Mini Cherry Cheesecakes

I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've made this recipe.  It's a go-to, for sure.  I do remember that the first time I took these to a family event, my cousin Cody's girlfriend ate about six of them in a very short time period.  In case you're wondering, that's high praise from a 16 year-old girl if I ever saw it.  More recently I assisted my friend Allison with making these for her boss' birthday and was told they were a hit at her office.  I originally found this recipe here, though I've been told it's nearly indistinguishable from others out there.


Oh, did I mention it snowed again last week?  It did, and it was amazing.  This time there was significant accumulation and Anna, Allison, Nicole, and I all went sledding down Mount Aggie on the Texas A&M campus.  Naturally we froze our tushes off, but it was so worth it.  Everyone was having a good time, and I definitely counted it as my workout for the day. Here's a picture of Nicole and Me at the bottom of the hill, having successfully avoided a collision with each other. 

 Afterward, since Anna and I had worked up an appetite, we went to our usual hangout for dinner, and what turned out to be quite the show.  Some of the bartenders threw together a band with a few other guys and they played their first gig in front of us.  Anna was impressed with the choice of music, while I bopped my head to the beat and stared (in a not creepy way) at the cute guys in the band.  Don't judge, you would have too.  Those guys are adorable!  Anyway, Bartender Kyle requested something made with cherry and these were fresh on my mind (since I'd helped Allison with them the night before), so it's what I decided on. 

Mini Cherry Cheesecakes

1 Cup crushed Vanilla Wafers (the original recipe calls for a whole box, but that's overkill and really just leads to me overeating a box of cookies)
2 8oz. packages Cream Cheese (I tried these with reduced fat cream cheese and it worked out decently)
3/4 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 can Cherry Pie Filling (you'll have extra of this too, but there's really not a smaller container)

Preheat oven to 350.  Line mini muffin tin with paper liners, I love my mini muffin tin in case you didn't already know that.  People love tiny things!

Put 1/2 teaspoon crushed vanilla wafers in each muffin cup.  Beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Fill paper cups with mixture, almost to the top.  There's not a lot of rising that happens in this recipe, and once you take them out of the oven they'll fall a little bit.

Bake for 15 minutes.  Cool.  Top with cherry pie filling.  I find that the mini cheesecakes are the perfect size for one cherry and some filling.  Adorable!

Side note: when I made these with Allison on Monday, they were gorgeous.  I was a little worried about underbaking them, but I quickly took that statement back after a taste-test.  On Thursday I had a mix-up with my timer and forgot about them, resulting in slightly overdone cheesecakes.  Though I was disappointed in myself for the timer issue, they were still good and went pretty quickly at Quiz.  Despite that, I have resolved to make these again soon to make up for it.  I'm weird like that.