Cute dessert alert! Your party guests will love these individual-sized Chocolate Cheesecakes. I use gluten-free graham crackers and lighten up a classic cheesecake recipe with Greek yogurt.
A Perfect Party Dessert
Parties and gatherings might look different for you and your family this year. Still, despite continued social distancing, I am sure we are all getting ready for some small but meaningful gatherings! This holiday season, baking multiple holiday pies may be out of the question, so why not make individually sized treats that the whole family can enjoy? My impulse baking has been unmatched these last few months and I have been yearning to find a new recipe to try.
These mini chocolate cheesecakes are a great individually portioned dessert for any chocolate cheesecake fan. They look stunning on a platter and are just so delicious I cannot get enough of them!
You’ll LOVE this recipe because:
- The rich chocolate cheesecake has a light, but ultra-creamy texture, thanks to Greek yogurt. This also brightens up the typical sweetness of cheesecake, making it a great summery dessert option.
- It’s naturally sweetened with maple syrup – just enough without going overboard on added sugars!
- The base is just 2 ingredients — gluten-free graham crackers and butter. It takes minutes to put together!
- They are stunning served with fresh berries and mint. I went with raspberries, but strawberries, blackberries, or banana slices would be equally as good!
How to Make Mini Chocolate Cheesecake
This silicone mold will allow you to make 12 perfect sized cheesecakes in your Superheated Steam Countertop Oven or Sharp SuperSteam+ Built-In Wall Oven. The mold can also be used for homemade nut/seed butter cups, so it’s one you’ll likely get a lot of use out of! If you don’t have this pan, use a muffin tin lined with parchment paper liners.
Step 1: Prep the crust by adding gluten-free graham crackers to a food processor and forming a crumb. Then, add melted butter and pulse to combine into a crumbly mixture.
Step 2: Scoop 1 heaping tablespoon of the graham cracker crust into each cavity.
Step 3: Use slightly wet fingers to press the crust down into each hole. I find this easier to do using the bottom of a glass ramekin about this size. Maybe the bottom of a pint glass would work too?
Step 4: Prepare the chocolate cheesecake mixture by first softening the cream cheese in the food processor, scraping down the sides as necessary, to lighten up the cream cheese, so it mixes well into the other ingredients. Add the rest of the ingredients and process to combine, stopping to scrape a few times. Try not to let it process for too long because you don’t want air bubbles on the tops of your cheesecakes!
Step 5: Divide the chocolate cheesecake batter equally between the 12 mini cheesecakes. Loosely cover the pan with foil.
Step 6: I used my Sharp Superheated Steam Countertop Oven and my Sharp SuperSteam+ Built-In Wall Oven to bake these cheesecakes, meaning this step was super easy — no water bath required! If you do not have a steam oven, you need to fill a baking dish with hot water and place the pan semi-submerged in the water. I use ramekins to hold it up off the bottom of the pan and pour water in until it’s just touching the pan’s bottoms. Just be really careful not to splash the water into the cheesecakes when putting them in the oven!
I use my Sharp Superheated Steam Countertop Oven and my Sharp SuperSteam+ Built-In Wall Oven all of the time! Both ovens are truly such a time saver and the effects of cooking with superheated steam are really remarkable. The Water Bath feature on my built-in wall oven is a virtual Bain-Marie for slow-baking custards, cheesecakes, and puddings, making it the perfect tool in my kitchen for this recipe.
There’s no preheating required on my countertop steam oven, meaning I can reheat leftovers or make a pizza in no time. It really is the ultimate tool for anyone that has hectic schedules or are working from home during these tough times and are looking for a convenient way to cook. I love that this countertop oven features count-down cooking, meaning that when the cooking time is over, the oven turns off. It helps prevent me from overcooking my dishes if I run into another room for a few minutes.
For those of you wondering, what makes a steam wall oven so unique is that uses a Hybrid Convection System that circulates the hot air, steam, and super steam through a damper duct system. Unlike conventional radiant ovens, convection ovens have a fan that continuously circulates air through the oven cavity. When hot air is blown onto food, as opposed to merely surrounding it, the food tends to cook more quickly.
Getting to use it for special desserts like this is a bonus — especially in the summer, baking the cheesecakes in that oven means I don’t have to turn on my big oven. It is such a relief and saves me time and money on my air conditioning bill.
How to Top Off Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes
These cheesecakes are a gorgeous dessert all on their own. Definitely try them with raspberries on top!
If you want to get a little more creative, I suggest:
- A dollop of whipped cream or coconut whipped cream.
- A spoonful of Raspberry Chia Jam
- Mixed berries — add blackberries, blueberries, and sliced strawberries.
- Chopped and toasted pecans
- Toasted coconut flakes
Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes
A fun individual sized cheesecake recipe, with a gluten free crust. These rich dark chocolate cheesecakes are perfect served with berries.
Graham Cracker Crust
- 240 grams gluten free graham crackers or sub regular graham crackers
- 5 tbsp melted butter
Chocolate Greek Yogurt Cheesecake
- 8 ounces cream cheese (full fat)
- 1 cup Greek yogurt (full fat)
- 3 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate melted
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg
Graham Cracker Crust
- Prepare the crust by adding the graham crackers into a food processor, and processing until crumbs form. Add the melted butter, and pulse a few times until combined. Press the graham cracker mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.
Chocolate Greek Yogurt Cheesecake
- Rinse out the food processor bowl, and add the cream cheese. Process to soften the cream cheese, stopping to scrape down the sides if necessary.
- Add the Greek yogurt, melted chocolate, maple syrup, and vanilla. Process until mixed very well. Scrape down the sides as necessary to completely mix into the cream cheese.
- Add the egg, and process again to mix well.
- Pour the cheesecake batter into the springform pan on top of the crust.
- Cover the pan with foil, and then bake in the Sharp Superheated Steam Countertop Oven by setting it to WARM on 275º F for 45 minutes. If baking in a conventional oven, cover the cheesecakes with foil, and bake on 275º for 1 hour.
- Once the cheesecakes are finished baking, allow to cool, and then allow to set for at least 3 hours in the refrigerator.
- Serve the cheesecake with berries or whipped cream.
- Store the cheesecake in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. This cheesecake recipe also freezes well. Wrap tightly, and then store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
