Mini Cheesecake Easter Baskets

I was looking for a yummy but also fun recipe for dessert to go along with Easter dinner. I came along the recipe for these cute little cheesecake baskets at kraftfoods.com. I altered the items used to decorate the basket using things I had on hand as well as what I thought would make it cute.

To make these you need:

2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese-softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

12 Nilla wafers

1 cups flake coconut(tinted green)*

decorations-original recipe calls for jelly beans and red licorice. *

12 baking cups

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs; beat just until blended.

Place vanilla wafer on bottom of each 12 paper-lined muffin cups. Spoon cream cheese mixture evenly over wafers.

Bake 20 minutes or until centers are almost set. Cool. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. Top evenly with coconut and decorate. Store in refrigerator.

* I used SweetTarts bunnies & chicks, Cadbury mini chocolate eggs and Air head sour belts to decorate the tops. I cut the sour belts in half lengthwise and then cut about 1/4 of them off to make them the right size for the basket handles.

* Place coconut in ziploc bag or covered bowl. Place a few drops of green food coloring in and shake until coconut is evenly tinted.

These were a hit with the family.

These little cheesecakes are incredibly versatile. When you don't want to make the baskets you could just eat them plain or top them with fresh fruit, lemon curd or drizzled chocolate. You can also substitute the crust with a different round cookie like Oreos.

For more great recipes be sure to check out Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays at Blessed with Grace.