Twix Cheesecake Cupcakes

Alright folks, it's time for my first recipe blog post!  Tonight I tried a recipe from www.gingerbreadbagles.com, but of course I put my spin on it.  I have not tried these yet because they have to chill overnight, but WOW do they smell and look delicious.  Now, on to the fun stuff.

First thing's first, get all of your ingredients together.  I like to have everything pre-measured and ready to go when I'm cooking.  It makes the process so much smoother and less stressful when you don't have to run around and find ingredients.

Now that all of the ingredients are together, it's time to make the crust.  Start by putting half a box of vanilla wafers in a food processor and grind.  Once the wafers are ground up, add 1 Tablespoon of sugar.

Once sugar is combined, add 1/4 cup of melted unsalted butter.  If the mixture is too dry once mixed, add more butter.  If it's too wet, add more wafers.

Now press the crust into the bottom of a lined cupcake sheet.

Now it's time to work on the filling.  Put 1lb of softened cream cheese into a mixer and mix until smooth.  Approximately 3 minutes.  It's very important that the cream cheese is softened, otherwise it will stick in the mixer and give you a headache.

Add 1/4 cup of sugar and continue to mix on medium low speed.

Add in 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract and mix some more.

Whisk 2 large eggs and slowly add to mixture with the mixer on low speed.

Add in sour cream and mix, mix, mix some more until fully combined.

Add chopped up Twix and gently fold in.

Use an ice cream scooper and put batter into cupcake liners.

Place in preheated oven and bake at 275 degrees for 30 minutes.  Remove from the oven and refrigerate overnight (I know you want to bite into one now, but you have to wait).

Crust
1/2 package Vanilla Wafers
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake Batter
1 pound reduced fat cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
12 mini Twix bars, chopped into small pieces

In a food processor, grind up the Wafers into fine crumbs. Put the crumbs into a large bowl and add in the sugar. Mix to combine. Then pour in the melted butter and mix to coat all of the crumbs with butter.

Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Scoop wafer crumbs into each cupcake liner. Using your hand, press the crumbs down firmly. Set the cupcake pan aside until the cheesecake batter is ready.

In a bowl of a stand mixer, mix the cream cheese until smooth on medium low speed, about 3 minutes. With the mixer on medium low speed, add in the sugar and mix to combine. Then add in the vanilla extract and mix. Slowly pour in the lightly beaten eggs and mix until the eggs are incorporated. Add in the sour cream and combine.
Chop the mini Twix bars into small pieces. Add them into the cheesecake batter and gently fold them in.

Using an ice cream scooper, scoop the cheesecake batter into each cupcake liner. Bake the cheesecakes at 275 degrees for 30 minutes. Chill the cheesecakes overnight in the refrigerator.

UPDATE!
This morning I removed the cupcakes from the refrigerator to see how they turned out, and of course to give them a taste.  OMG are they delicious!  Can you guess what my breakfast ended up being today?  Here is a picture of the finished product.  I highly recommend trying out this recipe, it's worth it!

Enjoy!