Miniature Vanilla Bean Cheesecakes with Almond Crust
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Crust Ingredients
1cupalmond meal
1cupalmond flour
¼cupsugar
¼cupbutterroom temperature
Filling Ingredients
16ouncescream cheeseroom temperature
½cupsugar
1½vanilla beansscraped or 1 tablespoon vanilla
2eggs
Toppings
magic chocolate sauce
simple berry sauce
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Combine the crust ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat for a minute or two, until well-combined. Press into the bottom of your small 4" springform pans or cupcake liners. If you are making miniature cheesecake bites, drop about a teaspoon of the crust mixture in the bottom of each cupcake liner. Then press it flat. Avoid getting too much of the crust on the sides of the cupcake liners, or you won't have much room for the filling. Bake the crusts for 10 minutes and remove from the oven. Let cool before filling.
Combine the filling ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat for a few minutes, until completely smooth. Scoop the filling onto the prepared crusts and smooth the top. If you are making bite-size mini cheesecakes, about a tablespoon of the filling mixture will fit in them.
Bake the miniature cheesecakes for 20 minutes, or just until set. The small cheesecake pans will need to bake for 30-35 minutes, until the center is barely set. Remove from the oven, let rest until room temperature and then chill until ready to serve. I recommend chilling the cheesecake bites at least 2 hours before serving and chilling the small cheesecakes for at least 4-6 hours. Top with chocolate sauce or berries just before serving. Enjoy!
* If you do not have the small springform pans, I would recommend doubling the filling recipe before attempting to make this in a full-size springform pan. Adjust the baking time accordingly.