Puff Pastry Cheese Cake Cups w/ Pear Topping

These were a baking experiment gone RIGHT. I wanted to create a fun fall desert with stuff I had on hand. I couldn't find any recipes online combining cheesecake, puff pastry and pears...so I improvised this one, Nate is not super fond of graham cracker crusts & cheesecake, which I totally love, so I was excited to see if this worked because I had a feeling he would really dig it! Thankfully, they turned our awesome and would be great with any fruit topping, or a fabulous desert for parties!



Beth's Puff Pastry Cheese Cake Cups w/ Pear topping

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed according to package directions
2 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened and at room temperature (very important!)
3/4 c sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon zest
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp all spice

Topping
2 pears peeled, cored & chopped up into small pieces
1 T white sugar
1 1/2 T Brown Sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
*optional caramel for topping

Spread thawed puff pastry over floured surface and roll out. Grease a muffin pan (I used a 12 muffin-pan). Cut the pastry into 12 even squares (you could probably get 18 squares out of it if you rolled it out more. Place one square in each muffin cup.
Preheat oven to 350.

Place all toppings ingredients into a foil packet and cook in the toaster oven at 350 for 25-35 minutes.

In a large bowl combine cream cheese & sugar and mix well, until smooth and fluffy. Add vanilla and mix well, then add eggs one at a time, mixing after each. Make sure the batter is smooth and not lumpy. Use a large spoon to fill each muffin cup with cheese cake batter.
Bake cheese cake cups for about 17 minutes, then turn off oven and let stand in oven for 7 minutes. Then let cool in the pan for 15-20 minutes until removing from pan to cool. Refrigerate at least 1 hour, serve topped with pears and caramel.