Bite Size New York Style Cheesecake

Last weekend I made three Big Apple themed desserts for our New York City trivia contest.  After Black and White cookies the most obvious choice was cheesecake.  Typically New York style cheesecake is served in giant slices topped with cherries or strawberries, but  I wanted all of the desserts bite size so I made these in my mini muffin tin.  Of the three desserts I made these were the simplest and the most popular.

Bite Size Cheesecake

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Yield: 30 bite sized cheesecakes

Crumb Crust

24 Nilla Wafers – finely ground
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tbsp. sugar
pinch of salt

Cheesecake Filling

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened (In the winter you’ll want to leave your cream cheese out on the counter for at least two hours for it to to be soft enough)
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2  teaspoon finely grated orange zest
2  large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1. If you have a mini muffin pan line it with paper liners.  If you do not have a mini muffin pan you can place foil liners on a cookie sheet with sides.  This might actually be easier since you could cook all 30 cheesecakes at once.  Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Stir together crust ingredients and press into bottom of mini muffin liners.  You just want the crust to cover the bottom of the liner.  You’ll probably have some crust left over.  Bake crusts for 6 minutes.

3. Allow crust to cool while you make cheesecake filing.  Beat together cream cheese, sugar, flour and zest with an electric mixer until smooth. Add vanilla, then eggs and yolks, one at a time, beating on low speed until each ingredient is incorporated. Scrape bowl down between additions.  When filling is very smooth use a small scoop to fill mini muffin liners.  You want to fill the liners almost to the top.

4. Bake cheesecakes for 20 minutes.  The tops will be puffed and slightly cracked when done.  Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes and then remove to wire rack to cool to room temperature.  Chill until ready to serve (at least 2 hours).