It is reveal day for the Improv Cooking Challenge! This month the ingredients are crackers and cheese so I made these Vanilla Bean Cheesecake Bites! This is not my “go to” cheesecake recipe that I usually bake, although I still adore it. I wanted to get outside my comfort zone and try a totally new cheesecake recipe, and I am so glad I did. It has a deep vanilla bean flavor that I know you are going to love.
Vanilla Bean Cheesecake Bites
(adapted from King Arthur Flour)
Ingredients
Crust
8-10 Chocolate Graham Crackers
5 tablespoons Butter
4 tablespoons Confectioners Sugar
pinch of salt
1/8 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
5 tablespoons Butter
Batter
2-8 ounce packs Cream Cheese (at room temperature)
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1/4 cup Heavy Cream
3 large Eggs
3 teaspoons Vanilla Bean Extract
Topping
1/2 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1 tablespoon Confectioners Sugar
1 cup Milk Chocolate Morsels
2 tablespoons Heavy Whipping Cream
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Take your Chocolate Graham Crackers and put them
in the food processor and pulse until crumbly.
You can crush your crackers by placing them in a
plastic bag and rolling over them with a rolling pin.
Both methods work great!
Melt your butter in the microwave.
Add the sugar, salt,and cinnamon to the food processor
and pulse until well combined. If you are not using this method,
you can combine the ingredients with a fork or spoon.
Place the crust into an 8X8 pan.
Come up the sides approx. 1/2″.
Flatten on the bottom.
Bake the crust for 8-10 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool.
Lower oven temp to 325 degrees.
Mix the cream cheese and the sugar together until smooth.
Add the cream, eggs, and vanilla.
Spoon the batter into the crust.
Bake for 30-40 minutes.
The batter should be set on the edges, but the center
can be a little soft.
Take the cheesecake out of the oven and let it cool for 30 minutes.
While the cheesecake is cooling, make your ganache.
Place your chocolate morsels in a double boiler on
low heat. Melt chocolate, stirring every couple minutes.
When chocolate is completely melted, add your
whipping cream and stir thoroughly to combine.
Let it sit on very low heat while we make the whipping cream.
Place your heavy whipping cream in the mixer.
Let cream whip until peaks begin to form.
Add confectioners sugar and allow stiff peaks to form.
Remove whipped cream from bowl and place in
a pastry bag with a star tip of your choice.
Remove your cheesecake from the pan and cut into
bite sized pieces. Ok, these are LARGE bites! ha!
Drizzle your ganache all over the bites.
Top your bites with whipped cream dollops.
Enjoy!
Thanks for joining me today, and when you make these
cheesecake bites, you might want to make two batches.
They practically flew out of the kitchen!!
There is a lot more where this came from!
See what everyone else made with cheese and crackers:
