Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecakes

Celebrating the season with great friends and good food can be easily accomplished with a potluck dinner, and that's exactly how Matt and I spent Saturday night. On the menu: turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, potato casserole, and gravy. And for dessert, two types of sweets: pecan pie and Reese's Peanut Butter Cup mini cheesecakes. The latter is what I brought for the group of us, so naturally, I thought I would share with you the recipe for the dessert

Sharing my cooking and baking on this blog also gives me a great electronic collection of my recipes, but it has also inspired me to put my recipe book to good use. The book was a housewarming gift from my two close friends, and it's a great idea for organizing all my recipes, especially the ones that I find online and then copy onto post-it notes (often again and again, as I inevitably lose them...). The book is organized by sections and comes with blank notes just waiting to be written on and filed, so it really is a great thing to have around the house. Besides, what if one day, heaven forbid, I'm without internet and I need to find a recipe?!? That would be a disaster!

The finished cheesecake minis were quite decadent, but small enough to satisfy a sweet craving after a big meal. For last night, however, when paired with a pecan pie (also super delicious, Dar!), I'm glad I made them smaller than I have in the past.

Crust Recipe:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

4 tbsp sugar

1/4 butter, softened

Filling Recipe (makes 12):

2 pkgs Light Cream Cheese

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

4 pkgs Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

Directions:

1.  Blend together crumbs, butter and sugar roughly until mixed together;
2. Line 12 cupcake molds with paper cups;
3. Add roughly 1 tbsp of crust to each cup. Using the bottom of a glass, press crumbs firmly.
4. Place 1 Reese's Peanut Butter cups into each of the 12 molds (I first placed them right side up, but then flipped them so that the filling would more easily fill around them);
5. Blend cream cheese until soft and fluffy;
6. Add flour, sugar, and vanilla, and mix thoroughly;
7. Add in eggs, one at a time, mixing completely;
8. Add filling over top each of the cups, flush to the top.
9. Bake in a 350 Degree oven for 20 minutes;
10. Let cool before serving.

There you have it! They are actually pretty quick to mix up and equally quick to consume. Whip up a batch for your very own potluck dinner...