Cheesecake - Alaskified!

Mr EA's birthday was this past week, and in addition to cooking a favorite meal, I also made him his favorite cake for desert.  As it happens, his favorite cake is cheesecake, and his favorite form of it is little mini individual cheesecakes.  We arrived at this conclusion after years of me making a cheesecake, then him not eating it quickly enough, and me having to throw 1/4 of it away, followed by weeping and lamentations.  By making the little mini cheesecakes, I can freeze most of them, and he can thaw them out and have one whenever he wants. 
     The recipe I use is from an old recipe book I got from Kraft/Philadelphia Cream Cheese, entitled Ultimate Philly Cream Cheese Cheesecakes.  Guess what it is about! I will go ahead and post the recipe, because this book is at least 1.5 decades old, and possibly older. 

Philly 3-step Mini Cheesecakes
2 packages (8 oz. each) of Philadelphia Brand cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp. of vanilla
2 eggs
2 packages (4 oz each) of Keebler Ready-Crust single serve graham cracker Pie Crusts (total of 12 crusts)
Optional: whipped cream, little candies, whatever other junk you like to put on cheesecake. 

Special New Alaskan Addition:
1 Tbsp. birch syrup

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until well blended.  Add eggs, mix until blended again.  Pour mixture into pie crusts.  Divide the birch syrup between the cakes, pouring a little into each. When the birch syrup has been poured over the pies, swirl or stripe it in, using a table knife to create whatever patterns you like best.  Bake for 20 minutes or until centers are set.  Cool cakes and refrigerate. 

Result, 12 delicious little single serve treats!  Also, we like to use the lightened cream cheese to make it a little less fatty, but you know, sometimes you have to live a little.