Ignore the complete amateurity of this picture. Consider yourself lucky there's a picture at all; I barely remembered to take one before diving into this deliciousness!
I love cheesecake. I don't, however, love having a huge cheesecake sitting around my kitchen, both because a little goes a long way and because one can only have cheesecake so many times for breakfast before justifying it as fulfilling their "dairy" servings starts to feel like just a bit of a stretch.
I had used half a block of cream cheese to make a frosting a week or so ago and had little idea of what to do with the remaining 4 oz in my fridge. Thanks to pintrest (I now see where all the hours of my life go to die), I had a mini cheesecake recipe I'd been eyeing and thought it was about time to bring it on out. These little delights whip up quickly, are light, fresh, and not too sweet. With some fresh cut berries on top, they're just about perfect for an after dinner treat.
Personal Cheesecake
adapted VERY loosely from SkinnyTaste.com
makes 4 ramekin cheesecakes or about 6 muffin tin
Crust
1/4 cup cashews
1/4 cup almonds
2 tbs butter, melted (coconut oil would work great here too, but will give you a slightly different flavor)
Cheesecake
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 - 2 tbs honey
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp lemon juice
5 oz plain yogurt (Greek would probably be perfect for this; I didn't have any and my regular worked just fine!)
just under 1 tbs whole wheat pastry flour
Preheat oven to 350 F. Place a strip of foil in each of four ramekins or place muffin liners in the cups of a muffin tin.* Place nuts into food processor and process until almost crumbly. Add butter and process until a nice, sticky mixture has formed. Divide the crust evenly amongst the muffin cups or the ramekins. Press down firmly and evenly onto the bottom of each mold.
Combine the cream cheese and honey and mix with a handheld or electric mixer. I admit - I got lazy and just used a whisk. It worked, but I didn't get as smooth a filling as I wanted. When just smooth, add egg, vanilla, lemon juice, yogurt, and flour. Mix until smooth and blended, but don't over mix.
Pour the cream cheese mixture into the ramekins/muffin tin, distributing it evenly. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the middle is just barely set. Allow to cool on a cooling rack. If removing from the baking mold, do so now. Place cheesecakes in fridge to chill. Serve just as is or with fresh berries.
*You don't need to put foil in the ramekins, but I knew that I was going to want to lift the finished cheesecakes out to present them on a plate. I tore off pieces of foil about an inch or so wide, making sure it was long enough to hang over the sides of the ramekin. When I wanted to lift the cheesecakes out (after COMPLETELY cooled), I ran a butter knife around the outside of the cheesecakes to loosen them and then took hold of the foil and lifted them out onto a serving plate.
I had used half a block of cream cheese to make a frosting a week or so ago and had little idea of what to do with the remaining 4 oz in my fridge. Thanks to pintrest (I now see where all the hours of my life go to die), I had a mini cheesecake recipe I'd been eyeing and thought it was about time to bring it on out. These little delights whip up quickly, are light, fresh, and not too sweet. With some fresh cut berries on top, they're just about perfect for an after dinner treat.
Personal Cheesecake
adapted VERY loosely from SkinnyTaste.com
makes 4 ramekin cheesecakes or about 6 muffin tin
Crust
1/4 cup cashews
1/4 cup almonds
2 tbs butter, melted (coconut oil would work great here too, but will give you a slightly different flavor)
Cheesecake
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 - 2 tbs honey
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp lemon juice
5 oz plain yogurt (Greek would probably be perfect for this; I didn't have any and my regular worked just fine!)
just under 1 tbs whole wheat pastry flour
Preheat oven to 350 F. Place a strip of foil in each of four ramekins or place muffin liners in the cups of a muffin tin.* Place nuts into food processor and process until almost crumbly. Add butter and process until a nice, sticky mixture has formed. Divide the crust evenly amongst the muffin cups or the ramekins. Press down firmly and evenly onto the bottom of each mold.
Combine the cream cheese and honey and mix with a handheld or electric mixer. I admit - I got lazy and just used a whisk. It worked, but I didn't get as smooth a filling as I wanted. When just smooth, add egg, vanilla, lemon juice, yogurt, and flour. Mix until smooth and blended, but don't over mix.
Pour the cream cheese mixture into the ramekins/muffin tin, distributing it evenly. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the middle is just barely set. Allow to cool on a cooling rack. If removing from the baking mold, do so now. Place cheesecakes in fridge to chill. Serve just as is or with fresh berries.
*You don't need to put foil in the ramekins, but I knew that I was going to want to lift the finished cheesecakes out to present them on a plate. I tore off pieces of foil about an inch or so wide, making sure it was long enough to hang over the sides of the ramekin. When I wanted to lift the cheesecakes out (after COMPLETELY cooled), I ran a butter knife around the outside of the cheesecakes to loosen them and then took hold of the foil and lifted them out onto a serving plate.