Tasty & Delicious: Mini Turtle Cheesecakes by The Pioneer Woman

I love cheesecake, but sometimes I can’t be bothered to make a big, honking full-sized one. I don’t know what the mental block is, but if I have the idea “Hey! I think I’ll make a cheesecake!” I immediately get really tired and want to get back in bed. I think it’s partly to do with the fact that a full-sized cheesecake is a living, breathing thing, and while I can usually avoid winding up with a big crack down the middle, sometimes a cheesecake does what it wants to do. In addition, a full-sized cheesecake takes so long to chill properly, and by the time you can actually cut a slice and enjoy it, you have now aged 27 years.

As I said, I just want to get back in bed.

So mini cheesecakes are where I live! They’re simpler, provide more immediate gratification (relatively speaking) and you can freeze them and just pull out what you need when you need it.

And they don’t make me tired. Sold!

First, make the chocolate cookie crust. Add chocolate graham crackers to a food processor. (Or you can use Oreos!)

Add a little sugar…

Then pulse the crumbs…

Until they’re really fine.

Keep pulsing while you drizzle in melted butter.

This makes the crumbs nice and moist.

Oh, and buttery!

Line a couple of muffin pans with paper cups, then add crumbs to each one. You need about 2 tablespoons of crumbs in each cup.

Use your fangers or the bottom of a 1/4 cup measure to pack them tightly in the cups.

Now just set these aside; no need to bake ’em!

Next up: Make the cream cheese filling! That’s softened cream cheese…

Sugar…

And eggs.

Oh! And vanilla!

Beat this until it’s totally smooth…

Then (this is where things really go off the rails) drizzle in some jarred salted caramel. (If you can’t find salted caramel sauce, you can just use regular caramel sauce with a little salt added.)

Mix this in, scraping the sides of the bowl and trying really hard not to dive in and eat this with a spoon. Just remember everything your mama taught you about patience being a virtue!

Divide the batter equally among the muffin cups.

It should work out to be roughtly 3 tablespoons of batter per cup. Give or take a gallon.

Now put these into a preheated 350 degree oven and bake them for about 15 to 17 minutes, until they’re set.

Let them cool for a bit, then pop the pans into the fridge to chill completely, about 2 hours or so. (Or you can make these and keep them in the fridge overnight if you have a life to go live!)

When the cheesecakes are chilled and you’re ready to finish them, make a luscious and easy ganache: Add chopped semisweet chocolate to a bowl…

Then pour over hot heavy cream…

And let it sit for a couple of minutes.

Once the chocolate has started to soften, start whisking it slowly…

And keep going until the mixture is smooth and perfect. This is a slightly thick ganache; you can add a little more cream if you want it to be a little thinner.

Add a little ganache to the tops of the chilled cheesecakes and spread it to even it out.

Lightly press a pecan half in the center…

Then sprinkle mini chocolate chips all over.

The straw that broke the camel’s back is a little more salted caramel sauce on top! Don’t try to be neat about it; if it gets on the paper cup, great. Life is beautifully messy.

You can freeze these in the finished form, then just pull them out and let them thaw. Or you can chill them in the fridge and serve them later in the day.