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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These sound great; I’d like to make them for a get together on New Years day. Will the crust work if I use Pecans instead?
Do you mean homemade pecan meal? I think that’d work, as long as it’s not too chunky! Hope you’ll enjoy them. :)
Hi There – do you have a suggestion for a nut-free crust? I can’t use Almond flour due to allergies.
Hello! Does it need to be grain-free or gluten-free?
Hi Erin,
These look so good. I am planning on making it them tomorrow. I just wanted to know what size muffin liners did you use?
Hi Reema! I used normal muffin liners. Not the mini ones and not the jumbo ones. Hope you’ll enjoy them! :)
Is your recipe for mini cupcakes or traditional sized?
You use a regular sized muffin pan. Enjoy! :)
I made these last night and they turned out great! It was my first time making cheesecake and I had no idea about how tricky it can be, especially the cooling down time! We loved the crust substitute :) I’ll definitely be making these again in the future.
That’s great! I’m so happy that your first cheesecake try went well. I doubt most people could say that. ;) Thanks so much for your comment!
Hi, just wondering if it would work to freeze them with the fruit on top? Just thinking it would be good for winter consumption… just not sure how well they would freeze and then thaw that way…
Thanks!
Also, happy to hear you take your own pics of the food, I hate sites which don’t ‘prove’ their recipes with their own pics.
Oh, gosh. I would never make a recipe without a picture! It’s crazy to me that there are sites out there which don’t post pictures of the recipes. All you need is a cell phone. ;)
Hello! They freeze well without the fruit but if you froze them with the fruit on top, I think the fruit would make the tops of the cheesecake a little wet / soggy after thawing. And it probably wouldn’t look very nice. It’s just a guess, though!
I loved your recipe:) I will definitely try this one. I am celiac so can you tell me the cream cheese brand that was used?Is it gluten free?
Thanks! I live in Germany so our brands are different. I just googled it and found this and they all seem to agree that Philadelphia is GF. :)
I have made these three times. EVERYONE loves them. The first time worked fine but the last two times it seems they didn’t rise and were sticky. Do you think I didn’t cook them long enough?
I’m happy everyone loved them! I wouldn’t really say that they rise, though. But they shouldn’t be sticky! Since the first time worked and the second and third times didn’t, could it be that your oven is now running low? I’d recommend putting an oven thermometer in there to see if the temperature is correct. Or did you make any subs / changes after the first time? Thanks for your comment!
Did you quote that this recipe is from glutenfreeonashoestring.com? by Nicole Hunn?
If not which it doesn’t look like you have would you please give her credit? It is a form of plagiarism which is wrong
There is the URL down below for you to click on and check out
Hi Esme! I think you’re a little confused. Nicole used this recipe in her cheesecake recipe roundup found here (which you linked to as your website). In Nicole’s post, she writes about my recipe saying, “These mini grain free cheesecakes from Erin at Texanerian Baking are just so adorable. Erin is a truly talented baker and photographer, and she does this genius thing with crumb-style crusts to make them out of almond flour instead of cookie crumbs. So smart!” You’ll also notice that she used my watermarked picture (with permission, of course, as she states at the bottom of her post!) as the pictures are mine and originate from this recipe post.
I made this cheesecake recipe and it is fantastic! I made a change to the fruit by melting apple jelly in the microwave and coating the fruit with the jelly before I put it on top of the mini cheesecakes. This made the fruit taste even better. Great recipe for gluten-free!!
Yum! I love the apple jelly idea. I’ll have to try that (if I can even find apple jelly!). Thanks a ton for the tip and for your comment. :)
Can I add in some mini chocolate chips to these?
Sure! Sounds good. Maybe 1/3 to 1/2 cup? It’s just a guess, though. Enjoy! :)
These look delicious! I’m just wondering if I can replace the sugar with maple syrup or honey and if the cream cheese can be replaced with something that’s diary free?
Thanks! If you sub a liquid sweetener in there instead of a granulated one, you’re supposed to reduce the amount of liquid. The problem with this recipe is that there’s no liquid to reduce! You could try it but I’m guessing it won’t come out the same. And the cream cheese can really only be subbed with dairy-free cream cheese. Perhaps you’d like a paleo recipe better? ;) I’m sorry to say that I don’t have one but I’m working on one!
I made these a couple times already and they are great! I’m planning to make them again but in mini size. I am wondering if I can freeze them.
Yes, they freeze well! I’m happy to hear that you’ve been enjoying them. And you have more patience than I do to make them in a mini muffin pan. ;) Thanks a bunch for your feedback!
I am making these tomorrow :) Any idea what the nutritional info is for these? I’d like to add it into MFP. Thanks so much!
I don’t but you can plug the info into their recipe analyzer here. I think Calorie Count’s is easier. You just copy and paste. I hope you’ll enjoy the cheesecakes!
I just made this and loved it! I replaced the sugar with less honey. The crust tastes a little like a graham cracker crust to me.Thanks!!
I think so, too! I’m so happy you liked it. Thanks for your feedback! :)
Could I use gelatin in place of eggs?
I’ve never tried that so I have no idea how that’d work here. Here’s a page that has some info on using gelatin as egg replacers (in case you’re not already familiar with that sub).
I ran out of almond flour Wondering if i could replace the almond flour with regular white flour? Would the amount be the same? And the cooking time too?
Thanks! love the original recipe
Nut flours are unfortunately only interchangeable with other nut flours. So regular wheat flour wouldn’t work. Sorry about that! Do you have any other kind of nut flour or nut meal? Or do you have almonds that you could use to make almond meal? I’m happy you like the original recipe! Thanks for your comment. :)
How can I make nut flours? In my vitamix? I have whole blanched almonds
That’ll work! Here’s a tutorial. :) I’m just not sure if it’d come out as fine as store-bought.
you said 450 grams/how many bars of cream cheese should I buy?
1 pound is 16 ounces or two 8-ounce packages.
never mind it’s two I found out. “HAPPY NEW YEAR”
And happy new year to you, too! :)
Is this recepite the same as for a whole cheesecake? Can I put 2 (9″ cheesecake in the oven) ? Would it cook completely?
Your recepite is the best !!!!
Thank you! Unfortunately I’ve never tried it so I’m not sure. I’m guessing it wouldn’t be enough for a 9″ pan. Sorry about that!
I made these and they were delicious, but now I want to try the crust for something different. If I fill these with a no bake filling, how long do you think I should bake the crust?
I’m happy you enjoyed them! I’m guessing you’d need to bake the crusts for 12-15 minutes but be sure to keep an eye on them. Thanks for your feedback!