Sweet Tooth: Mini Bailey's Chocolate Cheesecakes

Cheesecakes come off as one of those desserts that cost an arm and a leg in a restaurant - but there's really not much to them if you wanted to make them at home!

And of course - there's absolutely nothing wrong with eating a few of these MINI portions!

What's the secret? A muffin pan to bake these - there's the portion control bit...now whether or not you actually stick to eating only one is a whole other story!

I love making mini cheesecakes and have created a variety of different flavours (I'll post them at the bottom) and am always experimenting when given the chance to bake these little delights!

I CAN'T FREAKING ROTATE IT!

So why Bailey's and chocolate? It was a date night treat.
And why the heck not?!

What you need (makes about 14):

• Muffin tin
• Muffin tin liners (silicone are more environmentally friendly but if you're going to a potluck or a bake-sale with these - paper might be more ideal!)
• Room temperature package of cream cheese
• NOTE: I did NOT need vanilla extract because I used vanilla flavoured cream cheese!
• Oreo cookies or similar
• 1/4 Cup of sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 heaping tablespoon of cocoa powder
• Hefty splash of Bailey's
• Flour (possibly you'll need it to thicken the batter if you put too much Bailey's!)
• A couple squares of dark chocolate (melted)
• Optional:
• whipped cream
• strawberries or other fruit for decoration
• crushed almonds

What to do:

1. Pre-heat oven to 175*C.
2. Line muffin tin with 1 muffin liner and 1 Oreo cookie in each spot
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar and egg.
4. Add vanilla extract, cocoa powder and Bailey's.
1. There is no measurement for Bailey's.  I'm sorry.  I go based on smell and I try to not make it too boozy-smelling. 
5. If you put too much Bailey's - sprinkle some flour in there so it's thicker and not too wet of a batter.
6. Pour batter into each lined cup of the muffin tin - filling them about 3/4 of the way.
1. They'll puff up a bit when they bake and sink as they cool down.
7. Once cooled down - remove from the pan and chill in the fridge.
8. Let them chill a bit first in the fridge then drizzle the tops with melted chocolate and refrigerate again.
9. Decorate even more before serving with nuts, fruit and whipped cream!
10. Remove wrapper before eating.
11. Enjoy responsibly.

Some other varieties you can try:

• Peanut butter and jelly (put the jelly in the center or directly on your Oreo and then a peanut butter mixture on top!)
• Rocky Road: make a vanilla-based cheesecake flavour and top with mini marshmallows, peanuts, candied cherries and drizzle melted chocolate when they've cooled
• Triple chocolate
• Chocolate mint - use a peppermint liquer or peppermint extract
• Orange chocolate - use an orange liquer or orange extract
• Nutella
• "Reese's PB Cups" - mix up chocolate and peanut butter
• Berries (whatever is in season!)
• Fresh Lemon - use a lemon to get the juice and make sure to remove any seeds!
• Vanilla
• Chocolate
• Other liquer

Experiment and have fun!

Happy Foodie Adventures!
Dominique