🧁Miniature cinnamon roll cheesecakes🥱
Ingredients:
For Crust:
- 4 full sheets of graham crackers
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter (unsalted or salted) melted
For Cheesecake:
- 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese at room temperature
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons white flour
- 1 large egg at room temperature
For Cinnamon-sugar swirl:
- 1/4 cup butter (unsalted or salted) softened, not melted
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon white flour
For Cream cheese topping:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 – 1 and 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream or whole milk, only if needed
Instructions:
For Crust:
1Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a regular sized muffin tin with 9 liners and fill up half of the other empty spaces with water. This ensures even baking. Spray the liners with non-stick spray. (Cinnamon sugar mixture gets sticky!)
2In a food processor, pulse the graham crackers to crumbs. Stir in the sugar and melted butter. Press an even amount of graham cracker crust into the bottom of each muffin liner.
3Press down the crust with a milk cap or the backside of a tablespoon measuring spoon and set aside.
For Cheesecake:
1In a medium sized bowl, combine the room temperature cream cheese and white sugar. Beat gently only on low speed until smooth and creamy. Do not vigorously mix at all (this beats in air and will cause the cheesecakes to rise and fall a lot) Add in the vanilla extract, flour, and a lightly beaten egg. Beat until just combined (again very gently mixing as little as possible).
For Cinnamon-Sugar Swirl:
1In a small bowl, combine the softened (do not melt) butter, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Stir until completely combined to a thick paste.
2Spoon 1 tablespoon of the cheesecake filling into each of the prepared 9 cups. Then place 1/2 teaspoon of the cinnamon sugar swirl on top. Swirl the cinnamon sugar into the cheesecake with a toothpick.
3Top the rest of the cheesecake filling on top (about 1 more tablespoon per cheesecake) and then disperse the remaining cinnamon sugar (about 1/2 teaspoon) swirl evenly among the 9 cheesecakes.
4Swirl the cinnamon sugar (again) on top of the cheesecake with a toothpick and bake for 20-22 minutes. The centers will still jiggle a little bit, but the edges should be a very light brown.
5Remove from the oven and let cool at room temperature for 1 hour and then transfer to the fridge and let cool for at least 2 hours.
6The cheesecakes will have risen in the oven and will deflate quite a bit while cooling.
For Cream cheese topping:
1Cream together the powdered sugar, butter, vanilla extract and cream cheese. Slowly add in the heavy cream (if needed for a thinner frosting) until desired consistency is reached.
2Spoon over the cooled cheesecakes and drizzle extra cream cheese frosting on top.
