Churro/Cinnamon Bun Cheesecakes

Okay. So, I admit, this is a strange sounding recipe. And no, I still don't eat cheesecake. But, I just bought a new hand mixer (for $8.68 at Target, what a deal!), and I needed an excuse to use it. Plus we are having an office mini-golf game tomorrow, and apparently our designated hole to design was designated the "Disney/food" hole. There is also going to be popcorn. Ahhhh the memories of Disneyland, the smells of fresh churros.. MMM.. 

Okay, back to reality. Can't go to Disneyland in a day, since it's 1,179 miles away and all, but this will come close. Well, for people who eat cheesecake at least.. I hope.. 


This is another recipe that was not really a recipe to begin with. Believe me, I tried to find a "churro cheesecake" recipe, and the only thing I found really was either cheesecake with burnt cinnamon/sugar croissants on top, or cheesecake-filled churro-style pastries. I'm partial to mini cheesecakes. At least making them. Not eating them. So. I made a recipe up. The last time I tried this, with my Mexican Chocolate Cheesecake, it turned out pretty good. Call my ego boosted, I'm just hoping it's not OVER boosted. 


In case anyone wonders, I write the first part of these blogs while I'm passing the time between batches. I have a tendency to get really impatient and check on things in the oven way too often. So, all this droning is just me making myself be patient. So, be patient with me. 


Ready for the recipe? Here we go, kids!


Ingredients:


Crust:
1 1/2 cup Nilla wafers
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp melted butter/margarine


Filling:
3 pkgs cream cheese, softened
1/2 stick of butter/margarine (4 tbsp), softened
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp fresh ground cinnamon/sugar (I have a grinder that I bought in the spice aisle)






Preheat oven to 350º. Place a pan of water on the bottom rack.


In a food processor, crush Nilla wafers. Add sugar and cinnamon, mix until blended, then add butter slowly while the food processor is running, mix until blended. Set aside.


In a large mixing bowl, cream cream cheese. Add sugar, vanilla and butter, mix until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until just blended after each. Add cinnamon and barely mix. You'll want swirls of it, if possible. If you don't have or can't find a cinnamon/sugar grinder, don't worry about it. Just add an extra dash of cinnamon, and it should be fine. 

Line a mini-muffin pan with liners. This recipe makes about 60 "bite-size" cheesecakes. 


Place about a teaspoon of crust mixture in the bottom of each liner, press down until lightly compacted. 

Fill the rest of the cup with 1 tbsp of filling. The cups will be very full. 


Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until set. They will be puffed on top at first, then settle down.

You can probably just serve these plain, but since when am I a plain person? Uh. Oh. Most of the time. Scratch that comment. Okay. I've decided to be fancy with these. Mix a can of cream cheese frosting (because what other kind would you use on cheesecakes?) with some cinnamon, about 1-2 tsp. Just swirl. No need to go nuts with stirring. Put a dollop on top of each cake once they are cooled. Sprinkle with a cinnamon and sugar mixture. 

Sorry, I know, not the best lighting, but at least I've got a camera that works now! That's an improvement. Baby steps, folks. 


These will be coming to work with me tomorrow, and I'll post reviews then. I'm a bit skeptical of these, but we'll see what the foodies say. 




***REVIEWS***


These turned out tasting a bit more like cinnamon buns than churros, so our fix was to get a Costco churro and place little bits on top of each cheesecake, like so. (Sorry for the poor picture, it was a last minute thought before I let the vultures get to them at work.)

If you don't have the urge to have a hunk of fried diabetic carb-filled coma on top, you can leave as is, and just call them "cinnamon bun cheesecakes". LOL.