Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites (No Refined Sugar, Grain-free and Gluten-free Options)

Natalie — Thu, 24 Oct 2013 17:35:28 +0000

I miss you guys! What’s happening? What’s new? How’s your pumpkin carving/Halloween costuming/PSL consumption going this year?

We are a bit of a Halloween-neutral family. We will dress up if there’s a party to go to, take the kids trick-or-treating, buy a few pumpkins and hit the fall festival scene, but we don’t love Halloween. We like it just fine, but it’s not our favorite holiday. I am always last minute with the costumes and the candy and what not. This year E had planned on being a ghost (BEST DIY COSTUME EVER, SCORE!) but changed his mind and now wants to be a plane (!!?!?! How do I make that!?!) So now the plan is make a cardboard plane, and then little L can go along and dress as a cloud. We’ll see if this plan actually goes forward.

Making these cheesecake bites provided me the perfect opportunity to continue procrastinating on the costumes this week. There was a last minute opportunity to bring a dessert to our house church and I wanted to make something pumpkin-y, but not TOO pumpkin-y, if you know what I mean. Dessert spreads can really be pumpkin overkill this time of year.

The first thing that came to mind was to pumpkin-ize this old recipe for chocolate-covered cheesecake bites. I remember really loving them the first time around and I thought they’d be a great bite-size party treat. I tweaked the recipe a bit and everything turned out perfectly. I love when that happens!

If you are grain-free or gluten-free, you can still make this recipe. Try Carrie’s grain-free graham crackers or Shauna’s gluten-free graham crackers. If you are dairy-free/vegan/paleo, I feel for you, I love you, but this one’s not gonna work for you. BUT, behold these amazing-looking vegan pumpkin cheesecake pops! They look very similar and would totally work for you, yay! Everyone’s tummies are happy.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites

Prep time

10 hours

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

11 hours

adapted from Handle the Heat makes about 36 squares

Author: Oven Love

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 36

Ingredients

1 cup graham cracker crumbs (regular, gluten-free or grain-free as needed)
1 stick butter, melted and cooled
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
5 oz mascarpone cheese, at room temperature (substitute more cream cheese here if you prefer)
½ cup granulated sugar (I used coconut sugar, you could use date sugar as well)
½ cup plain yogurt or sour cream
½ cup pumpkin puree
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
16 ounces chocolate for melting (refined-sugar free, if necessary)
4 tablespoons coconut oil
more crushed graham crackers, for topping

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8×8 square baking dish with foil and grease with butter or non-stick spray.
To make the crust: Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter in a small dish. Press mixture evenly into your pan and bake 8-12 minutes, or until light golden and fragrant.
Reduce oven heat to 325 degrees.
To make the filling: Beat cream cheese, mascarpone (if using) and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth, 2-3 minutes. Add in yogurt/sour cream, pumpkin, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg and beat until just combined. Pour mixture over the crust and bake 35-40 minutes or until the cheesecake is slightly puffed and the center is set. Cool to room temperature on a wire rack.
Refrigerate until chilled (about 2 hours) then place in the freezer, 8 hours or overnight.
To coat: Once the cheesecake is frozen, lift it out of the pan and gently peel away the foil. Using a sharp knife, cut the cheesecake into 36 squares. Place in the freezer until you’re ready to dip them.
Melt the chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave or double-boiler until smooth. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet. Dip the squares, one at a time, in the chocolate. Let the excess drip off and place on the prepared sheet. Top with graham cracker crumbs, if using. Then refrigerate or freeze until the chocolate is set.
Trim excess chocolate, if necessary, and serve cold. Store in the refrigerator or freezer in an airtight container.

Chocolate Covered Cheesecake Bites

Natalie — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 01:21:00 +0000

Sometimes I see a recipe somewhere and it just gets stuck in my head. I’ll think about making it time and time again; then it will start showing up in my dreams.. just another sign that I spend too much time thinking about food, yikes!

A while back, I saw these cheesecake bites on Tessa’s blog and pinned them right away. From then on, every time I looked at my pins for dessert inspiration, I would see those cheesecake bites staring me down. I was just waiting for all of the right ingredients to be in my house at the same time- we often have cream cheese and graham crackers, but not always at the same time. That perfect storm finally happened in my kitchen this weekend and I couldn’t wait to try this recipe.

There are a few separate steps with some waiting involved, but I assure you- these are worth the wait. I made the cheesecake portion the night before I served them (they spent the night firming up in the freezer) and did the chocolate dipping the next morning. The dipping brought back some serious memories for me from my teenage years. I was in a girls’ youth group called Job’s Daughters (any former Jobies out there??) and every spring, we made chocolate covered peanut butter eggs as a fundraiser. It’s funny that my muscles still remember how to dip things in chocolate after all these years! The secret is to use a fork for dipping (and if you’re doing a lot of dipping, take an old fork and bend back the two middle tines- that’s the best tool for dipping, hands down).

This recipe is pretty close to Tessa’s, but I changed the cheesecake mixture to include Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. The main reason for doing so was because I didn’t have sour cream on hand, but I loved the subtle tang it gave to the cheesecake. And anything with Greek yogurt in it is obviously healthy. You’re welcome.

These little bites would be great for Easter. I wouldn’t recommend sticking them in any Easter eggs, though, unless you’re hiding your Easter eggs in the freezer (an excellent hiding spot!). They will start to get soft at room temperature, so they’re best kept in the fridge or freezer until right before you’re ready to serve them. I prefer the freezer- the cheesecake really firms up and the squares stay in tact as you eat them.

It would also be fun to try out different cheesecake flavors- I’d love to try a raspberry swirl or peanut butter.. or salted caramel.. cover any kind of cheesecake in chocolate and I’m on board.Thanks, Tessa, for the tasty inspiration!

Chocolate Covered Cheesecake Bites
by Oven Love, adapted from Handle the Heat
Makes about 36 squares

For the crust:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs (from 1 sleeve or 9 crackers)
1 stick butter, melted and cooled

For the filling:

13 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For chocolate coating:

15 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (about two heaping cups of chocolate chips)
4 tablespoons virgin coconut oil

To make crust:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8×8 square baking dish with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

In a small bowl combine graham cracker crumbs and butter. Press mixture evenly into prepared pan. Bake 8-10 minutes, or until light golden and fragrant. Reduce heat to 325 degrees F.

To make filling:

Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth, 2-3 minutes. Add in yogurt, eggs, and vanilla and beat until just combined. Pour mixture over crust and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until cheesecake is slightly puffed and center is set. Cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate until chilled, at least two hours. Freeze 8 hours or overnight.

To coat:

Once frozen, lift cheesecake out of pan and gently peel away foil. Using a sharp knife, cut cheesecake into 36 bite-size squares. If squares become too soft, freeze until chilled again.

Place the chocolate and coconut oil in a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 1-2 minutes, stirring every 20 seconds, until melted and smooth. Place parchment paper or a silicone baking mat on a baking sheet. Dip cheesecake squares, one at a time, in melted chocolate mixture. Let excess drip off and place on prepared sheet. Repeat for all the squares then refrigerate or freeze until chocolate is set. Store squares in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.

cheesecake – Oven Love

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites (No Refined Sugar, Grain-free and Gluten-free Options)

Chocolate Covered Cheesecake Bites