Butterfly Cheesecake Muffins

Dear sister just had a birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! She wanted to bring something to share at work since she had to be there on her birthday. I said I would make mini cheesecakes for her to bring. We have been making cheesecake muffins for years. You can make so many variations. I have shared a few on the blog already. These I wanted to make special so I set out to make them "springy". Sister loves butterflies so I wanted to use this cute pretzel idea I saw all over Pinterest. But I needed to find a way to make a green topping or field for them to sit on. That is when it came to me I could tint the sour cream topping from the Ultimate Cheesecake recipe. It worked perfectly. It also makes a great flat top on each muffin. This little technique is going to make for tons of other cute cheesecake muffins. Sister said the sour cream topping balances the other sweet ingredients. These little cuties are sweet because hidden inside is an Oreo and a Snickers bar. So with the pretzel and the candy inside and out this little muffin is salty and sweet. They are cute and tasty too! Perfect for any birthday or Easter event. I hope you will find a way to celebrate spring with this recipe.

Butterfly Cheesecake Muffins

Makes 24 to 28 muffins

Ingredients

1 pkg. Oreo thins

1 bag mini Snickers bars

3 (8oz.) pkg. Cream Cheese

3 eggs

1-1/4 cup Granulated Sugar, divided

1-1/8 tsp. Vanilla, divided

16 oz. light sour cream

16 drops green food coloring

1 bag Flipz white fudge covered pretzels

1 bag Easter M&Ms

1 bag peel and eat Fruit Punch Twizzlers, peeled

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Place 1 Oreo thin in paper lined cupcake pan. Place a Snickers on each cookie and set aside. Cream the cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time. Add 1 tsp. vanilla and beat until well mixed. Spoon cream cheese over each cookie until cup is 2/3 full. Bake for 15 minutes. Meanwhile mix sour cream, remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/8 tsp. vanilla and green food coloring adding drop by drop until desired green color is achieve and sugar is dissolved.

Remove muffins from oven and top with green sour cream mixture. Bake for 5 more minutes, remove from oven and let cool completely. Top each muffin with two pretzels spread just far enough apart for a row of M&Ms in between. Place one color of M&M to make the head of the butterfly. Place three of a different color below for the body. Poke two pieces of Twizzler string near the head for antennas. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Note: Be sure to let the muffins cool completely before decorating. Heat and moisture will affect the candy. Heat will make the coating melt. Moisture will make the candies caulk. For perfect muffins you may want to decorate just before serving.

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