Recipe Cinema

These were inspired by my grandmother’s old fashioned mini cheesecake recipe. Originally these were crustless and topped with canned cherry pie filling. Oh, so delicious but I just had to add my owner chocolate loving twist!

These are so easy to make and might I add so forgiving too. No need to fuss over every detail and worry about cooking in a water bath or adjusting the oven temperature midway. Simply mix, pour and cook and they are perfect every time!

Print Recipe

Mini Turtle Cheesecakes

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Chill Time4 hours hrs

Servings: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

Crust

• 1 pkg Chocolate Graham Crackers crushed
• 1/4 c Powdered Sugar
• 5 tbsp Butter melted

Cheesecake

• 16 oz Cream Cheese softened
• 1/2 c Sugar
• 2 lg Eggs
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Toppings

• 1/2 c Caramel Ice Cream Topping optional
• 12 Pecan Halves optional
• 1/2 c Chocolate Chips optional

Instructions

• In a food processor (or large bowl), mix together the 3 ingredients for the crust.
• Evenly divide into a 12-count, muffin tin lined with paper liners. Press firmly into the bottoms of the liners. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat softened cream cheese with sugar until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, then mix well.
• Scoop evenly on top of chocolate crumbs. Do not fill cups, leave about 1/2-inch of space from the top of the liners.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 325°F for 18-20 minutes. Do not overcook them. They will have a very slight darkening color around the edge when they are ready.
• Cool on top of the stove for 1 hour, then chill completely before adding toppings, approximately 4 hours.
• For the topping, add a small dab of caramel sauce, then placed a pecan halve on top of the caramel. Melt about 1/4 cup of chocolate chips in a microwave. Using a candy piping bag, drizzle over the tops.
• Enjoy!

Notes

Substitutions:

• Chocolate Graham Crackers– These can easily be substituted with honey graham or cinnamon sugar graham crackers.

Storage:

As with traditional cheesecake, these require refrigeration. Be sure to cool completely before refrigeration. I recommend consuming with 2-3 days.

Additional Notes:

Toppings are optional and you can be as creative as you would like with them. All the traditional cheesecake toppings work well with these, such as any fruit pie filling. 

For a video demonstration on how to prepare this recipe, please check out my video on YouTube.