Just Desserts: Mini Eggnog Cheesecakes & Hot Chocolate Brownie Cups

Have yourself a delicious little holiday season, with some help from these festive recipes from Delish Insane Sweets: Bake Yourself a Little Crazy, the recently released cookbook by the editors of Delish.com. A compilation of admittedly over-the-top desserts, the cookbook bursts with decadent bites like these Mini Eggnog Cheesecakes and Hot Chocolate Brownie Cups (replete with pretzel “handles” and sure to be teen-approved).

Hot Chocolate Brownie Cups

MAKES 12, TOTAL PREP AND COOK TIME: 50 MINUTES

INGREDIENTS:

• Cooking spray
• 1 (18.3-ounce) box brownie mix (plus ingredients called for on box)
• 1 cup mini marshmallows
• 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 cup chocolate-covered pretzels
• Red, green, and white nonpareils

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F, and grease a muffin tin with cooking spray.
2. Prepare the brownie batter according to the package instructions. Fill prepared muffin cups three-quarters full with batter. Bake until the edges are set but the centers look a little undercooked (approximately 12 to 15 minutes).
3. Press mini marshmallows into the centers of the brownie cups, and return them to the oven. Bake until the marshmallows puff and melt, 3 to 5 minutes. Let the cups cool in the pan for 15 to 20 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. In a heatproof bowl, microwave the chocolate chips until melted, then stir in coconut oil. Break off pieces of chocolate-covered pretzels, and use melted chocolate to stick them to sides of the cookie cups to create handles. Let them set.
5. Drizzle the remaining melted chocolate over the marshmallows, and top with sprinkles before serving.

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Mini Eggnog Cheesecakes

MAKES 16 , TOTAL PREP AND COOK TIME: 3 HOURS, 30 MINUTES

INGREDIENTS:

• Cooking spray
• 16 gingersnap cookies
• 2 (8-ounce) blocks cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup eggnog
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• Pinch kosher salt
• Caramel, for serving

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line two muffin tins with 16 cupcake liners. Place a gingersnap cookie at the bottom of each lined muffin cup.
2. In a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Add eggnog and vanilla, and beat until incorporated; then add eggs one at a time until just blended, followed by flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt.
3. Spoon the cheesecake mixture into the muffin cups over the gingersnaps, and bake until set but centers are still slightly jiggly, about 20 minutes. Refrigerate until chilled, about 3 hours and up to overnight.
4. Remove the cheesecakes from the muffin tins, and peel off the paper liners. Dollop each cheesecake with whipped cream, and drizzle with caramel before serving.

Hot Chocolate Brownie Cups and Mini Eggnog Cheesecakes are excerpted from Delish Insane Sweets: Bake Yourself a Little Crazy: 100+ Cookies, Bars, Bites, and Treats © 2019 by Joanna Saltz & the Editors of Delish. Photography © 2019 by Hearst Communications Inc. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.