Funfetti Cheesecake Cookie Cups {Recipe Files}

I love to bake. A lot. It's a lil crazy how much I like to bake because I also like to be fit. #random. I used to be able to just BAKE and not eat anything -- except to taste -- but now enjoying a treat or two is part of the process. When you're on Whole30 you can't taste baked good so my baking took a bit of a back seat this year. Well, guess what, the baking is back and I'm stoked.

Whenever I'm looking for a new sweets recipe I head to Sally's Backing Addiction because home girl is uber talented in the baking and candy world and her recipes never let me down. While on my last Whole24 I tortured myself by randomly checking out her website and grabbed four recipes to try once Whole24 was done. The first recipe I tried was her Funfetti Cheesecake Cookie Cups and they were incredibly delicious and actually quite easy to make. Sally does a phenomenal job of describing her creations step by step, so if you want a more thorough account head to her website.

Ingredients:
Cookie Cups
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3*4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 granulated sugar *I did not have granulated sugar [shocking!!!] so I just did a cup of brown sugar*
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sault
1 and 1/4 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Funfetti Cheesecake Layer
16 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 heaping cup sprinkles [not ball sprinkles you don't want your sprinkles to bleed]

Directions
In large bowl [or Kitchen Aid mixer bowl] cream together sugar and butter until fluffy then mix in egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients then slowly add to wet ingredients. Once combined stir in chocolate chips [dough will be thick]. Press 1.5 Tablespoons of dough into muffin liner. I wasn't particular about pressing the dough down and everything was fine, but if you want a more DEFINED look you'd want to pay attention to this step.

Place in oven for  10 minutes. Dough will not be cooked but you will be putting everything back in the oven so don't worry.

While cookie cups are cooking, get started on your cream cheese filling. In Kitchen Aid or with a handheld mixer beat cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla together until smooth. Stir in the sprinkles but do not over mix so the color starts to bleed. After you remove the cookie cups from the oven, place 1 heaping Tablespoon of the cheesecake batter onto the cookie cups, making sure you cover the entire cookie.

Place back into oven and back for 18 more minutes. The cups are done when the cheesecake topping no longer jiggles when you shake the pan. Remove from oven and allow to cool before you enjoy.

I loved the combination of cookie and cheesecake and found these to be A LOT simpler than expected. I brought them to a friend who just had a baby and to work and everyone LOVED them. I bet they would be fun with holiday sprinkles at a party, too.

Let me know if you give them a try and definitely head to Sally's website for more fun creations.

Linking up here & here !