Remember the Boozy Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes I made for a New Year’s Eve party? Well I just realized that I forgot to post the OTHER recipe I made that also used up some of the Peppermint Smirnoff that I had: Cheesecake bites!
Now, I did some research trying to find the perfect recipe and came up with something close on a website, but it was for one big cheesecake and I wanted to make little cheesecakes. So after some more research I discovered that you can convert big cheesecake recipes down by adjusting the bake time. For mini muffin tin size, it took about 15-20 minutes. It took more like half an hour for the cupcake size. The best part is that you only need to chill for a few hours before serving.
The other ingredient change that I made was that I used chocolate graham crackers instead of cookies. And, because I’d had so much frosting left from the cupcakes, I topped some with frosting instead of ganache.
Peppermint Pattie Cheesecake Bites
- Yield: 24 cupcake size cheesecakes
- Category: Dessert
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 cups chocolate wafer cookie crumbs
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 4 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ cup whipping cream
- ⅓ cup peppermint Schnapps
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
- ¼ cup whipping cream
- 2 teaspoons peppermint Schnapps
Filling
Ganache
Instructions
- Lightly coat 9-inch springform pan with no-stick cooking spray. Wrap foil under bottom and around outside of pan to collect any drips during baking; set aside.
- FOR CRUST In medium bowl, combine all crust ingredients until evenly moistened. Press mixture firmly into bottom of prepared pan.
- FOR FILLING In large mixer bowl, beat cream cheese with sugar and cornstarch at high speed until smooth. Beat in cream and Schnapps. Add eggs one at a time beating at low speed just until blended. Pour into prepared pan. Bake in 325°F. oven until edges are set and center is almost set, about 55 to 60 minutes. Turn oven off. Leave cheesecake in oven with door ajar for 30 minutes. Loosen edges of cake from pan with sharp knife. Cool on wire rack to room temperature. Top with Ganache and chill uncovered until set. Cover and chill overnight before removing springform ring.
- In 2-cup glass measure, combine chocolate chips and cream. Microwave (high) for 1 minute. Let stand 2 minutes; stir until chocolate is melted and smooth. Cool slightly; stir in Schnapps.
- Makes about ½ cup
The Verdict: We actually liked these better than the cupcakes, and preferred the bite size with frosting instead of ganache. The crust could have used some additional butter to hold things together, and I thought about that when I was making it but didn’t trust my instinct. Live and learn!
These look super delicious and what do you know … I have a little leftover peppermint schnapps from the holidays 🙂 Definitely will have to give these a try!
Wow these look awesome and I can only imagine how they taste! My problems is I never have any schnapps left over….
I actually love peppermint Schnapps, and this sounds like the perfect way to use it! I think I agree with you, frosting is the better way to go over ganache.
thanks!