Skinny mini cheesecakes

First off: THIS IS THE LAST POST FROM THE 4TH OF JULY PARTY!!!!  Whew...

I don't even remember where I found this recipe, but it's become my go-to dessert for get togethers.  Some history: I love cheesecake.  I'm not a dessert person but for some reason, cheesecake is my achilles heel...I have no power over it.  My mom got me a cheesecake for my birthday one year, I said I didn't want to take the leftovers because I knew I would eat them all.  She snuck the cake in my car and I found it when I got home...and ate the WHOLE thing.  This is not an exaggeration.  The whole thing.  I was curled up in a ball with guilt for hours afterwards...but holy crap it was good.  That was 3 years ago and I am probably still burning those calories off...not worth it.

Sooooo, when I found this light cheesecake recipe, I thought I would give it a shot and see if it could really be light and taste rich and creamy like the real thing.  I win.  This recipe will never leave my cookbook, plus it's easier than pie...or cheesecake I guess.

Here we go:

18 vanilla wafers (I use reduced fat)

2 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese (I use fat free)

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla 

2 eggs

cherry, strawberry, or blueberry pie filling (I use sugar free)

You will also need a muffin pan and some muffin cups.  Put your muffin cups in your muffin pan...duh :)  Alot of times I have to do a couple batches if I double the recipe as I don't want to own 5 muffin pans when I don't even bake. 

Anyway, I put Amanda to work on this recipe while I was doing something else...and she did a spectacular job for a self-proclaimed non-cook! Put a vanilla wafer in the bottom of each muffin cup.  Mix all other ingredients (except for the pie filling) with a hand mixer until smooth.  Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full of the cream cheese mixture.  Put in the oven at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  When they come out, they should look like this.  Actually, they should look better than this...this is a horrible picture.  This batch also did not come out the prettiest (I think because of so many cooks in the kitchen and so many recipes in the works at the time), so this is the ugliest they will ever look...but who cares how they look if they taste good, right?

Put in the fridge to cool, top with a dallop of the pie filling of your choice, and serve!  Whenever I make these, there tends to be a mouse in the fridge and a few end up on the MIA list...

This was my attempt at an American flag for the party on the 4th...not too hot, as I've said, I'm not a pro at this food photography stuff.  But they did taste good :)