Valentine's Day Helpings

Sorry I haven't posted in forever! I really haven't be able to spend time in the kitchen as I've been busy dealing with sick kids :( Also, I've been trying to think of what else I could talk about on here besides food. While cooking is my passion, I also wanted to talk about different topics, but I can't seem to think of any. So, for now I guess I'll just stick to food! So, today while my little boy was sleeping, my daughter and I had our first one on one baking experience :) We made Greg some Valentine's cheesecakes! I saw this recipe idea on Pinterest but of coarse I had to change it up. My husband loves peanut butter so I found a way to incorporate it! So first of all you will need heart-shaped muffin pans. I found these silicon ones at Walmart for like $3 a piece! Making a cheesecake can seem pretty hard, but this recipe is fairly simple. You need to get a roasting pan or if you don't have one (like me), I used two 9x13 glass dishes. Sit them on the middle rack of your oven and fill with about 4-5 cups of water or halfway up the sides of your muffin pan. Then preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease your muffin cups. Then in a medium bowl, mix 1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers, 4 Tbsp sugar and half a stick of melted butter. Distribute the crust evenly among the muffin cups and press down firmly. Then take a Mini Reese's Cup and place in the middle of each cup. To make the filling,, using a stand mixer (you can use a handheld mixer as well), mix two 8oz blocks of cream cheese until fluffy, making sure you scrape the sides as you go. Then add 1 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of flour and 1 tsp of almond extract. You can use vanilla extract if you prefer, I just like the taste of almond better. Mix that until fully incorporated, then add 2 eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each egg. Then divide the cheesecake into four bowls and add your food coloring. I bought neon food coloring because I thought that was closer to the colors of conversation hearts. After you mix your color in, fill each cup evenly to the rim. Then carefully place them in your water filled pans in the oven and bake for 20 mins. or until set. Remove them and let cool completely before this next step. Once cooled, take red food coloring and put in a little dish, and then with a small, fine paint brush, paint on your messages. That's it! Now, you can wrap them up however you like and give as gifts. Just make sure to refrigerate them! I hope you enjoy these! Till next time ;)