Mini Cheesecakes

My husband and I are big fans of the AMC series Mad Men. Last Sunday was the season finale and I wanted to make a special dish to enjoy while we watched the show.

I found this perfect 60's inspired menu on the blog, EzraPoundCake. All of the food looked so fab but we already had plans to go over some friend's that night for dinner. So, I decided to only make dessert and am really glad I did!

I made Peggy's New York style mini cheesecakes and used the Kraft foods recipe the blog links to. I loved the fact that they were "mini" (built-in portion control, right?) and they tasted so rich and creamy--yum,yum!!

Ingredients:
1 cup HONEY MAID Graham Cracker Crumbs
3 Tbsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
3 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs

PREHEAT oven to 300°F. Mix cracker crumbs, 3 Tbsp. sugar and the butter; press scant 1/3 cup crumb mixture onto bottom of each of four mini (4-1/2-inch) springform pans. (I found mine at Michaels's) Bake 7 min.

BEAT cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar and the vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Pour one-fourth of the batter (about 1 cup) into each of four bowls. If desired, add one of the Stir-In Ideas to each bowl of batter. Pour over crusts. Place pans on baking sheet.

BAKE 40 to 45 min. or until centers are almost set. Run knife or metal spatula around rims of pans to loosen cakes; cool before removing rims. Refrigerate at least 4 hours.

Stir-In Ideas
For each one-fourth portion of batter, stir in one of the following before pouring batter over crust and baking as directed:
Apple Pie: Stir in 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon. Top baked cheesecake with combined 1/2 cup warmed apple pie filling and 1/2 tsp. brown sugar. S'Mores: Stir in 3 Tbsp. milk chocolate chips. Top baked cheesecake with 1/4 cup JET-PUFFED Miniature Marshmallows and 1 Tbsp. broken HONEY MAID Honey Grahams. Citrus: Stir in 1 tsp. lemon, orange or lime juice; 1 tsp. flour and 1/4 tsp. grated lemon, orange or lime peel. Chocolate Chunk: Stir in 1 square BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, chopped. New York: Stir in 1/4 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream and 1 Tbsp. flour. Cookies and Cream: Stir in 1/4 cup chopped OREO Cookies. Chocolate Royale: Stir in 2 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, melted. Peanut Butter: Stir in 2 Tbsp. peanut butter and 1 Tbsp. milk. Mocha: Mix 1 tsp. MAXWELL HOUSE Instant Coffee granules with 2 tsp. hot water. Stir into batter along with 2 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, melted. Cherry: Bake mini cheesecake as directed without Stir-Ins. Just before serving, top with 1/3 cup cherry pie filling.