Peppermint Cheesecakes
Peppermint cheesecakes feature a luscious creamy filling set on top of a crunchy graham cracker crust, before being topped with whipped cream and a Hershey’s kiss.
Ingredients
Crust
- 1½ cups honey graham crumbs
- 1¼ cups butter melted
Cream Cheese Filling
- 16 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs room temperature
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 cup Hershey’s Kisses in peppermint flavor quartered plus 12 whole Hershey’s Kisses (optional)
Whipping Cream
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- In a mixing bowl, combine honey graham crumbs and butter until well mixed.
- Scoop about 1 tablespoon of cookie crumb mixture into each muffin tin. Using your fingertips, press the mixture into an even layer until it’s evenly packed.
- Bake the cookie crust for 5 minutes. Allow it to cool on the countertop while you prepare the cheesecake batter.
- Reduce the oven to 325°F.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and sugar until well incorporated using a hand mixer on low speed.
- Add in eggs, sour cream, and peppermint extract. Beat for about 1 minute. Mix in the quartered peppermint kisses with a wooden spoon.
- Using a cookie scoop, scoop the cream cheese filling into each cupcake liner until it lines right at the top of the cupcake liner.
- Bake in the oven for 20 to 22 minutes. Let cool on top of the countertop.
- Meanwhile, in a medium mixing bowl, beat together heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar with a handheld mixer. Beat until it forms a peak.
- Transfer the whipping cream into a piping bag.
- Pipe the cream onto the middle of the cheesecake cups.
- Place Hershey’s Kisses on top of the whipping cream.
- Refrigerate overnight.
Notes
Parchment paper or foil-lined liners are the easiest to peel from the cheesecake filling.
Oven temperatures vary and may need to be recalibrated periodically to ensure they are accurate. Make sure to keep a close eye on your crust as the suggested baking time approaches.
Make sure the cream cheese is fully warmed to room temperature. This is important! If you choose to use it while it’s cold or even chilled, it will cause lumps in the batter mixture.
Be careful not to overbeat the cream cheese mixture because you don’t want to incorporate air into the mixture. Make sure you always beat at low speed. Overbeating can cause cracks in the cheesecake once baked.