Using an electric mixer, beat 32 oz cream cheese (or, to reduce fat, 16 oz cream cheese and 16 oz Neufchâtel cheese) until fluffy, then add 2 tsp pure vanilla extract and 2 cups sugar (here, I used homemade vanilla-infused sugar). Slowly mix in 4 eggs, one at a time. Separately, place 24 cupcake liners in two 12-cup cupcake tins, then place a Nilla wafer (I used low-fat), flat side down, inside each cupcake liner bottom. Pour the cream cheese mixture into each cupcake slot, filling 2/3 full. Bake at 350 for about 25-30 mins. Let cool completely, then top with your favorite pie filling (here, cherry). Paula Deen recipe here: https://www.food.com/recipe/cream-cheese-tarts-paula-deen-114580 Note that I doubled her recipe to make the most of the pie filling. (Apr. 2014)
Variation #1: We used a 2:1 ratio of citrus-infused sugar (recipe here: http://piglettedc.tumblr.com/post/173869712321/citrus-sugar-we-tried-this-recipe) and plain white sugar for the cheese cake batter, and we topped it with a homemade blueberry pie filling (recipe here: http://piglettedc.tumblr.com/post/183506418411/homemade-blueberry-pie-filling-we-tried-this) (Mar. 2019)
Cooking Adventures 