Mini Mason Jar Peanut Butter Cheesecakes

*Note: This makes a lot of extra brownie mix so unless you want to make, like, 20 of these jars, you can always do as I did and bake the rest of the brownies in a muffin tin. And I realized when I originally posted this recipe I had halved the amounts needed for 12 mason jar cheesecakes so I have updated them to the correct proportions. Oops!

1. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until it’s light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix it in thoroughly. Add the brown sugar, peanut butter and cream. Once those are all combined, stir in the vanilla by hand. Place the cream cheese mixture in the fridge while assembling the rest of the recipe.

2. Preheat the oven as the brownie box suggests (most likely 350°F) put together the brownie mix according to the box instructions. Fill 10-12 (4 ounce) mason jars about 1/3 full of brownie mix (and put the rest of the batter into greased muffin tins if you wish). Place the mason jars on a cookie sheet and bake them for about 20-25 minutes until there is a crust on top of them but a tooth pick comes out still a little sticky. You don’t want them totally cooked through because they will continue to cook with the cheesecake layer. You may want to leave the ones that you have in the muffin tins in the oven for a bit longer, until totally done (according to the timing on the brownie package), because those won’t cook any more.

3. Remove the pans from the oven and reduce the oven heat to 275°F.

4. Because the brownie mix rises, it had a rounded top, so I used a spoon to lightly press it down into a smooth top surface. Spoon about a tablespoon of caramel sauce on top of the brownies in the mason jars.

5. Spoon the cooled cream cheese mixture into a piping bag, or a sandwich bag and cut off the tip. Pipe it on top of the caramel layer until it’s slightly lower than the rim of the jar and use a spoon to smooth the top.

6. Place the mason jars in a deep cake pan and fill the pan with water until it reaches about 3/4 of the way up the sides of the mason jars. Carefully put the pan in the oven and bake for an hour and a half. Remove the jars from the water bath and allow to cool.

7. After the jars have cooled, melt some white and dark chocolate discs in individual bowls according to package instructions. Then drizzle the melted chocolates over the top of the cheese cake (or put them in sandwich bags and cut the tip, for a more uniform drizzle). Also drizzle with the remaining caramel. And you can garnish with miniature peanut butter cups if you want!