecakes with caramel, pecans, and chocolate (see picture below).

8. 12 servings.

Before crushing the graham crackers for the crust.

After crushing the graham crackers for the crust (I used a food processor but this can also be done by putting them in a plastic bag and crushing by hand or with a rolling pin.)

After mixing the graham crackers with the melted butter and sugar.

Distributed the crust evenly into the cupcake wells and am about to squish it down.

After compressing the crust (with a small glass) and baking for 5 minutes.

Now time to make the cheesecake filling. This is before creaming together the cream cheese and brown sugar.

After blending the cream cheese and brown sugar until silky smooth.

Just about to mix in the cream, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt.

After mixing in the cream, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt and before mixing in the egg.

After mixing in the egg. It's now ready to distribute into the cupcake papers and bake!

Before baking.

After baking. They look like soft fluffy pillows! After chilling it's time to decorate.

First I added a squiggle of my homemade caramel sauce.

Then a perpendicular squiggle of chocolate sauce.

To add the pecans I first made a little blob of chocolate.

And then stuck on some chopped pecans! Easy peasy!

And they are all done and ready to eat!