Recipe: Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Cupcakes

I've come to realize lately that life all too often hands you curveballs, whether you want them or not.

Sometimes they're small.  Like a half empty bag of Reese's in an otherwise totally healthy day.



Sometimes they're good.  Like boyfriends who came along at just the time when you didn't know that you'd need them the most.  Who know the rules of the game, batting averages, RBIs, ERAs.  They'll hold your hands as you swing that bat, guide them as that ball sinks and spirals just below where common sense would have told you to aim.  And when wood hits leather with a force that is truly not something to be reckoned with, they'll shrug it off like it was nothing.  All in a days' work.   



And sometimes they're not.  Like days that feel like nightmares.  A whole 24 hours that just can't be real when all you can do is wonder if this nervous nauseous feeling in the pit of your chest will ever go away.  But it has to, you say, because none of this happened.  It's all a dream.  Right?

So you cross your fingers, click your heels together three times, and take a bite out of one of these cupcakes.  Because maybe you won't end up back in Kansas, where life is simpler and evil witches of the west don't lurk around every corner.  But at least you'll have had a bite of something truly delicious.  And that has to count for something, right?



Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Cupcakes
Makes 12, adapted from Tracey's Culinary Adventures

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups oreo crumbs
• 1/4 cup salted butter, melted
• 12 miniature peanut butter cups
• 2 (8 oz) packages reduced fat cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Line a muffin pan with paper cupcake liners.
2. To make the crust, using a fork, stir together the oreo crumbs and melted butter until the crumbs are evenly moistened. Put 2 tbsp in each liner and press down into the bottom to form a crust (shot glasses or really tiny ramekins are perfect for this!).  Place 1 miniature peanut butter cup on the top of each crust.
3. For the filling, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Add in the sugar, flour, and vanilla and beat until well-combined and smooth.  Add in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the side of the bowl after each addition.  Divide batter evenly among the muffin wells (about 1/4 cup per well).  Bake for 18-20 minutes or until cheesecakes are barely set.  Transfer the pan to a wire rack to allow the cheesecakes to cool completely.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge.