Bottom Crust:
For a simple crust: Use whole vanilla wafers
Or, for a Graham Cracker Crust:
1 1/4 cups of crushed graham crackers (or packaged graham cracker crumbs)
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
Foil muffin cups
Cheesecake Filling:
2 8-oz packages cream cheese (Neufchatel or reduced fat cheese works too)
3/4 cup cane sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
Persimmon Hill Farm classic Blueberry, Blueberry Amaretto or Blueberry Maple syrup
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place foil muffin cups in regular size muffin tins. (You can place them on a cookie sheet, as the foil will hold up, but the muffin tins will help the foil cups hold a perfectly round shape). To make the simple crust with vanilla wafers, place one wafer in the bottom of each foil cup. To make the graham cracker crust, stir graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter together to make a crumbly mixture. Press 1 tablespoon of the mixture into the bottom of each foil cup.
Soften cream cheese on low power in the microwave. Add sugar and eggs and beat together until well blended. Add lemon juice and vanilla and blend. Fill each muffin cup 3/4 full with the cream cheese mixture. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until cheese is set and the edges of the mixture shows very light browning. Cool for at least 30 minutes. After cooling, each tart will have a slight depression in the middle. Just before serving, top the tarts with about 1/2 tablespoon of your choice of Persimmon Hill Farm classic Blueberry, Blueberry Amaretto or Blueberry Maple syrup - the spectacular finish! These make beautiful and flavorful individual desserts to take to gatherings, or to serve family and friends.
