Mini Cherry Cheesecakes

I have never been a huge fan of cheesecake. I was asked to make mini cherry cheesecakes recently and I was going to use a recipe in Martha Stewart's Cupcakes, but I read the recipe incorrectly and didn't have enough cream cheese. I searched the Internet and after reading a few recipes, I found one that didn't look too complicated. The only complaint with this recipe is that the centers sank after coming out of the oven. This wasn't a problem since I was filling them with cherry, so it worked out perfectly. I have to say these cuties were pretty addictive. The sour cherry pie filling was a great contrast to the sweet cheesecake and buttery crust. I enjoyed them so much that I'm already dreaming up variations.

Mini Cherry Cheesecakes
Source: Sweetnicks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake tin with 12 foil liners.

For Crust:
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon sugar

Mix all ingredients together and press mixture into the bottoms of 12 cupcake liners.

For Cheesecakes:
2 (8 oz.) packs cream cheese (room temperature)
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
Cherry pie filling

Beat cream cheese for 1 minute on medium speed until fluffy.
Add sugar, vanilla, and eggs and mix on medium speed until well blended.
Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 full.
Bake 15 - 20 minutes until set. (NOTE: The centers will be a little jiggly.)
Cool and top with pie filling.
Store in refrigerator.