Nutella Cheesecake Bites

Recently, we had a surprise 40th birthday party to attend.  I was SUPER excited about it for many reasons.  Not only were we going to see some friends we hadn't seen in a long while, it also meant that hubs and I had an evening out...it's been a few months since we've had an evening out together (crazy, hey?!).  The party was a pot luck, and I was stumped about what to bring for our portion of the pot luck.   I had plans to hit the grocery store the morning of the party (it had been a busy week leading up to the party and I hadn't made it sooner), but then one thing after another happened that Saturday and I couldn't get to the store.  With time dwindling and my brain racing, I opened the pantry and the fridge doors (the two are side-by-side) to see what we had and to think about what I could create. 

First this that caught my eye was a jar of Nutella.  "Hmmm," I thought to myself, "I haven't made anything with Nutella in a while, what can I do?"

A little searching in the fridge and I found some cream cheese.  Nutella and cream cheese...YES, those would go well together!  More thinking..."OK, I mix those up and they will taste good, but perhaps a little thick or too rich?  What else can I add?  What about whipping cream?! Yes, whipping cream!"

Take a look and nope...don't have any.  Thinking, thinking.  Wait a minute!  Hubs bought some Cool Whip a while ago, I wonder if there is any left?...Check the freezer and SCORE, there is most of a container there! 

Nutella, cream cheese and Cool Whip. I'm thinking these three things blended together should be pretty tasty! 

Now what...make it a mousse? Serve in a bowl to scoop?  That's a lot of dishes to do.  Don't want to do that to the hostess and "birthday boy". 

My brain is still working...There's got to be something more.  Back into the pantry.  Hmmm..a crumb pie crust?  I know I have graham cracker crumbs, which would do in a pinch, but I wonder, what about Oreo crumbs? Do I have any? 

Check the baking shelf, and score again! There is a partial box there! 

So...if I put the Nutella, cream cheese and Cool Whip all into the KitchenAid and mix it up well...create a pie crust from the oreo crumbs...voila, a cheesecake type of dessert! 

But wait, still hung up on those dishes...how can I make these "individual"... look in the baking cupboard and there are mini cupcake liners...but they are snowman patterned, do you think anyone would mind?  Hubs convinces me that snowmen will be fine, though I am not sold.  But I do it anyhow.  Make a pie crust base to line each of the mini cupcake cups.  Pop them into the fridge to set.  Make my cheesecake filling.  "Fill" the cupcake cups, sprinkle more crumbs on top for decoration, and everything back into the fridge to set.  And then I think to myself..."Oh man, I hope these turn out, and that they taste good!"  Verdict to follow...

Crust:

1 1/4 cups Oreo baking crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted

Combine the crumbs and butter, mix well.  Set out 30-35 mini cupcake liners on a tray.  Spoon the crumb mixture  into the mini cupcake liners.  Press the crumbs into the base of the liners to create the "crust".  Put the tray into the fridge so that the crust can set.  Meanwhile, work on the cheesecake filling.

Cheesecake:

1 package cream cheese (softened)
3/4 cup Nutella
1 cup Cool Whip (thawed)

Blend all three together in a mixer.  I blended for a LONG time to ensure that there were no lumps of cream cheese. 

Remove the crusts from the fridge, then spoon the filling into each crust.  I had considered piping the filling into the crust, which I think I will do next time - but due to a lack of piping bags, I didn't try this time.  Once the crusts were filled, I sprinkled a few crumbs on top and put them back into the fridge to set.

Prior to leaving for the party, I took the tray out of the fridge and peeled off all of the cupcake liners.  Partially because I just couldn't go to a birthday party in October with snowmen cupcake liners, and partially because I thought they looked better anyhow without a liner.  I arranged them all on a tray, and we were off to the party.

VERDICT:
These were a HUGE hit.  Being in a room full of people I was able to gauge reaction without being too obvious.  When I saw people taking seconds almost immediately I knew that the recipe was a success!  Yay!  The birthday boy requested the recipe, as did a few others.  Woohoo! It's a keeper :-)

Note:  I did make sure that I made a little sign for the dessert in case there were any nut allergies (and there were...phew!). 

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