Putting together a nice dessert is more than something that we do just put a smile on the faces of our guests. We also do so because it is a labor of love and when we make the right dessert, it is a very special thing. Of course, we all have our favorite but in many cases, it involves chocolate and at times, it may also involve cheesecake.
The combination of flavors and textures in these White chocolate raspberry cheesecake bites is so perfect, you can serve them as a dessert at any time. The recipe is rather straightforward but one thing it doesn’t tell you is exactly how quickly these are going to disappear. Make sure that you make an extra batch so that you can keep some in the refrigerator for that midnight snack.
Ingredients:
For the Crust:
1½ cups Oreo cookie crumbs, cream centers removed (about 22-23 finely crushed cookies)
6 TB salted butter, melted
For the Custard:
Half bag (6 oz) pure white chocolate chips
¼ cup half and half
1½ (12oz total) blocks whole cream cheese, softened to almost melted
¼ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
For the Raspberry Sauce:
5 oz frozen or fresh raspberries
1 TB granulated sugar
1½ tsp cornstarch dissolved in 3 TB water
Directions:
Make Crust: In a large bowl, mix fine Oreo cookie crumbs with butter until well incorporated.
Scoop 1 slightly rounded tsp crumb mixture evenly into lined mini muffin tins. Press down to form bottom crusts.
Preheat oven to 325F, with rack on lower middle position.
Make Raspberry Sauce: Combine raspberries, sugar, and dissolved cornstarch in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring often. Once mixture is thickened, remove from heat and set aside.
Make Custard: In heavy saucepan or double boiler, melt white chocolate chips together with half and half on low heat, stirring often.
Remove from heat. In large bowl, mix together nearly melted cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and the melted white chocolate mixture.
Scoop or pour 1 rounded TB of custard evenly into lined mini muffin tins.
Dollop ½ tsp raspberry sauce over the custard.
Gently use a thin knife or toothpick to lightly swirl.
Bake 20 minutes or until tops are puffy and no longer sticky upon light touch. Let cool to room temp and then cover and chill in fridge. If keeping longer than a couple of days, you can freeze them. Top with Whipped Cream and serve.