Pecan Caramel Espresso Cheesecake Bites

Made this for a party and everyone loved it.  :)  You definitely need to like coffee as the fresh Espresso has wonderful kick to it.  It's definitely a blend of 2 passions from my house... For those who don't know, my hubby loves coffee.. more like LOVES Coffee. I came across a recipe and then he came to mind.  The original recipe called for "Instant Coffee" and at that "instant' I thought, I could have the coffee instantly made for me instead. And of course, the fact that no Instant Coffee can be found at my house helps. ;) So, I chose a time that was good for both of us to make my Pecan Caramel Espresso Cheesecake Bites. 

 

Realized later that I forgot to mention to my guests that I made it with Low Fat Cream Cheese... apparently that made no difference at all.  ;-)

 

Here's my version of the recipe... I tweaked it to our liking and believe the use of fresh Espresso made a huge difference!  It should be used within minutes of making else will bring on a bitter taste to your dessert. Making my own crust with freshly ground Oreos added to the taste as well.  :)  I made 24 Mini Cheesecake bites using a mini-muffin pan lined with paper liners (very important).

For Cheesecake

2 pkg.  (8 oz. each) Trader Joes Low Fat Cream Cheese, softened

1/2 cup  sugar

2 tsp.  vanilla

2  eggs

2 Tbsp.  milk

1 Double Shot of Espresso - freshly made (use within minutes)

For Crust

Mini-cupcake pan with liners

OREO Cookies - crushed into a fine powder (I used my Magic Bullet)

1-2 Tbsp. melted butter - to hold the Oreo mixture together

Topping

1/2 cup Toasted Pecans - roughly chopped

Smucker's Caramel Sundae Topping

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. 

Make Crust: grind up Oreos into fine powder.  Mix in butter as needed just enough to hold the powder together. Put a teaspoon (or so) into each of the cupcake liners in the pan and press down with the end of a spoon so it's flat.

Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs; mix just until blended.

MICROWAVE milk in small microwaveable bowl 15 seconds. Add Espresso shot to milk. Then add that mixture to the batter; mix well. Pour into individual crusts.
BAKE 20 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate several hours or overnight. 
While oven is still hot put pecans in and toast for 5-8 minutes. Keep an eye on them as they burn easily. Once cooled, roughly chop.

Few minutes before serving take the mini-cheesecakes out of the fridge. Remove liners from each and set out on a platter to serve.  Top each piece with the crushed pecans and top with a little bit of the caramel syrup.  Serve and Enjoy!! 

Store any leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.