Personalized Individual Cheesecake

I am a huge fan of miniature desserts, and lucky for me, they have become quite popular. (This is only evident by the HUGE come-back that cupcakes have made.) Near me, several restaurants serve desserts in small shot glass containers which allows me to taste a variety of sweet treats. Oh happy day!

What I love most about this recipe is that you can customize each cake to accommodate different members of your family. In our house, my husband and I love fruit desserts, however our kids have a very divergent concept of what dessert is. In short, if their isn't chocolate in it, it is certainly not dessert. When I make these, I usually fill them with two or three different surprises. It keeps everyone happy.

Personalized Individual Cheesecake

For the crust:
1 1/4 cups of graham cracker crumbs (you can also use Oreo cookie crumbs)
1/4 cup butter, melted
3 TB sugar
2 TB agave nectar (substitute for sugar if you do not have)
treats of your choice (i.e. fruit, M & Ms, chocolate chips, etc...)


Filling:
2 (8 ounce) packages of room temperature cream cheese
1 cup + 2 TB of sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon put vanilla extract
2 eggs

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a standard muffin pan with cupcake liners.

To make the crust, combine the crumbs, sugar, agave nectar and butter in a bowl. Spoon about a tablespoon into the bottom of each muffin cup. Place whatever treat you have chosen on top of the crust.

To make the filling, beat the cream cheese until it is fluffy and add the sugar, flour and vanilla until well combined. Add one egg at a time and continue to beat. Spoon cream cheese mixture over filling and crust. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Allow to cool completely. Once cooled, top each cake with some extra treats to allow your guests to know what is in side each cheesecake.

Serves 12