Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

These cupcakes have a yummy graham cracker crust, strawberry filling, and thick cream cheese frosting.  Nom Nom Nom... 

Next time I think I'll experiment with throwing some Sara Lee cheesecake bites into the cupcake batter before baking.  DOUBLE cheesecake!!

Hope you all have a lovely Memorial day tomorrow!

Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

Recipe by Dip It In Chocolate

For Cupcake Crusts:
-2 sleeves graham crackers (18 crackers)
-1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted
-2 Tbsp sugar

Pulse graham crackers in a food processor until you have fine crumbs.  Pour into a bowl and mix with butter and sugar until well combined.  Put a Tbsp of crust mixture into the bottom of each cupcake liner (already in cupcake tin) and press down well.  I use the bottom of a squeeze bottle and it makes this SUPER quick.

Bake crusts at  350 degrees for 3 1/2 mins or until golden brown.  Allow to cool.

For Cupcakes:
-French vanilla cake mix and ingredients to make it (I like Betty Crocker)
-1 tsp vanilla
-Whole milk

Prepare cake mix according to package directions, substituting whole milk for the water and adding the extra tsp vanilla.  (I also use whole eggs instead of whites if those are called for).

Pour batter into cupcake liners, on top of crusts, and bake according to package directions, about 18 minutes. Allow cupcakes to cool completely on a wire rack.


For Strawberry Filling:
-1 pound strawberries, chopped, pureed, (use a blender) and seeds strained out. (Should equal 1 1/2 cups puree)
-1/2 cup sugar
-2 T lemon juice
-2 T cornstarch

In a small sauce pan, combined all of the ingredients and bring to a boil over medium-high heat; set aside to cool completely.  Store in refrigerator until ready to use. 

For Cream Cheese Frosting:

-2 (8 oz) pkgs cream cheese
-1 stick butter
-4 cups powdered sugar
-1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth.  Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until combined.



To assemble cupcakes, cut a conical hole out of each cupcake, or use a handy dandy cupcake punch.

 

Fill each hole with 1 Tbsp cold strawberry filling.

 Pipe cream cheese frosting onto each cupcake and top with a thin strawberry slice.

 

Store in refrigerator.