Double Chocolate Coconut Cookies

I have failed you all. Miserably. I've been baking like crazy over the last couple of months, but there hasn't been much posted. With little E here now, I just haven't had more than 5 minutes (which is about how long it takes to whip up a batch of dough!) to do anything when I'm at home. I've been making small batches of almost everything I make. Except gingerbread.. But that's another post. Don't worry. That will come. Anyway. I had a hankering for chocolate last night. Cookie form is the best way to get some down my throat usually, or brownies. Cookies won this battle though. And I happened to have to move some coconut to get to my chocolate chips. Why not? These are chocolatey and fudgey and delicious. Not that I'm saying I've done it or anything, but these just might make a mighty tasty (albeit not-so-healthy) breakfast.

Ingredients:
1/4c vegetable shortening (Crisco)
1/4c + 2tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2c flour
pinch of salt
1/4tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp corn starch
1/4c chocolate chips
2 tbsp shredded coconut

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350º.

Cream shortening, sugar and vanilla together, add egg and whip until fluffy. Add remaining ingredients and mix until well combined. Drop by spoonfuls onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 10-13 minutes, until the top is barely wet still. Let cool on baking sheet, and transfer to a cooling rack or a piece of parchment on the counter. 

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

These have ALWAYS been my favorite type of cookie. Chewy, slightly nutty, just enough chocolate. YUM. I have been craving some milk chocolate chip cookies. And I have a REALLY hard time resisting the urge to put oatmeal in my cookies. So? Usually I don't bother resisting! At least not when it comes to the chocolate chip variety! I've also decided recently that lots of vanilla will never hurt anybody. Little fluffy/chewy rounds of deliciousness. Fetus approved! 

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1 cup brown sugar + 1 tbsp
1 tbsp vanilla (yes, a whole tablespoon!)
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt 
1 - 1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips (depending on how many you want in yours!)
1/2 cup old fashioned oats

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375º.
Combine butter, sugar, vanilla and eggs. Add in flour, soda, baking powder and salt until well combined. Fold in chocolate chips and oatmeal. Drop by 1-2 tablespoonfuls onto a lined baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes, or until just starting to turn golden brown on top. 

Wasn't that easy? Yes? Well, go make some! And enjoy! 

Here's a variation you can try too (which is almost MORE awesome than the original!):
Substitute sweetened coconut for the oatmeal and butterscotch chips for half of the chocolate chips.

S'mores Cookies

Latest pregnancy craving? Chocolate chip cookies. With milk chocolate chips. None of that semi-sweet crap for this kid! How do you make a chocolate chip cookie even better? Add marshmallows! And maybe make it taste like a s'more. Which is (surprisingly) exactly what the oatmeal does. And channel your inner Paula Deen and add a little extra butter flavor. What does this all make? Deliciousness. Pregnant. Deliciousness. 

Ingredients:
1c margarine or butter (2 sticks)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp butter flavoring
2 eggs
2 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup mallow bits (or miniature marshmallows cut in quarters)
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup old-fashioned oats

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350º.
Combine butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add flavorings and eggs, mix well. Add flour, baking soda and salt. Mix until not quite combined. Fold in remaining ingredients until all is incorporated. Drop 1-2 tablespoons of dough onto a foil lined and greased baking sheet. YOU WILL THANK ME FOR THIS, DO NOT SKIP IT. If you do skip it, you will soon find the joys of trying to get baked marshmallow off of a baking sheet. It's not fun. Take it from someone who learned this the hard way. Bake cookies for 10-13 minutes, or until just golden brown. Let cool on baking sheet for 1-2 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Pour yourself a glass of milk, prop your poor pregnant feet up in front of a fire, and enjoy a few! Propping pregnant feet up is optional, of course. 

I don't know what it is, but the butter and oatmeal lends just enough of a nutty flavor and texture to make you believe you've got graham crackers to go with your milk chocolate and toasted marshmallows! Delightful!! 

Nutella Cookies

Yes, you read that right. Nutella. Cookies. *SQUEE!* 

That's all the introduction these need. Really! 

Ingredients:

1 cup of nutella
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 egg
1/4-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp flour
coarse sea salt for sprinkling

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375º.

Mix all ingredients except sea salt together in a bowl. Chill for.. well.. I don't know really.. We'll say 30 minutes in the fridge (covered tightly) for arguments sake. Mine lasted about 3 1/2 minutes in the freezer before I decided I was far too impatient for that nonsense. Still fantastically tasty, but if you want to do it "right," chill for 30 minutes. Roll into 1" balls, put onto an ungreased baking sheet. I use parchment paper for easy clean up later. Bake 9-11 minutes then let cool for a couple minutes on the sheet, then transfer to a cooling set up of whatever sort you choose. People who do it "right" insert "cooling rack" here. People like me, insert "wax paper on the countertop" here. People like my sister insert "just kidding, eat it off the baking sheet and burn your face off" here. Please, don't be like my sister, and let them at least cool before stuffing your face. I will not be held liable for burns from these cookies. While they're cooling, sprinkle on the sea salt. YUM. Once you're not burned by them, EAT THEM. NOW. 

Oh, and you're welcome. For your new waistline. :)

Salted Caramel Brownies

Brownies? Salted Caramel? Oh yeah! I don't really have a "go-to" brownie recipe, so I decided to ask my best friend who is somewhat of a brownie connoisseur/baker. I told her I wanted an easy one, so she gave me her favorite. She called it her cocoa brownie recipe. I call it delicious. 

I'll also apologize for the (even more than usual) horrific pictures. By the time I realized that I still needed to post this, there was one lone chunk of brownie left. I had to hide it so that I could take a couple of pictures of it. Don't judge! Okay, you can, but judge by taste, not presentation on this one. 

Ingredients:

½ C flour

½ C unsweetened cocoa

¼ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ C butter

1/4 cup chocolate chips or semi-sweet baking chocolate, chopped

1 C sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

One batch of caramel as directed here.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350º. Grease/flour a 9" pan (I made a double batch and used a 13"x9" and an 8" round), or line with parchment paper. Or, if you're not on speaking terms with your parchment paper like I am, you can also use foil sprayed with cooking spray. Just don't expect it to turn out quite like it should otherwise. If you're a big fan of the harder edges, foil is your option. 

Mix the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl, set aside. 

Melt the butter and chocolate chips in a double boiler. Once smooth, remove from heat and add sugar. Let cool until it is comfortable to stick your finger into (OH NO! Now you need to lick your finger..) and add the eggs, one at a time until smooth. Add vanilla. 

Mix in dry ingredients until just combined, spread in your prepared pan. Drizzle about 1/2 of your caramel over the top and swirl in using a knife or a toothpick. Bake 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Immediately drizzle more caramel over the top until you've got as much as you want on there. Come on, you know you want more! If you want the full on OH MY LORD THERE IS SALT IN MY CARAMEL experience, you can also sprinkle some coarse sea salt over top. 

Mmm.. BEHOLD THE CARAMEL! Be forever in awe of its greatness. It's super chocolatey goodness. The next time I make these, I think I'll melt something other than chocolate chips with the butter. Maybe some white chocolate? I think that would be delightful. Or better yet, butterscotch chips, and omit the caramel (maybe.. we'll see.. ). 

Chocolate High Class Cookies

My High Class Cookies went over pretty well. I went to an event today that I was bringing "snacks" to.. Snacks meaning baked goods that are most likely terrible for you. I told everyone that I was open to requests, and I got a request for chocolate. The first thing that came to mind was the High Class Cookies I had made the other day, and how easy it would be to convert them to a chocolate deliciousness. I made quite a few changes from the original, the most obvious being the chocolate addition, but they turned out DELICIOUS. Because I doubled the other recipe and added an egg, they turned out to be a little less dense, but also a bit chewier. Did I mention that they're also very delicious? Oh, I did. Well, they're delicious. I only managed to snap one picture of these though before they disappeared:

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla 

3 tsp applesauce

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp sea salt, plus more for sprinkling

4 packets of instant cinnamon spice oatmeal (Can sub 1 cup regular oats and 1/4-1/2 tsp cinnamon)

1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350º.

Brown butter on the stove top. See the link above to High Class Cookies for more information on this if you don't already know how. Add sugars and combine well. Let cool to almost room temperature. Add remaining wet ingredients and mix. Stir in the rest of the ingredients until just combined. 

Drop by spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet, or a parchment lined cookie sheet (I have two cookie sheets, and one I have to line and one I don't. You know your bakeware better than anyone else). Sprinkle a pinch of sea salt over each cookie, and bake for 9-11 minutes.

So, there you have it. The best of EVERYTHING in a cookie! Delicious, nutty, chocolatey, and the sea salt and cinnamon work together in such a way that it leaves the consumer wondering what you've done to them and how it can be done again! 

High Class Cookies

I don't know a single person who doesn't like chocolate chip cookies. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but even vegans have found a way to make one for themselves. I happen to especially love chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. These put the "class" in "classic." 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup browned butter (1 stick) (See this site if you need instructions)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 tsp applesauce

1/2 cup + 2tbsp flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp sea salt, plus more for sprinkling on top

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Dash nutmeg (scant 1/4 tsp)

Dash cloves (scant 1/4 tsp)

2 packets cinnamon spice instant oatmeal

1/2 to 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350º.

Brown butter on the stove (see directions linked above if you have never done this before), let cool a bit once done. Add to a large mixing bowl with sugars and mix well. As long as butter is cooled to close to room temperature, add egg, vanilla and applesauce. Add remaining ingredients and mix until just combined. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a baking sheet (my measuring spoons are rounded, so I just used that and dropped half-spheres onto the baking sheet). There is no need to flatten the cookies, they'll spread to exactly the right level while baking. Sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for 8-11 minutes. Enjoy one fresh out of the oven and be careful not to burn yourself. Do as I say, not as I do. This blister on the roof of my mouth will heal nicely.. Eventually.. It was SO worth it though. 

Try to resist the urge. I dare you. Let me know how that works out for you. Because it won't. I guarantee it. 

Chocolate Cheesecake

Even though I don't like cheesecake, I love MAKING cheesecake because the possibilities are endless. It lets my inner creative baker go crazy. Tomorrow being Mother's Day, and my mother in law and her boyfriend enjoying cheesecake, I figured that when we go down to see them, I'd make some to bring along. What better flavor cheesecake for the occasion is there than chocolate? I mean, really now. Of course it's not PLAIN chocolate, heaven forbid I ever make something PLAIN. They smell fantastic though. I can tell you that much. Even for cheesecakes. 

Ingredients:

Filling:

2 pkgs cream cheese (8oz each, softened)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tbsp Kahlua

2 eggs

Crust:

1/2 pkg of graham crackers, crushed

2 tbsp melted butter

1 tsp Kahlua

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325º. 

Cream the cream cheese. Add sugar, cocoa powder and Kahlua, blend well. Add eggs and mix until just combined.

In a separate bowl, combine crust ingredients until the liquids are well distributed.

Distribute crust ingredients between 12 muffin cups, lined. This will be JUST ENOUGH for 12. Press the crust mixture down with a spoon or fingers. Add about 1/4 cup of filling to each cup. There is exactly enough filling for 12 cups. 

Bake for 20-25 mins or until only slight movement remains in the cups. 

Simple and elegant. The Kahlua is just enough coffee to enhance the chocolate while adding that wonderful kick. And they're gorgeous. And smell delicious. Did I mention that? Another that ALMOST makes me want to try them. 


**REVIEW**


Hubby tried these, and believe me, he's my biggest critic other than myself when it comes to cooking. He said (inbetween mouthfuls) that these are rich, creamy, slightly tangy, and "MMMMMMM.. they taste a bit like tangy hot chocolate.. and some syrupy black cherries would be AWESOME on top.." (the last bit of course was after he had already shoved the rest of his in his mouth). So there you go folks, if you wanted a black forest cheesecake, these would make a perfect base. Maybe soon I'll give it a shot!

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

So, I discovered this afternoon as I was getting things ready for Molasses Cookies that.. I'M OUT OF MOLASSES! I'm not sure how that happened, but it did. *SIGH*. I'm really in a cookie-making mood tonight, and I had to figure something else out. Besides, I need to test my new mixer out on a stiffer dough! After browsing the interwebs, I came up with a chocolate-chocolate chip cookie recipe. I have some oats I needed to use before they went stale, so what better way? OH YES. Chocolate, chocolate chip, and oatmeal cookies. YYUUMM!! 

Since it's past my bedtime already, I'll get to the point.


Ingredients:


1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups chocolate chips
1/2 cup oats (you can put more, by all means, this was just all that I had left)


Directions:


Preheat oven to 375º. Grease baking sheet(s). If you have a GOOD nonstick sheet, you may not need to. I have one good and one not so good, and the not-so-good sheet EVERYTHING stuck to, even with me greasing it after the first batch. The good sheet though, only one or two cookies stuck the entire time (and I made a double batch..). 


Mix the butter, sugars, vanilla, eggs and cocoa powder together until well blended. Dump the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt on top of the wet ingredients and gently blend with your fingers. Mix in the dry ingredients until well blended. Fold in the chocolate chips and oats.


Drop by tablespoonfuls onto the greased baking sheets. Bake for about 10 minutes. These are a bit tougher than regular chocolate chip cookies to determine if they're done since they don't "brown", but if you bake cookies at all, you'll know. 




The results? Nice chewy, gooey, chocolatey goodness. MMMM. These are sure to a be a hit with the coworkers tomorrow. Gee, they're so lucky to have someone who bakes for them all the time! 

Mint Nanaimo Bars

When I was growing up, there was a bakery in town that also did breakfast. We went for breakfast quite a bit, they had the BEST coffee can sourdough biscuits and gravy. Great, now that I brought those up, I'm totally craving some, which really sucks since the bakery went under about 7 years ago.. Anyways. The only other reason we went there? NANAIMO BARS. They were heaven, and they opened up my eyes to others. I've still never run across any others that were as good, but I admit, I was spoiled with these. Thankfully, living so close to the border (these bars originated in Nanaimo, British Columbia, here's the original story on their history if you're interested), these delicacies are everywhere. I can find them at my local grocery stores in the bakery. Again, not nearly as good as the originals I fell in love with, but definitely an okay substitute.


So, when I first found the recipe to try to make these myself, I admit, I was skeptical. I actually looked up probably half a dozen different recipes to make sure I wasn't looking at some obscure version. The bottom layer contains walnuts AND coconut. I'm really not a fan of nuts (except peanuts and cashews, and very occasionally). I absolutely refuse to put nuts in anything. These however are an exception. I found by researching it online that it just doesn't work to not put nuts in these. Ready? Go!

Ingredients:
Crust:1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 tbsp cocoa powder
1 egg, beaten
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Middle Layer Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups confectioners sugar
2 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp peppermint flavor
4 drops of green food coloring

Top Layer Ingredients
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tbsp butter

Directions

1. In a medium sauce pan melt the butter, granulated sugar, and cocoa powder.
2. Once melted, mix in the beaten egg.
3. Add the graham cracker crumbs, coconut, vanilla, and walnuts. Stir until combined.
4. Line a 9 x 9 baking pan with parchment paper. Press the graham cracker mixture into the bottom of the pan. Place in the fridge and let cool.

5. In a large bowl, mix the butter and sugar, with a hand mixer, until light and fluffy.
6. Add the milk one tbsp at a time. Next, add the peppermint and food coloring and beat until light and fluffy.
7. Spread onto the crust layer and refrigerate for 20 more minutes.

8. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and butter. Pour on top the middle layer, tipping the pan back and forth, ensuring an even layer of chocolate.

9. Place the nanaimo bars in the fridge for 30 minutes and serve cold. 

So, you can do like the recipe says (I was far too lazy to actually type it all out tonight, if you want the original page, it's here), or you can just throw everything together, layer by layer like I did. I can't even think anymore.. See that piece on top in the last picture? It's gone. VERY gone. And all I can think about right now is the rest of it sitting on my stove. (These should be refrigerated, by the way. Should they last long enough at least..)


I will leave you with these wonderful pictures to drool over, and.. and... OH GOD I CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING BUT ANOTHER ONE. 


Oh, if you wanted to make the traditional vanilla version, omit mint extract and food coloring, add 3 tbsp vanilla pudding mix. There, I at least got that much in. I will post pictures of those when I get there. And I will.. eventually.. But first.. The rest of the pan is calling my name.. 


YES, YOU CAN CALL ME A FAT KID NOW. 




**Long overdue update: the vanilla version!**

I'm also going to be making a lemon version, in which I put 2 tbsp vanilla pudding mix and 1 tsp lemon extract in the filling in place of the 3 tbsp vanilla pudding mix. YYUUMMM!! Maybe I'll even add a couple of drops of yellow food coloring to make it more "spring". 

Mexican Chocolate Cheesecake

When I heard we were having a "mexican fiesta" potluck for a co-worker's upcoming wedding, I decided that I'd get creative. My cheesecakes usually go over pretty well at work (pumpkin pie cheesecakes for Thanksgiving, Red Velvet cheesecakes for Valentines Day), so I thought I'd try to figure out something mexican-inspired. I immediately started mentally going through my pantry and trying to figure out what I could make. Mini-cheesecakes are pretty easy to make, and I need to use some of the chili powder I was just given. Good excuse, right? Yeah, I thought so too. 

This particular recipe isn't really derived from any particular recipe, just a basic cheesecake recipe that I had adapted to my needs. I'm a pretty adaptable person. Is that even a word..? It doesn't matter. My crust is, once again, a crust of improvisation (I thought I had Nilla wafers still, but they MAGICALLY disappeared *cough cough HUBBY cough cough*), but I did have some gingersnaps and Oreo's. Mexican chocolate is spicy, gingersnaps are spicy. Oreo's are chocolate, mexican chocolate is.. well.. chocolate. It all works out perfectly. I made a "half batch" to test them out and see what needed to be changed (I'll post the feedback I get tomorrow at work later), but even a half batch filled my 24 cup mini-cupcake pan, plus two regular size cupcake liners, all VERY full. Recipe time! Remember, this is for the "half batch". Amendments will come later if need be. 

Ingredients:

Crust:

1/2 cup gingersnap cookies (about 10)

1/2 cup Oreo cookies (about 8)

1/4 to 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1-2 tbsp melted butter

Filling:

1 1/2 pkgs (12oz total) softened cream cheese

2/3 cup sugar

3/8 cup cocoa powder (I just did a 1/4 cup, then half of another)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 tbsp Kahlua

2 eggs

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp chili powder

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350º. Line 24 mini muffin cups and 2 regular muffin cups.

If you have a nifty mixer (like I don't), you can cream the cream cheese before you add anything else in. I'm sure that this would make it a lot easier to handle, but I just used a little extra elbow grease is all. Not to be confused with butter, wrong kind of grease. Just wanted to be clear. Anyways. Mix everything together except the eggs. Once well combined, add the eggs, one at a time, only mixing until combined. If you mix too much, you'll wind up with too much air the cheesecake, or so I've heard. I really couldn't tell you the difference myself since I don't actually EAT cheesecake, but I try to please the people who DO eat it. 

Place a bit of crust mixture in the bottom of each cup, just enough to make it so that when pressed down in the bottom, you can't see the bottom of the liner anymore. Too much crust = not enough filling, especially in the mini cheesecakes! Once the crust is pressed down in each cup, add roughly a tablespoon of filling to each mini cup, until it is full, just shy of the top of the cup, fill the larger cups up to almost the top as well. Bake the mini cups for 15 minutes, or until set, and the larger cups for 20-25 minutes, or again, until set. 

The mini's

The regular's

I still haven't figured out how to not have the tops sink in quite so much on me, but I don't think it affects the taste any. If it does, there at least haven't been any complaints. 

Once I've got some feedback from co-workers tomorrow, I'll post the pro's and con's, and make any changes needed. Bon appetit!


***REVIEWS***

Crust is perfectly crunchy, not soggy.
Need a shot of Kahlua to go with.
YUM.

Yep, that about sums it up. One person said that it would stand up to more chili powder, if you're so inclined, but I don't think I want to kill the people here that aren't as much of a spice fan, and they said it was perfect. All in all? Good reviews!

Red Hot Love Cheesecakes

For Valentines Day, I thought I'd be creative (and the awesome person at work, of course), and make some mini red velvet cheesecakes. The original recipe (which you can find here), was for a regular muffin pan size, but I thought I'd make them cuter by using a mini-muffin pan. The result was a 2-bite major hit with the co-workers. I myself am not a cheesecake person, so I can't tell you exactly how they turned out, but judging by the reaction, and the comment of one co-worker that they rivaled one of the Christmas goodies that people drool while thinking about all year long, I'd say they turned out pretty good. I didn't really make a whole lot of changes to this recipe, since I wasn't going to be able to taste it myself to know if it worked or not. I did change the crust a bit, and I added slightly more cocoa powder, but that's about it. 

Here's my version:


Ingredients:


Crust:
48 Nilla Wafers, crushed
6 tbsp butter
3 tbsp cocoa powder


Filling:
2 1/2 pkgs (20oz total) softened cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
2 tsp vanilla 
2 tbsp red food coloring
3 eggs




Directions:


Preheat oven to 350º. Line a muffin pan with liners, you can do mini or regular size.


In a small bowl, mix cookies, butter and cocoa until well combined. Divide between muffin cups. For the mini muffin size, I used about 1/2 teaspoon of crust mixture, you'll just need enough to make a light crust at the bottom. 


Combine cream cheese, sugar and cocoa until well-combined. If you want less of a chance of lumps, use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese by itself before adding anything else. I unfortunately am NOT the proud owner of any sort of electric mixing tool other than a cheap blender, so i just made sure to beat out the lumps by hand after adding more of the wet ingredients. 


Beat in vanilla and food coloring, then eggs, one by one until well blended. Divide among cups, filling will go almost to the top of the cup. 


Bake until center is firm. For a regular size muffin pan, it should be 20-25 minutes, for a mini muffin pan, 15-20 minutes. If you choose to remove the baking liners before serving, refrigerate for at least one hour before taking them off, then refrigerate for another hour. Otherwise, refrigerate 2 hours before serving. 


Regular muffin pan size will make approximately 16 cheesecakes (according to Betty Crocker), mini muffin pan size made 60. Yes, SIXTY CHEESECAKES.




You can decorate these however you'd like. I did several different things with mine. Some I left just as is, some i dropped a single chocolate chip in the center before baking, some I sprinkled some chocolate sprinkles on before baking. 


To give you an idea of how fast these will go, I brought 50 of the 60 this recipe made to work with me, and these were gone in ten minutes flat!