mini coffee cheesecake

Preheat the over to 350° F

Line a muffin pan with muffin liners. If you do not have a muffin pan (or assumed you have one only to realize you don't 😛 ), you can layer up 2 or 3 liners together so that they can hold shape and use a flat baking pan

In a mixing bowl, mix the Oreo crumbs with melted butter till it gets a coarse texture. When making the Oreo crumbs, do not remove the cream layer and crush it all together in a food processor or put it in a zip lock bag and hand crush it with a rolling pin. You can also use Graham crackers instead of Oreo in the same quantity for the crust for a more honey based sweet flavor.

Put 2 tbsp of the crust in each muffin cup. Use the back of a flat spoon press down the crust into the liner.

Poke 2 tiny holes into the crust and bake it in the oven for 5 minutes. The holes will prevent the crust from bubbling up.

Remove from the oven after 5 minutes and set it aside for cooling down. If some parts of the crust have popped up, firmly press it back down.

In a mixing bowl , beat the cream cheese until smooth for 2-3 minutes. Make sure the cheese is at room temperature otherwise beating it might cause lumps in the batter.

Add in the sugar, brewed espresso and vanilla and beat it into the cheese till it's blended in. The sugar helps to balance out the sourness from the cheese so you can adjust the proportions as you like :)

Beat in the eggs one at a time only enough to break the yolk and mix it in the batter consistently. Avoid over beating the eggs as this can cause the eggs to froth up causing bubbles in the batter. The bubbles will eventually pop while baking and the top of the cake might sink in after you get them out of the oven

Pour 2-2.5 Tbsps of the batter into each muffin cup. Tap down the muffin pan once or twice. This will release any bubbles formed inside the batter

Bake the batter in the oven for 15-17 minutes till the cake batter is almost cooked and slightly jiggly at the center. If the batter is not cooked sufficiently, you can keep it back in oven keep checking it in 5 minute intervals

Remove the muffin pan from the oven and set it aside to cool down to room temperature. Refrigerate for at-least 4 hours or overnight to allow the cheesecake to set properly (totally worth the wait! 😄 )

Mix in the hazelnut syrup with whipped cream and beat it until it forms stiff peaks. You can also add in sugar to the mix to sweeten the topping as needed. Fill up a pastry bag fitted with a tip of your choice (I used the 2D tip for this recipe) with the whipped cream

Take out the cheesecakes from the refrigerator and top up with whipped cream right before serving and enjoy your yummy bite sized delight!