Question! Do you, or do you not want to just shove this in your mouth right now?! I’m feeling the Thursday blues, and staring at the pictures of these Mini Turtle Cheesecakes makes me want to grab one (or five?)
In my last cheesecake related post about my Mini Blueberry Swirl Cheesecakes, I promised to share the other recipes from our trio of cheesecakes that we made for my family for the holiday of Shavuot. As I explained, my husband Ari is the king of all things cheesecake, and this Mini Turtle Cheesecake recipe was a favorite amongst our crew!
When each family member took their first bites of this treat, my favorite part had to be their reactions. After they announced how delicious these little guys were, they shared how utterly confused they were! Ari and I were baffled ourselves as to why my family was confused about their dessert. I think my sisters exact quote was something along the lines of “What is this madness?! It’s so good and I can’t figure out what this tastes like!” The family then proceeded to analyze their mini cheesecakes to think of another food that could be compared to to describe the flavor. Throughout the weekend, their cheesecake epiphanies were beyond entertaining, and we loved witnessing their delight and overall positive confusion!
The crumbly graham cracker crust combined with the cinnamon cheesecake was already throwing my family over the edge. Once we added in the caramel, pecans and chocolate on top, madness began. I think it’s safe to say that this recipe will have to be added to the cheesecake archives to enjoy in the future!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes + cooling
Yields:12 mini cheesecakes
Ingredients
Crust:
1 ¼ cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons brown sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 large egg, room temperature
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
For the topping:
Caramel sauce, homemade or store-bought
½ cup pecans, chopped and toasted
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
Directions
1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray.
2. To make the graham cracker crust, stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press 2-2 ½ tablespoons of the mixture into the bottom of each cup and press to compact.
3. For the filling, beat cream cheese with a hand mixer until fluffy. Beat in sour cream and then the egg, sugar, vanilla extract, salt and cinnamon.
4.Evenly divide cheesecake batter among cups (about 2-2 ½ tablespoons each). Bake the cheesecakes for about 18-20 minutes, until just beginning to brown around the edges.
5. Once cheesecakes are finished, cool for 1 hour at room temperature. After, cover and cool for at least 3 hours, or overnight in refrigerator.
6. For the topping, top each cheesecake with a spoonful of caramel sauce, enough to cover the top of the cheesecake, but not too much that it overflows. Press the toasted pecans into the caramel.
7. In a heatproof bowl, microwave chocolate chips and pour the melted chocolate into a Ziploc bag. Cut one corner to create a piping bag. Drizzle the chocolate over the caramel and pecans.
8. Return the finished cheesecakes to the fridge to chill until ready to serve!
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