Mini Butter Tart Cheesecakes – All of the goodness of the classic butter tart in creamy cheesecake form! Luscious vanilla cheesecake with a graham cracker crust is topped with decadent maple butter tart sauce, all served in individual portions, making these the perfect portable dessert for holiday entertaining.
Christmas Eve is in a week already, I cannot believe it. This month is just flying by and I’m feeling a bit sad about that! I love the Christmas season and all the things that go along with it, but I feel like unfortunately this year I haven’t gotten to enjoy it as much as usual because of how crazy busy it has been for me at work! Luckily, I am able to enjoy the glow of my Christmas tree in the evenings and I have gotten to enjoy a large amount of tasty baking so at least there is that. Sugar will always make me happy!
I also haven’t gotten a chance to watch any Christmas movies except for one so far this year, which was The Night Before. I found it to be pretty funny! Anyways, I definitely need to try and watch another couple this week if I can! Do you have any classic Christmas movies you like to watch every year? Let me know in the comments, I am curious to hear! We usually at the very least watch Bad Santa every year because Joel likes it, and often times we watch Elf as well.
I got most of my Christmas present wrapping done today which is a great feeling! I just have one more item to buy which for some reason has been challenging to find even though it is a fairly simple thing. And of course the one obvious place to go for it is out of my way so I haven’t gone there yet, in hopes of finding it elsewhere… Anyhow, it’ll get done, get wrapped and then I’m all set!
As I mentioned above, I have gotten to enjoy a large amount of baking lately, which has mostly been recipes that I’ve made for the blog. So far we’ve had hot chocolate cookies and rum balls, and now I’ve got these mini butter tart cheesecakes for you to enjoy!
The butter tart is a classic Canadian holiday treat. That’s right, Canada is the birthplace of this delicious dessert that we often see around this time of year! For those of my readers who are not Canadian, a butter tart is a pastry shell filled with a gooey, buttery filling often filled with raisins, and sometimes nuts such as pecans as well. Everyone who makes these as their own take on it, and I am excited to share with you a unique spin I decided to put on mine!
Okay so first it totally has to be said that mini versions of food, especially sweet delicious treats like cheesecake, are absolutely adorable. Mini cheesecakes like these are also such a great party food because they can be made in advance so you’re not rushing around minute trying to get these ready for a party while also trying to get yourself ready! Plus you can have three and it feels a hell of a lot better saying you “only had three mini cheesecakes” instead of you had “three slices of cheesecake”. Its that “mini” word, I tell ya.
In these, creamy vanilla cheesecakes sits on top of a tasty graham cracker crust. Topped with a decadent thick maple butter and raisin sauce, these are an absolute must have for this holiday season! This sauce is absolutely to die for, I was literally eating it by the spoonful. I could definitely see myself baking a batch of just the sauce to top ice cream with, just sayin’. If you wanted, you could definitely add some chopped pecans to top these off too for some extra crunch.
Don’t worry if the tops of your cheesecakes crack as you’ll be covering it up with the butter tart sauce and nobody will every know. I would also recommend to wait until the cheesecakes cool completely before topping them with the sauce (which you should also allow to cool) otherwise the sauce gets runnier and gets everywhere.
Include them in your baking tray this year and all those who try are sure to be impressed by this unique take on the classic butter tart! These are so perfectly portable and as I mentioned, can be made ahead of time, saving you the stress of running around last minute.
These mini butter tart cheesecakes are ridiculously good, I really had to stop myself from eating them all. Don’t say I didn’t warn you if you can’t stop either!
If you try this recipe for mini butter tart cheesecakes please let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, post on the Zest & Simmer Facebook page or share photos on Instagram using the hashtag #zestandsimmer. I’d love to see it and I always love hearing from you guys!
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Mini Butter Tart Cheesecakes
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter , melted
For the Cheesecake:
- 2 8 oz packages cream cheese , softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
For the Sauce:
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1-2 tsp corn starch plus 1-2 tbsp heavy cream , mixed into a slurry
- 1/2 cup raisins
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.
- In a small bowl mix together all the ingredients for the crust. Press about 1 tablespoon of mixture into each muffin liner, pressing down firmly (I used the bottom of a glass spice container to press down).
- In a large mixing bowl, mix all the cheesecake ingredients together with an electric hand mixer or stand mixer until completely smooth. Distribute evenly into the muffin cups over the crust. Bake for 15-18 minutes.
- While cheesecakes are cooking, mix together the brown sugar, maple syrup, vinegar, vanilla, butter and salt in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until bubbling. Reduce heat to low and stir in cream and corn starch slurry. Allow to cook for 5 more minutes and then remove from heat. Stir in raisins and set aside.
- Allow both the cheesecakes and butter tart sauce to cool completely. The sauce should be fairly thick once it has cooled. Spoon butter tart sauce evenly over cheese cakes. Keep cheesecakes in refrigerator until ready to serve.
I like the sound of these, the raisins on top are an interesting twist!
Hi Melissa, thank you so much! The raisins are really good with it! ☺️