Healthy Chocolate Raspberry Mini Cheesecakes...

At last, I am posting the recipe that goes with the photo you see below! Apologies for the delay. Am enjoying the last days of Spring Break. The Floridian in me is pretty excited about it (hint: it's a well-loved pie!), too.

Regarding comments, I'm sorry to say I cannot keep up with them for the time being. I am merely a student, with my top priorities being school work and other activities on campus. Please do not hesitate to email me. Go ahead and shoot me another one if I miss your first email! I will be creating a separate email account shortly just to respond to blog comments and questions, since they are currently mixed in with my school/work/personal emails. Thank you for your understanding.

At any rate, I hope you will give these easy, tasty cheesecakes a try. You can add what ever berry you like, or perhaps get creative and drop other goodies into the unbaked filling (low carb chocolate chips? sugar-free cookie chunks?!). The gluten-free nut crust could be tweaked with finely ground dried coconut flakes and perhaps a bit of buckwheat flour to make it nut-free for those allergic, but I will leave the experimentation up to you this time!

By the way, these cheesecakes were an entry for a contest sponsored by a sugar-free retailer that occurred ages ago. I have since tested the recipe multiple times, and the results have been met with "winning" ratings by my testers, although these tasty bites did not garner accolades in the official contest. The official contest winners were, incidentally, not low carb dishes. Doesn't the low-glycemic crowd need love too? ;)


Healthy Mini Cheesecakes with Fresh Berries


Serves 8


Chocolate Crust:

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 oz unsweetened chocolate
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon xylitol or erythritol, powdered
1/4 teaspoon pure NuNaturals powdered stevia extract (if using erythritol and not xylitol)
2 tablespoons beaten egg
1/2 cup blanched almond flour
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line a muffin tin with the metal liners containing paper muffin cups. Spray muffin cups with cooking spray. Powder erythritol or xylitol in a coffee grinder or blender. Melt chocolate and butter together in a microwave safe mixing bowl for 35 seconds. Stir well. Heat for another 10 seconds, and stir until chocolate butter is smooth. In another bowl, combine almond flour, salt, baking powder, and cocoa powder. Whisk beaten egg and sweeteners into chocolate mixture. Stir in dry ingredients until a ball of dough forms. Mix dough with clean hands if it becomes too stiff to stir. Grease a pie tin, and line the bottom with a circle of greased parchment paper. Divide dough into eight pieces and press into bottom of greased muffin papers. Poke holes in the crusts with the tines of a fork. Bake for 15 minutes. Freeze crusts for 10-20 minutes, until no longer warm to the touch.

Cheesecake Filling

Ingredients:
1 package cream cheese (8 ounces)
1/2 cup xylitol or erythritol, powdered
1/8 teaspoon pure NuNaturals powdered stevia extract (if using erythritol)
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 large egg
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
½ cup (heaped) fresh raspberries

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Fill a cake pan with an inch of hot water, and place in oven on lowest shelf while you prepare filling. Mix cream cheese with erythritol or xylitol until smooth. Blend in cream, and then beat in extracts and egg. Do not over mix. Drop 4 to 6 (depending on size) raspberries into each muffin cup. Press down gently on berries that stick up. Pour filling into muffin cups all the way up to the top. Bake in the oven on the middle rack for 25 minutes. Cool out on the kitchen counter until room temperature. Refrigerate until chilled and about, about four hours. Best served within two days, as these do not keep well.

Ganache Topping (optional)

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons xylitol or erythritol, powdered
1/8 teaspoon NuNaturals pure powdered stevia extract (if using erythritol)
2 ounces good quality unsweetened chocolate, chopped
¼ cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter, cut into four pieces

Preparation:
Place chopped chocolate, butter, and cream in a microwave safe bowl. Heat on HIGH for 40 seconds, then stir until smooth. Mix in xylitol or erythritol and stevia with a spatula, until uniform in consistency with no clumps. Spread over cheesecakes with the back of a spoon or a clean fingertip. Press a raspberry in the center. Let the ganache set for about 10 minutes, then serve. Prepare ganache immediately before the portions that you are serving. It tastes best served immediately upon chilling.