Mini Cheesecake Bites

Who doesn’t just love cheesecake?  I know that it’s a favorite of mine and always has been so I was very excited that our Crazy Cooking Challenge hostess Tina, of Moms Crazy Cooking chose cheesecake for this month’s challenge.  The way that the Crazy Cooking Challenge works is that each month there is a dish that our hostess Tina challenges the participating bloggers to make.  We all go out searching for what we think is the ultimate recipe for that dish and once we find it, we make it and then all on the same day we do our post featuring the recipe.  Sadly, this is the twelfth and final month of the Crazy Cooking Challenge.  It’s been fun participating for all these months and I’m looking forward to hopefully taking on a new cooking challenge in the coming months.

Growing up my Mom used to make wonderful little cookies and pastries for holidays and one of my favorites were her Mini Cheesecake Bites.  Though I have changed her recipe a bit over the years with my changing tastes and diet, these are still totally awesome and remind me very much of my Mom’s wonderful Mini Cheesecake Bites.

Crusts ready for the oven.

I added the cream cheese mixture and they’re ready to bake.

Baked, chilled, decorated and delicious!

Oh and my secret, I love these best straight from the freezer…total YUM!

Mini Cheesecake Bites

• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 tsp. butter, at room temperature
• 2 packets Stevia
• 1/4 tsp. roasted cinnamon 
• 1 lb. cream cheese (I prefer Philadelphia cream cheese), at room temperature
• 1 egg
• 6 packets Stevia
• 2 tsp. vanilla bean paste, or vanilla extract 
• 1/2 cup sour cream (I prefer Breakstone sour cream)

Preheat oven to 375F. Lay the sliced almonds on a foil lined baking sheet and bake until they start to get toasted.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.  Add the toasted almonds to the bowl of a food processor and using the pulse action, process until they are finely ground.  Add the butter, 2 packets of Stevia and the cinnamon and process until well combined. 

Line mini muffin tins with 36 mini muffin liners and add 1/2 teaspoon of the almond crust mixture to each.  Lightly press the mixture into the bottom of each muffin cup.  Bake for 5 minutes and then allow to cool.

While the crusts are baking and cooling add the cream cheese, egg, 6 packets of Stevia, vanilla bean paste & sour cream to the bowl of a stand mixer and blend until perfectly smooth.  Top each crust with the cream cheese mixture, filling the cup almost to the top.  Bake for 12-15 minutes until the mini cheesecakes are puffed and just starting to get golden on the top.  Remove from the oven and cool completely in the muffin tins. Once cool, remove the cheesecake bites from the pan and refrigerate or freeze.  To serve, top with a piece of candied cherry. 

Enjoy!

My previous Crazy Cooking Challenge entries:

Fried Chicken Challenge:  Copycat “KFC” Original Recipe Fried Chicken **Voted the ULTIMATE recipe of the challenge** 
Smoothie Challenge:  Mango Melon Banana & Chia Smoothie 
Grilled Cheese Sandwich Challenge: Totally Outrageous Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwich 
Blueberry Muffins Challenge:  Skinny Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins 
Spaghetti with Red Sauce Challenge:  Tomato Sauce with Onion & Butter 
Chocolate Cake Challenge:  Double Chocolate Meyer Lemon Mousse Cake 
Chicken Noodle Soup Challenge: Thai Chicken Noodle Soup 
Fudge Challenge: Biscoff Fudge 
Mashed Potato Challenge: Aloo Tikki 
Chocolate Chip Cookie Challenge: Chocolate Chip Gingersnaps 
Mac & Cheese Challenge: Velvety Mac & Cheese