I love birthdays. Making a treat for someone on their birthday is just another way to make their day extra special and to show that you love them!
Every year, I like to celebrate each of the three beautiful girls in my Wednesday night discipleship class when their birthdays come around. This is our 6th and final year doing the class together! I wanted to make this year extra special by making each of them a dessert of their choice. The first student up requested cheesecake for her birthday (a class favorite). I excitedly hunted down the perfect recipe, and experimented with how I could spruce it up for the occasion. The results…fantastic!
The girls said they loved these festive little cheesecakes, and two of them even requested seconds! I can’t eat more than one (as they are somewhat rich), but the sweet, smooth, chocolatey flavor makes me wish I had more room in my tummy. All of the elements (chocolate cookie crust, chocolate cheesecake filling, ganache, whipped cream, and sprinkles) combine beautifully to create personal, fun, scrumptious and celebratory little cheesecakes!
The first step is to make the crusts. Press the crushed cookies and melted butter mixture into muffin tins (I lined mine with double muffin papers), and pop them in the oven for a few minutes!
Next, prepare the cheesecake filling. To get the smoothest cheesecake possible, you will need to soften your cream cheese thoroughly and make sure that your melted chocolate is cool, but not hardening. I didn’t quite nail either of these things, and as a result it just wasn’t as smooth.
After the cheesecakes have cooled completely, stir up that ganache and smooth it over the tops of the cheesecakes.
Pop them back into the fridge until you are ready to serve. When the time comes, pipe on some whipped cream, and garnish with sprinkles of your choice!
Time to celebrate!
Mini Celebration Chocolate Cheesecakes
For the Oreo Crust:
- 18 oreos
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
For the Chocolate Cheesecake Filling:
- 16 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 6 oz semi sweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled
For the Chocolate Ganache:
- 3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
For the Celebratory Decor:
- Whipped Cream
- Sprinkles of choice
Instructions
For the Oreo Crust:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Line muffin tin with paper liners (I double lined them).
- Crush Oreos into fine crumbs.
- Mix the melted butter into the crushed Oreos to combine.
- Evenly divide the mixture into the 12 lined muffin cups and press down.
- Bake the crusts for 5 minutes.
- Cool completely.
For the Chocolate Cheesecake Filling:
- While crusts cool, make the cheesecake filling. Beat cream cheese in bowl until smooth.
- Add sour cream, sugar, eggs and vanilla and mix until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl to make sure it mixes thoroughly.
- Add the cooled, melted chocolate to the mixture and stir to combine.
- Pour about 2 tablespoons of cheesecake filling into each muffin cup (fill almost to the top).
- Place in preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes or until set.
- Cool cheesecakes completely in muffin tin.
For the Ganache:
- Add chocolate chips and heavy cream to a medium sized microwave safe bowl.
- Heat for 30 second intervals (about two times), and mix thoroughly.
- Allow ganache to cool for 2-3 minutes before using.
Final Steps:
- Once cheesecakes have cooled, pour 1 tablespoon of ganache on top of each cheesecake. Smooth the top.
- Place cheesecakes in refrigerator to set. Once set, cover with plastic wrap and keep in refrigerator to store.
- Just before serving, pipe whipped cream onto cheesecakes and top with festive sprinkles of your choice.
Makes 12 mini cheesecakes
