Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Cupcakes

These cupcakes are perfect for the holiday season.  You can add various ingredients to make them more festive (such as egg nog, cinnamon, nut meg, peppermint).  Here is the basic recipe...adjust to your heart's desire.

Makes 18 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons white sugar
4 tablespoons butter, melted

For the cheesecake:
3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons flour
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For dulce de leche:
1 (8 oz.) can of sweetened condensed milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Pour the can of sweetened condensed milk into a small pan. Cover tightly with tin foil and place the small pan into a larger pan. Pour water into the large pan so that it surrounds the small pan, but does not seep into the top of it. Place in oven and leave for about 90 minutes. The condensed milk should be a golden brown color when finished. If it’s not, put it back in the oven until ready. Remove from oven and allow to cool.



2. Reset oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake tins with 18 wrappers.

3. In a medium bowl, combine graham crackers crumbs (you can put about 4 full size graham crackers in a food processor or manually grind in a ziplock bag), sugar, and melted butter. Press one tablespoon of the mixture into each wrapper.

4. In a stand mixer, beat cream cheese until creamy. Stir in sugar and flour; mix well.

5. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and vanilla extract together. Pour egg mixture into the bowl with the cream cheese. Stir on low just until combined and there are no visible lumps.

6. Fill cupcake wrappers with the cheesecake batter (the cheesecake will not rise much, so you can fill the wrappers almost to the top). Bake for 15 minutes or until centers are firm but not completely baked. Turn off the oven, open the oven the door a little, and leave the cheesecakes in there for another 30 minutes. Allow to cool and top with dulce de leche.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

peace, love, and cupcakes
michy