Sometimes I think that the food-blogging world is a little like the universe: ever-expanding. Virtually every day I seem to discover new, interesting food blogs that I have never come across before. I love this fact, because it means that there is an endless supply of fresh ideas on how to prepare, cook, and consume food. But at the same time, it means that I can lose sight of other blogs that I’ve already been following. There are simply too many wonderful blogs out there and too many great home cooks. I truly wish there was time in the day for me to hit all my favourites and comment on their new recipes, while still finding time to manage my own blog, home and family. I have a rule of trying to hit my friends’ blogs at least once a week. But after almost 2 years as a food blogger, I seem to have made an awful lot of blogger friends.
One of these blogger friends is Diane of Created By Diane. Hers is a lovely blog, filled with lovely creations, all created by…you guessed it…Diane. Like so many of my blogging friends, I can’t actually eat most of her creations, but I can gaze at them longingly. And I find myself doing that quite often. A few weeks ago, however, she put up a creation that I knew I had to find a way to make. These little Gingerbread Cheesecake Bites were adorable and contained several of my favourite holiday flavours in one little bite.
Diane’s original recipe used Pillsbury Gingerbread Cookie Dough for the cookie crust, but that obviously isn’t an option for me. So I set about imagining what I would want my gingerbread cookie dough to be like. I knew I wanted a soft texture that crisped up around the edges and a flavour that had a nice gingery bite to it. I was pretty sure I could achieve the right texture with coconut oil, which always lends a wonderful tenderness to baked goods made with almond flour. I tinkered with the spices until I felt I had the right combination of gingerbread flavour without having it be overpowering. The cheesecake filling part was easy, I didn’t have to adapt much about Diane’s recipe except the sweetener. I did find that I needed a little more filling than she did, but it was easy to make a quick extra bit to fill the last few cookies.
The Results: These were a hit with everyone in the family except my son. To be fair, he didn’t even try them because he steers clear of anything called cheesecake. But the rest of us adored them. The two girls were big fans and kept hoping they could have some after each meal. I popped one my mouth whenever I wanted a sweet treat, and my husband enjoyed them too. I really feel that my son missed out, because they weren’t overly cheesecake-y at all. The flavour was a lovely sweet gingerbread, with a hint of a vanilla cheesecake, and perfect for the holidays.
And there is no question in my mind that were I to serve these to the uninitiated, they would have no idea that they were low carb or gluten free. They were just good, plain and simple, and definitely something I will be making again.
Gingerbread Cheesecake Bites
Cookie Dough:
2 cups almond flour
1/4 cup erythritol
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1 tbsp molasses
16 drops stevia extract
Cheesecake Filling:
6 oz cream cheese, softened
3 tbsp powdered erythritol
1 tbsp whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
15 drops stevia extract
Preheat oven to 350F and line 24 mini-muffin cups with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, erythritol, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum. Stir in egg, coconut oil, molasses and stevia until dough begins to clump together.
Form by hand into approx 1-inch balls (this recipe made exactly 24 for me, so if you find you’ve made your balls too small or two big, go back and redistribute dough). Place dough balls in prepared mini-muffin cups.
Using the end of a wooden spoon, make a well in the center of each ball, pressing dough up against sides of prepared muffin cups.
For the filling, beat cream cheese in a medium bowl until smooth. Beat in powdered erythritol, cream, vanilla and stevia until fully combined. Place the mixture in a pastry bag with a large round tip, or in a ziploc bag with the corner cut off. Squeeze a few teaspoons of filling into the well of each cookie.
Bake 9 to 11 minutes, or until cookie edges are lightly brown and firm to the touch and filling is set. Remove and let cool.
Makes 24. Each Cheesecake Bite has 3.1 g of carbs and 1 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 2.1 g.
Liz J says
Hi Carolyn,
I wanted to try my hand at this, but unsure if I measure the coconut oil before or after it is melted?
Thank you
Lulu says
Hi! Thanks for the recipe. I made them tonight and they were pretty nice. I used butter instead of coconut oil and 10% cream instead of whipping cream. I also didn’t have any muffin liners but they popped out fine.
Next time I will try some real grated ginger in the base and some lemon zest and extract in the cheese for lemon ginger bites! Or I might try putting a little dollop of no carb freezer jam under the cheese for strawberry cheesecake bites. Cheers!
Pam Stone says
I don’t have stevia drops but do have the powder. How much powder equals a drop?
Carolyn says
I would use 1/16 tsp to match the amount of liquid stevia I put in here. Don’t do it by drops, just add that amount total.
Clarice Boyd says
I am intolerant of stevia. If you are using the erythritol, why do you need the stevia?
Carolyn says
Two different sweeteners tend to increase the sweetness and decrease any after taste. But you are welcome to adapt to your own tastes.
juliendbq says
I love the looks of mini muffin anything, but would prefer to make mini muffins into standard sized muffins/cupcakes. I there anything you would suggest to convert this recipe to muffin or cupcake portions? Thanks for all your great work!
Gaelach Aingeal says
These are delectable! I never used blackstrap molasses before but tastes great. The blend of spices give it that warmth for a cool autumn day. The gingerbread portion made 25 mini cupcakes but the cream cheese only filled 18. Pipping was definitely helpful. I put the unfilled gingerbread cupcakes in a baggie to save for when I get more cream cheese. Awesome recipe!
janine says
Just made these and they are wonderful! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Heather says
I don’t have any xantham gum. Can I replace it with cornstarch?
Thanks.
Carolyn says
Just skip it…they should hold together well enough.
Jessica says
I ran out of xanthan gum do you think glucomannan could be used instead?
Carolyn says
I’ve never used it so I am not sure how much to sub, but it probably can.
Diane says
I’ve made these many times now – just recently for our church Christmas social – even nonlowcarbers enjoyed them – I do change them up a bit cause I like more cheesecake to gingerbread ratio – I use 8 oz cream cheese instead of 6 oz plus add little more sweetener with liquid sucralose. I end up with 36 of them instead of 24. Thank you so much for this wonderful delight!!
Carolyn says
So glad everyone likes them!
Mary Beth Hansen says
Another really good recipe. I served at a get-together yesterday, and they were well-liked. I’m not sure that people who don’t use artificial sweeteners all the time would like them as much as I do. That after taste/chill kind of effect of swerve is pretty prevalent.