I live in house of cheesecake lovers. Big, small, bite-sized or sliced, it really doesn’t matter. Up until today, the household favorites have always been the raspberry ( or chocolate ) swirl cheesecakes (here) and the mini mascarpone – chocolate cheesecakes (here). However, today, we have added yet another version of a cheesecake to the top of the list.
I had saved this recipe from a back issue of donna hay magazine. Yet, another recipe in my overflowing “file” of all things edible that I hope to accomplish in this life time! I was reminded of it when I was reading Patricia’s blog, Technicolor Kitchen, and of course, she beat me to it! Hers looked perfectly perfect.
I wanted to give these a trial run for an upcoming dinner event I have next month. My three trustworthy taste testers gave them the thumbs up! And, I am confident you will too!
Vanilla + Macadamia Crumble Mini Cheesecakes
Ingredients
cheese cake
370g ricotta cheese
300g cream cheese
1 1/3 cups (267g) caster sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
base
125g shortbread cookies ( I used these )
1/2 cup (50g) almond meal
45g unsalted butter, melted
crumble topping
100g shortbread cookies
1/2 cup (70g) unsalted macadamia nuts
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbls. brown sugar, packed
50g unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
• preheat oven to 285*
for the base:
• in the bowl of a food processor, process the cookies ( I had some lemon scented sables in the freezer that I baked off, however any shortbread would work ) until crushed. add the almond meal and the butter and process until combined.
• press 2 tsp. of the crumbs into mini silicone muffin tins using a 1/8 cup measuring cup ( or a small bottle) flatten the crumbs into the bottom of the pans. refrigerate the crumbs until ready to use.
for the cream cheese filling:
• place the ricotta and the cream cheese in a food processor and process until smooth. add the sugar, eggs and the vanilla and process until combined and smooth.
• pour the mixture almost to the top of the baking cup. set the silicone muffin pans on a baking sheet.
• bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until set. rotating pans half way through.
make the crumb mixture:
• while the cheesecakes are baking, place the cookies, macadamia nuts, vanilla, sugar, and the butter in the bowl of the food processor and process until roughly chopped.
• after baking the cheesecakes, top them with the crumb mixture and bake for another 10 minutes or until the tops are golden.
• cool completely to room temperature.
• once cooled, place trays in the freezer. once frozen the cheesecakes pop out beautifully. serve at room temperature!
The Urban Baker / SusanSalzman.com
these are too cute :O)
At my home too, there are cheesecakes lovers… This recipe would be a success! In small bites, it’s lovely! I’ll keep your recipe :)Thanks!
OMG, these mini cheesecakes look amazing!! I think many would have to be consumed in one sitting 🙂
I’ve never seen a cheesecake made with ricotta, sounds interesting! The vanilla and macadamia crumble sounds like a fantastic topping
These look darling AND delicious! And cheesecake is something I can modify to make low carb. Thanks for the inspiration!
Oh, these were so good. I don’t even like sweets and I couldn’t stop eating!
Susan, they are little gems! So pretty! I’m so glad you like these – I really like the idea of adding ricotta with the cream cheese.Beautiful!
These are so delicious! I was able to steal one the other night!!! Yummy! I am going to make them myself soon!
What’s so cool about bite sized desserts is the fact that you can eat a couple of them without feeling too guilty… I love cheese cakes and the version with ricotta is probably more delicate, yum!
Oh I must try these! I love tiny cheesecakes! Ricotta and macadamia oh my!
I am a cheesecake lover myself, and this recipe is just beautiful.
I loved reading all your comments. Keep them coming!Betty – so cute, right?!Victoria – small bites are dangerous but oh so deliciousMarla – you are so right!Jess – I also added some toasted coconut! So goodCarolyn – yes, you can alter the crust to an almond flour crust. would be so good with an almond crumb topping!Jo – I will fill your freezer with sweets and bring you to the other side!Patricia – as always, you are my muse, my inspiration! xxxJackie – you need to come by once a week and raid the freezer!Kim – bite sized anything is so good. especially cheesecake. perfect for our girlish figures!Lisa – please try these and let me know how much you like themM – from one cheesecake lover to another, bon appetite! Have a lovely weekend, everyone!xx
Looks great but the size is so small I would most likely eat all of them at once. I LOVE cheesecake.
I’m sold on any kind of cheesecake! 🙂