February has lots of reasons to bake and cook. Cold weather calls for hot soups and warm breads. Valentines Day is full of sweet things. And later we'll have cherry pie for George Washington. My family enjoys all these reasons and the food that they bring!
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| Mini Cheesecake + chocolate covered strawberry |
Tonight we had a family Valentine Dinner with Italian Vegetable Soup (recipe on the blog of January 13, 2019) with Cheese Wheel (recipe from Dec. 26, 2012). Those are family favorites! We ended the meal with chocolate covered strawberries and Cocoa Cheesecake Minis, a new favorite. Here's the recipe for the cheesecakes. I liked the prep of the minis, it seemed easier and baked more quickly that a large cheesecake, plus there were fewer servings/leftovers/calories.
COCOA CHEESECAKE MINIS
Ingredients:
Base –
10 Oreo or chocolate sandwich cookies
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
2 (8-oz) packages cream cheese (room temperature)
Filling –
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 large eggs
Preheat oven to 325 ° with a rack in the center position. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.
Crumble the cookies in a food processor to fine crumbs and add the melted butter. Divide among the 12 cupcake papers. Press into the bottom with a small cup. Bake for 8 minutes. Allow to cook completely.
Beat cream cheese, granulated sugar, and cocoa powder in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or with a hand-held mixer, until smooth. (the original recipe had the option of adding ¼ cup Bailey’s Irish Cream here. We have children at our table so I omitted this.)
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Do not overmix (overmixing is what causes a cheesecake to crack). Distribute the batter evenly among the cookie crust cups.
Bake for 22 – 25 minutes, or until the centers are almost set. Place on a rack and cool completely. Refrigerate for two hours.
To serve, remove the paper liners and top with whipped cream. Sprinkle with a bit of cocoa powder (you can use the same unsweetened cocoa powder as the filling ingredient. I used a sprinkle of the dry cocoa powder we use for the children’s chocolate milk)
