Forgot to mention yesterday that I chose all the treats you’re going to see this week. Instead of taking requests, I decided to make things I’ve had bookmarked forever and knock a few recipes off my never-ending ‘to bake’ list.

I saw these Mini Butterfinger Cheesecakes a while ago, but I couldn’t find Butterfingers anywhere around here. I swear I’ve had them before, so why can’t I find them now? My co-worker Greg and I decided that Crispy Crunch was the closest thing to Butterfinger, so I started there. I also subbed in a simple baked cheesecake, instead of going the whole gelatin/no-bake route, and skipped the extra peanut butter icing on the top.

The result was unbelieveable: pretzel/Crispy Crunch crust, peanut butter cheesecake, chocolate topping and more crushed Crispy Crunch on top. Here’s what they looked like on the inside:

Everyone freaked out.

Mini Butterfinger Cheesecakes

Source: Crust & Toppings from Bakers Royale, Cheesecake from Kraft

Yield: 18, depending on how much cheesecake mixture you pour into each cup.

Ingredients

Crust

9 oz Crispy Crunch chocolate bars (buy 6)

3 oz pretzels

Cheesecake

2 pkg cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup peanut butter, slightly melted in the microwave

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

Chocolate Glaze

2/3 cups chocolate chips

2 tbsp whipping cream

4 tbsp icing sugar

4-5 tbsp warm water

Directions

  1. For crust, add Crispy Crunches and pretzels to a food processor bowl or blender and process until finely ground (save one Crispy Crunch for the topping/snacking). Measure out ½ cup Butterfinger and pretzel mixture and set aside. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners, and press a few spoonfuls of the mixture into the bottoms. Press lightly with the back of a spoon, and bake at 350 for 7 minutes. Set aside to cool.
  2. For cheesecake, beat together cream cheese, sugar, peanut butter, vanilla and eggs until smooth and combined. Stir in the 1/2 cup of reserved pretzel/Crispy Crunch mixture. Pour over crusts, and bake again at 325 for 25 minutes. Cool completely.
  3. For chocolate glaze, place the chocolate chips and whipping cream in a microwave safe bowl. Heat in intervals of 20 seconds, stirring in between, until melted. Add the icing sugar and mix until combined. Add water 1 tbsp at a time, until pouring consistency is reached. Pour over each cheesecake, and tilt until the glaze covers the top.
  4. Sprinkle with crushed Crispy Crunch.