Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake Cupcakes

I'm excited to share this adorable little cheesecake recipe with you. I found it on Pinterest and it comes from Annie's Eats. The original recipe calls for raspberry sauce, but I only had chocolate sauce (the sauce I made a few posts back), so I decided to use it instead. I love the look of the swirls and my toddler actually helped create them. We just put 1/2 a teaspoon of syrup per cupcake, and then used a toothpick to create a swirl. Very kid friendly!

Here they are again, arranged in a straight line on a bread board.

The flavor is delicious. The chocolate is mild and the cheesecake is very creamy. I plan to make these many more times, trying out different sauces (strawberry sauce, mmmm).

Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake Cupcakes
Serving Size = 32 cupcakes
Adapted From: Annie's Eats

For the Crust

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons sugar

For the Filling

• 2 lbs cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs, room temperature

Sauce

• About 6 tablespoons of chocolate sauce, click here for recipe or use store bought (such as Hershey's, or whatever you would use in chocolate milk)

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Line cupcake pans with cupcake liners.
2. Mix together the ingredients for the crust, until all of it has been moistened. Put 1 tablespoon of the mixture into the bottom of each cupcake liner. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.
3. With a stand mixer, or hand mixer, beat together the cream cheese until fluffy. Add the sugar and mix until smooth. Add the salt and vanilla, mix again. Add the eggs, one at a time, until just combined (do not over mix, and keep the speed low). When done, finish mixing with a spoon if it isn't already completely combined. Do not over mix this part.
4. Place 3 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture into each cupcake liner.
5. Place 1/2 teaspoon of chocolate sauce into each cupcake liner, dotting it around a bit. With a toothpick, swirl the chocolate to create the marbled effect.
6. Bake in the oven for 22 minutes, or until the filling sets, rotating the pans halfway through. They will puff up, but will deflate as they cool. Place the pans on a wire rack and let cool to room temperature. Place in the fridge for at least 4 hours before serving.

Raspberry Sauce

Even though I didn't make the raspberry sauce, here is the recipe in case you want to replace the chocolate sauce with this one instead.

• 6 ounces fresh raspberries
• 2 tablespoons sugar

1. Blend in a blender and then put through a fine mesh strainer.

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