American Chocolate Week: Gluten Free Dark Chocolate Coffee Mini Cheesecakes

It’s American Chocolate Week and I confess, I am a chocoholic.

So of course when I first tasted Ocean Ranch Organic’s Dark Chocolate Coffee Bean Gluten Free granola, it was love at first bite. I’ve been super into baking lately, since being at home so much, and I’ve always wanted to try making a cheesecake, so I thought why not? Combining two of the tastiest things I can imagine, here is a recipe for Gluten Free Mini Cheesecakes with Dark Chocolate Coffee Granola Crust. I really don’t think it can get any better than this.

The best thing about this recipe is the crust is basically already made for you. All you have to do is toss the gluten free granola with melted butter and you have a perfectly made crust! The only thing you will need to do to prep is make sure that your cream cheese, eggs, and sour cream are room temperature, so make sure to take them out of the fridge ahead of time.

These mini cheesecakes are perfect for your next celebration or just a treat for yourself. They are the optimal size for satisfying that sweet tooth quickly and they are oh-so-creamy. We hope you enjoy this recipe.

 

Ingredients

 

For the crust:

1 cup Ocean Ranch Organic Dark Chocolate Coffee Bean Gluten Free Granola

3 1/2 tbsp of unsalted melted butter

 

For the filling:

16 oz full fat brick style cream cheese*

1/3 cup sour cream* (can use plain Greek yogurt as well)

½ cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs*

(* room temperature)

 

Make the Crust

This is the easiest part of the recipe!

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Line a cupcake tin with liners and set aside. In a medium sized bowl, add the one cup of granola. Place your butter in a microwave safe container and microwave on high for 30 seconds or until fully melted. Pour the melted butter over the granola and mix with a spoon thoroughly. With a metal spoon, distribute the mixture into the muffin tin evenly. Once evenly distributed, take the back of your spoon and firmly press down on the granola mixture into an even layer. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. Keep oven on at 325 degrees.

Make the Filling

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment (or a large mixing bowl with electric mixer), mix the cream cheese and sour cream together until smooth. Add the sugar and vanilla extract until fully combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Then, mix in the eggs, one at a time on low until fully combined. Make sure to not over mix the eggs! This will cause your cheesecakes to crack. Evenly distribute the batter into each liner almost to the top.

Bake

Bake at 325 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the tops of the cheesecakes are set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 1 hour. After an hour, remove from the tin and place in an airtight container in the fridge for at least 3 hours (best to refrigerate overnight if possible). These cheesecakes can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.