These mini gluten-free cheesecakes are perfect for when you don’t need a full cheesecake! They’re so much easier and they freeze great. They’re also grain-free. Perfect for Mother’s Day, the 4th of July and parties.
As much as I love cheesecake, I rarely make them. At least not the full-sized ones.
If I made a cheesecake just for the heck of it, I’d eat it all. I used to make them for parties and get-togethers but when you don’t have a car, those things get heavy after about 10 minutes of walking.
Not only that, but full-sized cheesecakes are so fussy. I almost always mess them up.
But mini cheesecakes? They’re pretty difficult to ruin as long as you don’t forget to line the muffin pan with muffin liners, which I may or may not have done the first time.
Also, these mini cheesecakes freeze wonderfully well! They taste just as good post-freezing so you could even make them ahead of time if you’ve got room in your freezer.
Looking for another mini grain-free recipe? Try these Mini Pavlova Nests!
As far as grain-free crusts go, I think this one is pretty awesome. Pre-baking them prevents a soggy crust, which seems all too common in grain-free and gluten-free almond flour-based crusts.
After baking the cheesecakes, the crust isn’t exactly crisp, but it’s far from soggy! For another great crust, try this cannoli cheesecake that uses gluten-free graham crackers.
If you don’t want to use almond flour, use any nut flour or nut meal you’d like. I’ve tried hazelnut meal and that was delicious.
Then I tried making a chocolate hazelnut version by adding some cocoa powder to the cheesecake filling. That sounded like such a simple change but it came out horribly. Definitely don’t do that.
For another alternative – I haven’t tried them, but I think these Mango Cheesecake Bites look fantastic!
Almond flour, sugar and butter on their own don’t taste all that exciting so I added some lemon zest to liven up the crust. If you don’t want to use lemon zest, add some lime zest, almond extract, or something. These mini cheesecakes just aren’t the same without it!
If you’re not trying to impress anyone with your dainty cheesecakes, I suggest drowning these mini cheesecakes in this honey sweetened strawberry sauce. It’s delicious, just not so pretty. Though I suppose you could smash / puree the strawberries first a bit to make it look nicer.
This rhubarb compote would also be a wonderful choice for spring. As would this strawberry compote!
If you live outside of North America, you might have wondered why cream cheese-based recipes often don’t come out correctly. That’s because the cream cheese sold elsewhere (at least in Europe), has extra whey in it so it’s softer and can be spread on bread.
So if you don’t have American style brick cream cheese (that comes wrapped in a foil package in a little box), then get 600 grams of cream cheese, place it in the center of a cheesecloth or tea towel, and wring out the liquid until you have 450 grams of cream cheese left.
The big packages sold at Aldi, Lidl, etc. are 300 grams so it’s perfect! Get 2 packages for this recipe.
Prefer a no-bake version? These Mini Gluten-Free No-Bake Cheesecakes with Chocolate Chip Cookie Crust look pretty awesome! And so very easy. And for something keto, try these keto cheesecake bites. This keto blueberry cheesecake also looks great.
Photos updated 3/2020. Here’s an old one:
Mini Cheesecakes (grain-free, gluten-free)
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 12
See notes for the vegan version!
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups (125 grams) blanched almond flour1
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar or raw sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 3 tablespoons (42 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 pound (450 grams) cream cheese2
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar or raw sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 2 large (50 grams each, out of shell) eggs, room temperature
- berries and powdered sugar, optional
For the crust:
For the filling:
For decoration:
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Line a muffin pan with 12 muffin liners.
- Prepare the crust. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients, then stir in the butter and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Divide the mixture between the liners (18 grams or 3 1/2 teaspoons of mixture per liner) and lightly press down with the bottom of a shot glass.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until very lightly browned.
- Remove from the oven and cool for at least 10 minutes while preparing the filling.
- Using an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the beater attachment, beat the cream cheese and sugar at medium speed until light and creamy. Add the vanilla and salt and beat until combined. Beat in the eggs on low, one at a time, and just until well incorporated. Do not over mix!
- Fill each liner about 2/3 full with the batter and bake for 10 minutes or until the centers of the cheesecakes don't jiggle when the pan is tapped. Open the oven door (at least 1 foot wide) and let the cheesecakes cool to room temperature - about 1 1/2 hours. For easiest removal, remove the paper liners now. They can also be removed after chilling, though a little more cheesecake may stick to the liners then.
- Chill for at least 2 hours before serving. Decorate with berries and dust with powdered sugar, if desired. Refrigerate for up to 4 days.
Notes
- If you don't want to use an almond flour-based crust, you can use:
– 1 cup (113 grams) GF graham cracker crumbs (or digestives)
– 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
– 3 1/2 tablespoons (49 grams) butter, melted
– pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 325 °F (163 °C). Line a standard-size muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the crumbs, sugar and salt.
Stir in the butter until combined.
Divide the crust mixture between the 12 liners and firmly press it down.
Bake for 5 minutes or until lightly golden. Go to Step 5 above. - If you live outside of North America and don't have American style brick cream cheese (that comes wrapped in a foil package in a little box), then get 600 grams of cream cheese, place it in the center of a cheesecloth or tea towel, and wring out the liquid until you have 450 grams of cream cheese left.
- For a vegan version, use vegan butter in the crust. For the filling, use:
12 ounces (338 grams) Tofutti vegan cream cheese, room temp
3/4 cup (150 grams) full-fat coconut cream
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Make the crust as instructed. Let cool. In a large mixing bowl, beat together all the cheesecake ingredients until well combined. Divide between the 12 crusts and chill for 4+ hours or freeze for 2 or until firm.
Source: My post on My Baking Addiction – Gluten-free mini cheesecakes
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Can monkfruit be substituted for ordinary sugar? Going to try making small cheesecakes when you have time to reply Thank you Eileenw
Hi! I can’t say for sure without trying it. But you could make 2/3 of the filling from my keto cheesecake and use that instead of the filling here. It is super yummy. :)
Has anyone made the crust with lime zest instead of lemon? Or orange? What about putting a little of the juice into the cheesecake itself? Would that mess it up? The crust recipe tastes better than graham crackers and is lower carb (sugar still a problem but I like to cut carbs where I can). I made these for my son’s birthday because one of the friends needs to be GF along with a non gf pumpkin cheesecake. Everyone gobbled up these GF ones and said that they were the best cheesecake they ever had!
I think you could use any type of zest with good results. I wouldn’t add juice to the cheesecake batter because you’d throw off the proportions. I’m so glad that everyone enjoyed them! Thanks so much for your feedback. :)
Can you advise the best way to freeze these? Leave the liners on or take them off? In a container or ziplock bag? Wrapped in plastic wrap, wax, foil? Want to make sure I freeze these properly without any mishaps.
I’m so sorry for just now seeing this! I realize I’m too late now but in case anyone else is wondering – it’s really up to you. If you leave the liners on, then the crust is more protected. But you don’t have to keep them on. I put them in Ziplocs but containers work fine. If you want to wrap them up before placing in the bag/container, you can, but I don’t bother as they don’t last long enough for it to matter. Sorry again!
I absolutely love these! So easy to make and are so yummy :)
On step 6, where you open the oven door for 1.5 hours, is the oven still turned on or do you turn it off?
I’m so sorry for just now seeing your question! It says to open the door to let the cheesecakes cool to room temperature so yes, the oven has to be off. :) Sorry again for my slow reply!
These mini cheesecakes were delicious. The almond flour as the crust is genius. Thank you for putting the amounts of grams. This helped to cut the batch in half!
You’re welcome for the grams! I’m glad you found them useful and that you enjoyed the cheesecakes. :) Thanks for your feedback!
This is such a great recipe! I made these for a large group and everyone loved them. The crust is great and I love the subtle almond flavor. I chose this recipe because I have a gluten free friend, but even if I choose to make them with a different crust for myself I will always use this recipe for the filling. They came out perfect with no cracking and were nice and smooth. Thank you so much for the recipe!
I’m sorry for just now seeing your comment! It was in spam for some reason and with my son home the last few months, I haven’t been diligent in checking it. :( I’m so glad that everyone enjoyed the cheesecakes! That was nice of you to make something for your GF friend. :) And I’m happy that you’ll be making at least the filling again. Thanks a bunch for your comment and sorry for my slow reply!
These were so easy to make and so yummy!! They taste exactly like regular cheesecake. The one thing I noticed was that some of the crusts were unevenly baked so I would make sure to rotate the pan in the over after 5 min so everything cooks evenly!!
I’m so glad that you enjoyed them! And exactly like regular cheesecake? Woohoo. :D Glad that you think so! Thanks for your comment. :)
Haven’t tried these yet. I am wondering if anyone has used Monkfruit sweetner(Erythritol and Monkfruit extract)? I have tried using it in cakes and cookies and it definitely changes the texture. I wonder if it would change the texture of something more creamy?