Fruity Pebbles Cheesecakes - Taste the Rainbow!

The inspiration for this recipe came out of a sad, dark place: a childhood of sugar cereal deprivation. I was one of those children who had to get their sugar fix at someone else's house. No pop tarts, no capri sun, and certainly no colorful, blood-sugar-spiking delights from the cereal isle. So as an adult, I've done what I can to make up for lost time and lost treats.

Ever since Fruity Pebbles have been labeled as gluten free, I've been dreaming of putting together a colorful recipe. This week I finally went for it, and it turned out AMAZINGLY WELL. Seriously, you need to try it for yourself.

Note: There are some recipes already out there for 'no-bake fruity pebbles cheesecake,' but let's be real, baked cheesecake is the real cheesecake and real cheesecake just tastes a lot better. I've got you covered.

Ingredients:

For the crust:
1/2 box of fruity pebbles
4 tbsp butter

For the filling:
2 bricks (or 1 lb) of cream cheese at room temp
1/2 c sugar
pinch of salt
2 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

To make the crust, place fruity pebbles into a food processor and pulse until pebbles form medium-sized crumbs. (Do not over pulse - they should not become a powder!) Melt the butter and stir it into the fruity pebbles until all of the crumbs are coated. Place muffin liners into muffin tins (this will make 12 mini cheesecakes). Evenly distribute the crumbs among the 12 liners and pack them down (I use the bottom of a shot glass). Place the crusts into the over and bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

To make the filling, place the cream cheese, sugar, salt, lime juice, vanilla, and eggs in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer until well combined. There should not be any clumps. Once fully combined, scoop the filling into the tins, making sure to evenly distribute the mixture. Jiggle the tins to help the filling settle evenly into the liners. Place the cheesecakes into the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until you just barely begin to see some golden coloring on top.

Remove the cheesecakes from the oven and allow them to cool for 20-30 minutes before placing them in the refrigerator. After an hour in the fridge, remove the liners from the cheesecakes and garnish with fruity pebbles.

Finally, enjoy!