Goat Cheese Cheesecake Bites

This weekend we helped our friend Ben celebrate finishing his Master's degree from Brandeis.  I'm ALL about celebrating someone finishing their degree - I know how much work goes into it!  They were having a cookout, so I decided to make some cheesecake bites to bring for dessert...only with a twist.  After having Goat Cheese Cheesecake at several restaurants lately (at Audubon and 80 Thoreau), I've been wanting to give them a shot myself.

I decided to go with a chocolate graham cracker crust and blackberry topping, and they were a hit.  This recipe makes about 3 dozen mini cheesecakes, so it's perfect for a party!

Ingredients
Crust
1 sleeve (9) Chocolate Graham Crackers
1 stick unsalted butter

Cheesecake filling
16 ounces Cream Cheese
4 ounces Goat Cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1/4 cup sugar (+1/8 cup more if you'd like them sweeter)

Topping
Seedless blackberry preserves
Blackberries

Directions

Put graham crackers in food processor and pulse until fine crumbs.  Melt 1 stick of butter in the microwave, then pour into gram cracker crumbs and stir until coated.

Cream together cheesecake filling ingredients - cream cheese, goat cheese, vanilla, eggs, and sugar.  I used 1/4 cup of sugar, but if you'd like them sweeter you could add an additional 1/8 cup of sugar (but you really don't need it).

Spray 2 mini muffin tins with cooking spray.  Spoon 1/2 tablespoon of crust into each muffin hole.  Using the bottom of your measuring spoon, lightly press the crumbs into the bottom of the hole.

Then spoon 1 Tablespoon of the cheesecake filling on top of the crust.

Bake at 350 for 13-15 minutes.  The tops will puff and crack as they're cooking.  Let cool 15 minutes, then transfer to the refrigerator until completely cooled.

Once cool, remove from pan and top with a small dollop of blackberry preserves and a blackberry!  (I used a sharp knife and cut around the edge of each cheesecake to remove.)

Refrigerate until you're ready to serve...and enjoy!