Leprechaun cheesecake bites!
Everything is green the week leading up to St. Patty’s Day. I wonder if green food coloring sales spike during this time of the year?
I actually made this recipe in honor of Pi(e) Day on 3/14. Cheesecake might not be pie, but it was close enough. And cheesecake always hits the spot.
ALSO- I was able to incorporate something else that is March related, Girl Scout Cookies!
These little cheesecakes are all too cute. To make sure I was not going over board eating these, I did calculate the calorie content of each mini.
I know, why the heck would I do that? I bet you have your fingers crossed, hoping I don’t tell you, don’t you?
Oh, I am going to tell you. Why? Because you will be pleasantly surprised, that’s why.
Each mini cheesecake is 97 calories! Can you believe that?! What a perfect after dinner dessert that won’t break the belt.
Or is that saying, won’t breakthe bank… hmmm… anyway….
If you serve this after dinner, or bring them to a St. Patty’s Party, you won’t feel guilty eating one or two of these to satisfy your sweet tooth because the calories are like non-existent!
Now, let’s get this show started and whip them up!
Start with throwing 15 girl scout cookies into a food processor. Note- there are roughly 17 cookies in each sleeve of Thin Mints. You should really not leave them lonely in the box. Go ahead and eat them.
Pulse until cookies are crumbs. Then add in the melted butter. I almost always use salted butter for pie crusts. I think it adds an extra flavor contrast.
I didn’t take photos of this step, but in a mini muffin pan, line with mini muffin liners, any color you would like. I used white to keep from contrasting with the green. Then add a scant (slightly less than full) teaspoon of crust to each liner. Press down crust to ensure it fills the whole bottom.
Next start on the filling, add the cream cheese to a bowl and mix on medium for about 3 mins to make it fluffy and smooth. Add in the egg, and sweetened condensed milk and continue mixing until smooth. No lump-ity lumps.
Add in the food coloring and peppermint extract and mix again. I again didn’t photograph the filling each muffin liner with filling step, but you get the concept. Throw these bad boys in the oven and bake for about 17 minutes at 300 degrees. Once removed from the oven, they will look puffy. As they cool they will fall and have flat tops. Be patient.
The final touch is the chocolate topping. In a microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate chips and milk in 30 second intervals, stiring after each, until chocolate is smooth. Using the side of a large spoon, drizzle over each cheesecake.
Allow cheesecakes to cool at room temp for about an hour, then cover and refidgerate in pan to finish cooling over night, or at least 3 hours. Remove cheesecakes from pan by using a butter knife around the edge to losen cheesecakes.
Also, remember you are the best test taster of your own food, so make sure you snatch one of these before you serve them 🙂
Mini Mint Cheesecakes
yields 24 mini cheesecakes
Crust:
- 15 Thin Mint cookies (Girl Scouts)
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
Filling:
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- ¼ cup plus 2 teaspoons sweetened condensed milk
- 1 whole egg
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
- 4-6 drops green food coloring
Topping:
- ¼ cup chocolate chips, melted
- 1 tablespoon milk (soy milk)
- Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.
- In food processor, finely grind 15 thin mint cookies.
- Add melted butter to ground cookies and pulse until fully combined.
- Line a mini muffin pan with paper liners; add scant teaspoon crust mixture to the bottom of each muffin liner. Press down crust until bottom is fully covered and flat.
- In medium mixing bowl, mix room temperature cream cheese with electric mixer for 3 minutes, until fluffy.
- Add egg and sweetened condensed milk, and continue mixing until all ingredients are incorporated.
- Add peppermint extract and food coloring, and mix until fully combined.
- Spoon filling over crust, leaving a small gap for the filling to rise.
- Bake for 17 minutes at 300 degrees. Remove and cool at room temperature.
- After cheesecakes are removed from the oven, melt chocolate and milk together for 30 second increments until fully combined. Drizzle over cheesecakes.
- Store cakes in the refrigerator in the pan once cooled. Remove from pan before serving by running a butter knife around the outside to pop each cake out. Serve cold.
Calories per serving: 97