Strawberry Cheesecake Bites!

So I was craving something awesome the other day, and realized I hadn't had any cheesecake in a very long time. I've had pies on my mind, and cheesecake crept in there, because of my little side business of making holiday pies that is about to start up again for Halloween and upcoming end of year holidays. So I gathered some ingredients (I had to go to Harmon's to find the strawberries, Walmart did not have any!)

The chocolate pictured in front is Amano chocolate Chuao type, but I didn't end up using it because it hid and I forgot I bought it. So I ate it afterwards and it was delicious all by itself!

So I mixed 8 oz of cream cheese, 4 Tb of powdered sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla using a hand mixer until it smoothed out and sugar was well incorporated. I placed this "cheesecake" into my piping bag, the technical name of this item escapes me, and set aside. Next I cut off the tops of all the strawberries, just enough to get rid of the leaves really (you want the curved top to remain in tact...It will look better than mine if you do) then using a melon baller, scoop out the insides so the walls are thin and there is lots of room for the filling!

I found that thicker walls left too much strawberry taste for the subtle filling. If the strawberry is to small for the melon baller, just use a sharp knife (like a paring knife) and cut out the insides. 

Now you fill the strawberries, a whirlpool motion got the best fill results in my attempts and kept the bag tip clean, so that they mound a little out of the top. For the crumb topping I used Annie's bunny crackers, because I didn't need Walmart's 1,000 pack for the family, and some ginger thins. These were crushed in a bag by my wonderful 1 minute assistant (My Dad) and then the strawberries were dipped into each type of topping. One type per strawberry that is. 

Then I tried putting some of the sopped out insides of
the strawberry back on top, but I didn't like that look. So instead remembering the leaves I removed earlier I had a quick butter frosting made by my second one minute assistant (My Mom) and used that to top them off.

Overall I wasn't impressed with my creativity on making them look delicious, but after they set in the fridge for a few hours, the flavor more than made up for the lack of beauty! And next time I'll have thought of something great to go on top. Leave any suggestions in the comments below!