Blueberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

I was having little get together at my house and needed to make a dessert. I wanted to make something that was easy and I wanted to do a variation of a recipe I had made before. One of the advantages of having a blog is I have an arsenal of recipes.  Another bonus is that I now feel more comfortable experimenting with recipes I have tried before. I loved the Cherry Cheesecake Mini-Cupcakes that I had made but wanted to change it up a bit. Since I had all the ingredients to make some more cheesecake cupcakes and I had blueberries, I decided to go for it! I was nice twist from the original recipe and was a hit at the party.

Blueberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

Makes: 24 Cupcakes

Crust
2 cups Graham Crackers
5 Tbs Butter, melted
1 Tbs Brown Sugar

Blueberry Swirl
1/2 cup Frozen Blueberries, thawed
1 Tbs Sugar

Filling
16 oz Cream Cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup Sugar
Pinch of Salt
1/2 tsp Vanilla
2 Eggs, at room temperature


To Make Crust:

• Preheat oven to 325, line mini pan with paper.
• In a food processor, blend together Graham crackers, melted butter and sugar until it starts to stick together but is still crumbly. 
• Scoop 1 Tbs of the crust into each cupcake liner. Evenly press down into the bottom of the paper. I just used the back of the Tbs. 
• Bake for 5-7 minutes until the crust is set. Set aside on a cooling rack. 

To make Blueberry Swirl:

• Blend Blueberries and Sugar together in food processor.  

To Make Filling:

• Using an electric mixer, mix cream cheese on medium-high until light and fluffy. 
• Add in sugar and mix until well blended. 
• Add in salt and vanilla and mix in. 
• Beat in eggs one at a time. Mix well after each egg. 

 To Make Cupcakes:

• Take a spoon and dollop the filling on top of each crust (Don't fill all the way to the top as they will rise in the oven, if they are too full they will spill over the top).
• Dot a 1/4 tsp of the blueberry swirl on top of each cupcake. 
• Take a toothpick and swirl together. 

To bake:

• Bake for 22 minutes, rotating tray half way through. 
• Turn off the oven and open the oven door and leave the cupcakes in for another 10 minutes. 
• Remove and set on a cooling rack for another 15 minutes. 
• Refrigerate for 4 hours prior to serving. 

This time I forgot the water bath that I used when I made the Cherry Cheesecake Mini-Cupcakes, these turned out fine with out it. I am glad these turned out looking beautiful without the water bath, because I didn't have any time to make anything else prior to having my friends over. I guess the key to cheesecake cupcakes, is just time and not necessarily the extra moisture from the water bath. It's nice when you forget a major step in a recipe and it still turns out!

Have you ever found a recipe where you missed a step and it was a successful recipe? I actually seem to do this all the time. :)