White Chocolate Cheesecake Cups with Sparkling Cranberries

These sparkling cranberries are so cool, they inspired me to come up with a dessert recipe to go with them as well.  The filling is from a handwritten recipe I've had forever for white chocolate raspberry cheesecake.  Unfortunately, I do not remember where I found the recipe, otherwise I'd give credit where credit is due.  I decided I wanted the crust to be super-simple, so I crushed some Pecan Sandies and mixed them with a dash of salt and some melted butter.  Bake, chill, top with sparkling cranberries and you've got yourself a very pretty little cheesecake cup.

Monday I'll be writing about my one and only new thing to try in 2012 -- with a recipe of course.  I have an irrational fear of the word resolution.  Until then, Happy New Year!

White Chocolate Cheesecake Cups with Sparkling Cranberries
1 recipe for Sparkling Cranberries (you'll have extra)
101 Cookbooks - Sparkling Cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place 12 cupcake liners in muffin tin, Wilton's ruffled paper baking cups, or foil liners if you can't find the paper cups.

12 Pecan Sandie cookies, finely crushed
4 T. unsalted butter, melted
1/4 t. salt
Combine crust ingredients in glass bowl with a fork.  Place about a heaping tablespoon of crust into the bottom of your cupcake holders.  Tamp down lightly with the bottom of a small (child-size) cup or the back of the tablespoon.

4 oz. white chocolate, melted in microwave for about 90 seconds and cooled slightly
(I use Ghiradelli White Chocolate Chips)
16 oz. cream cheese, softened
2/3 c. white sugar
2 t. vanilla
2 eggs
Beat softened cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with a hand mixer until smooth.  Add eggs, one at a time, until just combined.  Fold in white chocolate.
Place about a heaping 1/4 c. of filling into cups.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until tops are puffy and the cheesecake is still a bit "jiggly" in the centers.

Let cheesecakes cool on the counter for about 30 minutes.  Chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours.  Top with sparkling cranberries and serve.