Gluten-Free Cheesecake Bites

There’s no other way to celebrate National Cheesecake Day (July 30) than with some gluten-free cheesecake bites! Cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts and making it gluten-free was much easier than I expected. There’s so many delicious options to use for the crust, but I decided to use some leftover cookies that I made and WOW, did that take my cheesecake to the next level! Now, the real question is- how many cheesecake bites equal one slice?

Ingredients

For the Crust:

• 1 cup gluten-free baking flour
• ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ¾ cup unsalted butter
• ¾ cup cane sugar
• 1 large room temperature egg
• Zest from 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

For the Crust:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
2. In a bowl, combine flour, xanthan gum, cinnamon, salt and baking powder
3. In another bowl, use an electric mixer to beat ½ cup of unsalted butter and sugar together
4. Once combined, add the egg, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla extract
5. Once the wet ingredients are smooth and creamy, slowly add the dry ingredients in
6. Use the electric mixer to combine the ingredients
7. Use a cookie scooper to put the batter on the parchment paper
8. Bake for 13 minutes
9. Once cooled, add to a food processor with 4 tablespoons of melted butter and pulse for 1 minute
10. Add paper tins to a 16 tin muffin tray, then add 1 spoonful of the crust into each tin
11. Cook for 10 minutes then remove from oven

For the Filling:

1. Run warm water over cream cheese to soften it then remove from wrapping and add to a bowl
2. Add sugar and use an electric mixer to beat on high for 2 minutes until creamy
3. Add the eggs and mix together again
4. Then, add the sour cream, lemon juice, cornstarch and vanilla
5. Use the electric mixer again to combine all the ingredeints

To make the Cheesecakes:

1. Lower the heat of the oven to 300 degrees F
2. Scoop 2 spoonfuls of the cheesecake filling into the muffin tins
3. Use a spatula to smooth the tops of each and smooth with a spatula
4. Cook the cheescakes bites for 55 minutes
5. Once cooked, allow to cool for one hour
6. Remove the cheescakes from the tins and place on a plate or tray to cool in the fridge for 4-6 hours

Add Fresh Berries and Enjoy!

I love topping my cheesecake with fresh raspberries and if I have time, homemade caramel sauce! Which do you prefer baked or no-baked cheesecake?

From start to serving, these cheesecakes bites take about 8 hours to make (if you count the cooling process). While they’re definitely not the quickest dessert, they’re so worth it!

If you like this recipe, comment below!