Tuesday, December 14, 2010

12 Treats of Christmas: #4 Individual Oreo Cheesecakes

I look forward to receiving the Kraft Food & Family magazine each quarter. While I don’t find the most gourmet of recipes, I certainly have found many that become regulars in my cooking repertoire. The recipes are always family friendly, low prep time and very easy to accomplish—even with a 10 month old climbing on you.

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Not too many people I know don’t like cheesecake. I thought I didn’t for the longest time. But then I tried it, and I do like it the flavor, but it’s so rich that paying $7 for a slice in a restaurant seems foolish if I can only eat a couple of bites. So that’s what makes this recipe perfect—the cheesecakes are only as big as a cupcake. You still only need a couple of bites, but it probably costs about $7 to make the whole recipe--12 individual cheesecakes.

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You could probably make these cupcake-sized cheesecakes into mini-muffin-sized bites, making sure to adjust your cooking time for the smaller size.

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INDIVIDUAL OREO CHEESECAKES

Muffin liners – I prefer the foil ones for this recipe

3 packages (8 oz each) softened cream cheese (regular OR 1/3 less fat)

¾ cup sugar

3 eggs

12 Oreo cookies

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  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
  2. Place liners in regular-sized muffin tin.
  3. Set an Oreo cookie on the bottom of each liner.
  4. Beat together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
  5. Add the eggs, ONE AT A TIME, and mix until just blended after each addition.
  6. Spoon over each cookie, dividing the cheese mixture equally among the 12 spots.
  7. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the center is almost set.
  8. Cool completely, then refrigerate 1 hour or overnight.
  9. To decorate: drizzle melted Baker’s chocolate, add a mini-oreo, drizzle with raspberry topping…the possibilities are endless.

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