Mini But Mighty!

...this is also one of the fifty-seven potential names I have for my autobiography. It's a pretty boring book altogether considering my full name should be Kate "Rules Are Made to Be Followed" Fox, but damned if I don't throw caution to the wind when it comes to crazy dessert concoctions. I mean, I have been an insane cheesecake making machine these past two weeks...I'm turning into Kate Bakes Cheesecakes almost exclusively. I feel like I have to admit now that I believe cheesecakes are far superior to cakes. The irony is not lost on me, the Kate who Bakes Cakes, but as I age (shudder), they just seem to be a more delectable dessert than an overly-frosted, super sweet cake. Between last week's dulce de leche swirl cheesecake with fudge brownie bottom, and this week's ultimate PB & C mashup (that C stand for 'chocolate' for you normies that aren't obsessed with dessert), I'm gonna convince you to come to the dark side. I promise there's no PowerPoint presentation involved with this argument. Just really terrible, potato-quality cell phone photos:

It's pretty much the best thing to happen to peanut butter since sliced bread, really.

Handheld, portable, crowd-pleasing, oh, and absolutely delicious, these small but mighty peanut butter cheesecakes are stuffed with a tiny Reese's and held together by a single peanut butter Oreo crust. I brought these to work for my boss's birthday, an avid PB&C lover, and took them to *another* birthday party for a friend who also happens to love the PB&C flavor combo. Surround yourself with friends like this; they're good people, PB&C lovers...they almost always share dessert, unlike those snobby Crème Brûlée folk (all those accent marks, and they still won't share). I have to admit, these little cheesecakes aren't terrible for you! With a few small adjustments, these are only 204 calories per cup. And while you might think, "But they're small. I wanna eat like 10 at a time," (I won't stop you), the richness of the cheesecake, peanut butter, and chocolate all coming together makes one serving absolutely satisfying to the ole' sweet tooth; but don't let that stop you from getting seconds (it didn't stop anyone else).

There's a whole lotta Reese's action here.

These are EVEN EASIER to make than last week's cheesecake; no water baths, no baking things one at a time, sorry, I sorta lied last week...for a full-fledged cheesecake, that really is a pretty simple recipe, but for mini cheesecakes, this is easy as pie...which is appropriate since pies are cheesecake-adjacent. This recipe makes 40 mini cheesecakes, so by all means, cut it in half for a more reasonable amount. I was feeding the masses and wanted a couple leftover to freeze for us. You'll need:

• A whole carton of Peanut butter Oreos (I also used Glutino's gluten-free sandwich cookies to make 10 safe for me to eat)
• 40 Reese's Minis (get the kind that are already unwrapped; save a TON of time and annoyance)
• 20 ounces of cream cheese at room temp (I was still stuck with the awful full-fat kind for this; use the 1/3 fat kind to reduce calories even more)
• 2/3 C creamy peanut butter (I use JIF Natural PB)
• 1 C Swerve granular
• 1/2 C low fat sour cream (not pictured, sorry!) at room temp
  
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 eggs at room temp
• 2/3 C sugar free chocolate chips, like Lily's brand
• 1/3 C Reese's peanut butter chips

It's a good thing there's extra Reese's Minis leftover with this recipe. They're as addictive as they are adorable.

Start by preheating your oven to 350 and grabbing two muffin tins. Line each with cupcake papers, plop one Oreo into the bottom, and place a Reese's Mini in the middle. Then beat your cream cheese for 3 minutes on medium-high (using a paddle, not a whisk) in a stand mixer until it's nice and fluffy. Add in the peanut butter, mixing for another 2-3 minutes until things are fluffy again. Then add the sugar, blending well so the batter isn't gritty (2-3 more minutes). Mix in the sour cream and vanilla until incorporated. Now, turn the mixer to low and add each egg, one a time, making sure the egg has completely mixed in before you add another.

I have never been able to fill a muffin tin without it turning into a small overflow disaster.

Using a large spoon or a 1/4 measuring cup, carefully drop batter on top of each Mini Reese's. You want the cupcake liners pretty much all the way full. Things will expand a bit in the oven, but they will cool back down to normal size. Smooth out the batter with the back of a spoon. Bake for 17-18 minutes at 350 degrees; a toothpick should come out mostly clean when these are finished. Edges will be golden but not browned, and everything will be firm.

It will also look like each cheesecake has an outie belly button thanks to the Reese's in them.

Let the cheesecakes cool in the muffin tin on top of cooling rack for at least 15 minutes. These are soft and hard to handle without crushing, so I recommend putting them, still in the tin, in the freezer for 15-20 minutes before removing from the pan to finish cooling completely on a cooling rack. You can also speed this part of the process up by putting them back in the freezer for 30 more minutes. You could call it a day here and eat up, but I require MORE PB & C. Gather up those chocolate and peanut butter chips!

Things are about to get messy. In the best way, though.

I poured my 2/3 cup of chocolate chips in a bowl and heated for 1 minute on 70% power in my microwave. I gave them a stir and added another 30 seconds on 70% power before they were nice and melty without getting scorched. I poured this into a piping bag (a large plastic baggy works, too). I put down Parchment paper, grabbed my cheesecakes from the freezer, and then snipped the tip of the piping bag off. I literally just drizzled back and forth several times across ALL cheesecakes (quick, extremely messy, but you get to eat dried chocolate when you're cleaning up later).

*Mmm, chocolaty drizzle.*

Now, take the 1/3 cup of peanut butter chips, dump into a clean bowl, and heat for 1 minute at 70% power in the microwave. Since this is a smaller volume, 1 minute should be plenty to melt everything down. Put into a clean piping bag or baggy, snip the tip, and drizzle, drizzle like your life depends on it (your taste buds' lives do, really).

I mean...putting the yum in da-yum.

Let these set for about 30 minutes until the chips all harden back up. I put my cheesecakes into a few 9x13 trays, all covered with lids, and kept in the fridge until ready to roll out and deliver unsuspecting birthday gals and guys with tiny little disks of PB&C happiness. I defy you to have a bad birthday when you can double fist handheld cheesecakes into your mouth with reckless abandon.

It simply isn't possible.

Especially when the cheesecakes are this adorable.

And truly filled with joy...aka, serotonin-releasing chocolate.

These are quick and a total sinch to make, but they taste like something that takes ages to put together. However, unlike any other cheesecake in existence, these go from oven to eating in under 3 hours. And they will go quick. The peanut butter cheesecake itself is nice and airy but still full of flavor. It's light enough that even by adding in a whole peanut butter Oreo AND a Reese's Mini, it somehow still manages to be perfectly balanced and doesn't come across as way too rich or overindulgent. I'm trying to ration my leftovers by keeping them in the freezer until I need to pop one in my mouth, but I'm failing miserably because they're just too yummy. At this point, I realize it's for the best that 30 of these went to live in other homes and bellies. 'Til next time, my fellow eaters!

I may never bake a regular cake again...
Okay, that's a total lie. Next blog is gonna be suuuuuper cakey.

Why Not Both?

I love when you can pair two things together that are absolutely fantastic on their own to make one substantially amazing thing that brings you unbridled joy...you know, like adding bacon on top of Poutine, or Cinco de Mayo falling on a Taco Tuesday, or your favorite song coming on the radio AND you hit every green light on the way to your destination. Life can be good, but pairing a few key elements together can make it friggin' magical. So the other day I wanted brownies, but then I also kinda wanted cheesecake. Instead of having an internal debate about dessert hierarchies, in a moment of sheer brilliance, I thought to myself, "Why not both?" This wonderful thought led to a beautiful, perfect-in-every-way dessert mashup: a dulce de leche cheesecake with a fudge brownie crust. The heavens parted, angels wept; there's talk I may even win a Nobel Peace Prize because of this amalgamation of scientific baking excellence.

It really is THAT good.

It may not look like much, but I can say with certainty it is (cue Chris Traeger voice) *literally* the best cheesecake I have ever made and/or eaten. Fudgy brownies are one of my all-time favorite, O.G. desserts, but I have a weakness for cheesecake like most men have for blondes (in both instances there's usually a lot of drooling). Is it low calorie? HA! Well, sort of. It's 374 calories for one slice (12 slices total), which, all things considered, is way less than two bites of ANY cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory, so it's got that going for it, too. And it is worth every single calorie. Amazingly decadent chocolate base? Check. Creamy cheesecake batter? Check. Sweet swirls of dulce de leche in each bite? That's a Texas-sized 10-4. And in the realm of difficulty, this is probably one of the easiest cheesecakes I've ever made to boot. Well, what are you waiting for? Bust out the springform pan and get to baking!

Oh yes, it's even GLUTEN FREE.

Gluten is evil and tries to kill me even when I just *think* about smelling a slice of bread. Thankfully, I am way late to the game with going gluten free (I was admitted to the club in December), so wonderful things like gluten free fudge brownie mixes exist already. I scooped this brand up at Publix, and it is now the only brownie mix I am ever using for the rest of my life. It is perfect in every way if you're into a super chocolatey and moist fudge brownie (it even has recipe options for those that prefer them drier and cakier). All you need:

• 1 box of King Arthur Flour gluten free fudge brownie mix
• 2 eggs at room temp
• 1/2 cup of low fat butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 2 TBS water

Preheat your oven to 350 and line an 8" springform pan with Parchment paper and spray generously with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, dump the three wet ingredients and whisk together until mixed. Then add in the brownie mix and whisk until completely incorporated. Pour this into your prepared pan and tap on the counter to release bubbles:

Of which there will be plenty, as you can see.

Now, bake in the middle rack of your oven for 30-35 minutes. You don't want the brownie completely cooked since it will go back into the oven for more cook time with the cheesecake batter. Underbake by about 5 minutes. I believe the box recommended 35-40 minutes, and in my oven, 35 left some good crumb action on my toothpick, so I removed it then. I placed on a cooling rack in the freezer while I made my cheesecake batter. Once cool enough, wrap the pan in a crockpot liner (trust me) and place a few layers of foil over this to keep the water bath from leaking in later. No one wants a soggy bottom.

Simple, but effective.

I absolutely HATE full fate cream cheese. In my first return trip to the commissary since March (base gates were closed, things were weird, thanks, COVID), guess what they didn't have? Yep. Not a single brick of reduced-fat cream cheese. This is what I get for trying to save some money (I love you, Publix, but hot damn you're expensive). I severely reduced the amount of cream cheese in my batter because of this, so here's how it would've been made in a perfect world:

• 16 ounces 1/3 fat cream cheese at room temp (I used 12 ounces of full fat, more on that later)
• 1/3 cup of Swerve granular
• 1/2 cup of light sour cream at room temp
• 1 TBS vanilla extract
  
• 1 tsp caramel extract (forgot to put in the recipe picture!)
• A pinch of salt
• 3 eggs at room temp
• 1/2 cup of God's Nectar (a.k.a., dulce de leche), set aside
  

Dump the cream cheese into your stand mixer bowl and beat on medium-high until fluffy, about three minutes. Then add in the sugar, mixing on medium high until things are light and airy again, two or so minutes. Add the extracts, sour cream, and salt, mixing on medium high for 1-2 minutes until fully incorporated. Now, with the mixer on LOW, add in the eggs one at a time, making sure each egg is fully mixed in before you add another. Keep the speed at low so you don't whip your eggs and cause extra air to get added into your cheesecake batter...this will make it crack as it bakes. Reserve 3/4 cup of cheesecake batter and pour the rest into your springform pan on top of the brownie crust.

Don't worry, I didn't forget about the best part.

Now, take that 1/2 cup of dulce de leche and place in a medium bowl. Add in 3/4 cup of your prepared cheesecake filling, and mix until magic happens:

Caramel magic.

So here's where my skimping on the cream cheese became a problem...my dulce cheesecake batter was now way heavier than my regular cheesecake batter. So, when I took my dulce mix and dropped it by the spoonful into the regular batter....

Before I realized my crucial error.

I swirled the dulce cheesecake blobs around with a knife, but after a swirl or two, most of my dulce filling sunk below the surface of the lighter regular filling.

Sigh. *THISCLOSE* to perfection...visually, anyway. I still maintain a better cheesecake you have never eaten.

Sad but still very much aware the end result would be cheesecake (so not too sad), I took my cheesecake and put it into a large roasting pan. I filled this with very hot water to about halfway up the sides of the pan; a water bath will help keep cracks from forming. Bake for 50-55 minutes at 350. The center will still be very jiggly (like Jello) but the sides will be set. At this point, turn the oven off, crack the door, and leave the cheesecake to finish setting for 1 hour in the cooling oven.

Some subtle, sexy swirl action going on.

Once that hour has lapsed, remove the cheesecake from the roasting pan, ditch the foil and crockpot liner, and place on a cooling rack. Use a very sharp knife to run around the edges of the springform pan and release any of the cheesecake that will be sticking to the side of the pan. At this point, place into the fridge to set for at least 4 hours if not overnight (I ALWAYS go overnight, adding a layer of plastic wrap on top after about 4 hours in the fridge). A good rule of thumb is to make a cheesecake like 3 days before you actually want cheesecake, and then the timing is absolutely perfect.

Of course, when it looks this amazing, the wait no longer matters one iota.

When you're ready to go to town, carefully remove the sides of the springform pan and transfer to a serving plate. I was itching to take photos, so my springform bottom is still in these shots.

Doesn't matter...still looks edible.

So my swirls weren't very pronounced, but it's got a mesmerizing visual effect going on anyway:

You're getting hungry...

Serving this cheesecake can be a bit of a beast since the fudge brownie and soft cheesecake filling don't yield nice crisp, clean slices straight out of the fridge. If you're looking to serve slices that could be featured on the cover of Good Housekeeping, throw your cheesecake in the freezer for 2 hours, then slice and serve. I did this in order to remove the springform pan bottom and Parchment paper without the cheesecake falling apart as well.

Oh hey there, playing peekaboo, I see, dulce!

So my swirls may have sunk into the cheesecake, but my swirls sunk into the cheesecake...this makes eating a slice like a magical treasure hunt where you get to strike gold with literally every forkful. I love a happy accident. The ratio is pretty much 50:50 brownie base to cheesecake, and to me, that's just plain spellbinding. Every bite gives me a chocolate to creamy caramel ratio that is absolutely the greatest thing my taste buds have ever been privileged to experience. Add some melted dulce de leche on top of each slice to take things to what some might consider hedonistic, but what I call, "The best thing that will ever happen to you...especially during quarantine."  I'm not kidding- I have never been more proud to have my inner fat kid come up with a dessert mashup like this. I plan on making this for every major holiday, social gathering, and Tuesday from now until I die of sugar shock. If you have leftovers (ha), be sure to keep them in the fridge. They won't last long, though because this is a pairing that will bring you much needed bliss. 'Til next time, my fellow eaters!

Happiness is a 10 pound brownie cheesecake combo.