Lemonade Girl Scout Cheesecakes

I LOVE LEMON. I could sit all day and sniff those hand wipes that are lemon scented, or lemon dish soap, or a lemon candle, or a cut up lemon, or literally anything lemon scented.  I always used to joke that I was going to marry Mr. Clean because there is nothing that smells better than lemon scented cleaning products. Unless.....it is lemon scented mini cheesecakes! I had enough self control after Girl Scout cookie sales that the package of lemonade cookies that my husband got me was still in the pantry......which is how these lovely little bite sized lemon cheesecakes were born.

Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese
1/3 c. sugar
1 egg
1/8 tsp. salt
1 pkg. lemonade Girl Scout cookies
1 jar lemon curd

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with paper liners and set aside. In an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, sugar, egg and salt together on medium speed until there are no lumps of cream cheese left and everything is smooth. To the bottom of each cupcake mold, break the cookies into pieces and face them icing side up in the bottom. Make sure you press down slightly so that the entire bottom is covered in cookie. On top of the cookie, add the cheesecake filling until the cups are 3/4 of the way full. In a small bowl, melt the lemon curd for 15-20 seconds until a runny enough consistency so that you can make a circle on top of the cheesecakes with a spoon. Take a toothpick and make a zigzag pattern on top going in one direction, then the other. Bake for 14-16 minutes until the top is firm. Let cool fully before refrigerating.