Mini Coffee Cheesecakes

Coffe and Cheesecake with a Hazelnut “coffee grounds” topping!

A New York inspired farewell treat! Noah’s sister’s girlfriend, Emily (if you can follow that) just moved to Brooklyn.  Noah’s sister Whitney wanted to throw a surprise going away party for her. So, of course I had to come up with a fun themed treat. I usually go for making an interesting flavored cupcake when it comes to these challenges but for some reason cheesecake was calling me instead for a desert. And besides, your diet in NY is pretty much coffee based so I figured this would work out perfectly!

I think they ended up being a hit and we had a lovely little soirée to send her off! They are quite rich but since they are mini it’s quite alright to indulge in one. They make for a much more fun and easy way to serve at a party. I used parchment paper liners because I thought they looked like coffee filters!

I must give credit where it is due, as I have only baked cheesecake once before I decided to google coffee cheesecake and came upon this lovely recipe below:

http://www.bakedbyrachel.com/2012/05/mini-coffee-cheesecakes-with-caramel-whipped-cream/

I used the cheesecake part of the recipe but switched up the topping. I don’t like caramel… I know SIN! but you could certainly use it, which is why I went with hazelnut. I liked the idea of “ground coffee” for the topping and it added a little more texture and color contrast to the dish!

The Innards:

The Crust:

• 12 Oreo cookies (not double stuffed)
• 4 tsp Butter, melted

The Cheesecake:

• 12 oz Cream Cheese, softened
• 2/3 cup white Sugar
• 2 TBSP Coffee Syrup (found near other coffee syrups)
• 2 TBSP Flour
• 2 Eggs

The “Hazelnut Grounds”:

• 6 Oreo cookies
• 2 TBSP Hazelnut Syrup

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Bake Time: 15-20 minutes

Serves: 12

How to Make It:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

1. In a food processor, chop up 12 of your Oreos until their are no large chunks remaining.

2. Pulse in the melted butter.

3. In a lined muffin tin, place a spoonful of the cookie crumb mixture evenly in all 12 liners.

4. Use the back of a spoon or your fingers and press down the cookie crumbs and out to the side a bit to make the crust and set aside.

5. In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until it is smooth.

6. Mix in the coffee syrup, sugar and flour.

7. Add in the eggs.

8. Fill the muffin tins to about 1/4 inch from the top.

9. Bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes until they are firm, but still a little jiggly in the center if you shake them.

10. Let them cool fully then place them in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight.

11. When you are ready to serve them, pulse your remaining 6 Oreos in your food processor.

12. Pulse in your hazelnut syrup.

13. Spoon a heaping teaspoon on top of each mini cheesecake and enjoy!

Bon Appétit!