Miniature gluten free cheesecakes with homemade gluten free Thin Mint copycat cookie crusts.
First things first. I made these mini cheesecakes with my copycat recipe for gluten-free Thin Mints. That's why they're mini gluten-free thin mint cheesecakes.
But you can use any of the crunchy cookie options that I have in my gluten free cookie recipe index. I love the combination of the delicate chocolate-mint cookie with the creamy New York-style gluten free cheesecake.
The mini semi-sweet chocolate chips are just me, gilding the lilly. And do us all a favor and bake them in a water bath (or bain marie). It helps them bake evenly and ensures that they won't crack. It's worth the trouble.
What I'm trying to say is this: growing up is hard to do, don't you think? And it's even harder when there is both narrative and photographic evidence of your earliest efforts, deep in your blog archives.
Mini Gluten-Free Thin Mint Cheesecakes
Ingredients
16 ounces (2 packages) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
2 eggs (100 g, weighed out of shell) at room temperature, beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 recipe gluten-free Thin Mint cookies (minus the glaze)
4 ounces miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with greaseproof liners, and set it aside.
Make the cheesecake batter. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a bowl with a hand mixer), beat the softened cream cheese on medium-high speed until it is light and fluffy. Add the sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt, beating on medium-high speed after each addition until smooth.
Make a water bath, or bain marie, for the cheesecakes. Place one cookie in the bottom of each muffin liner, and press down gently so that it sits on the bottom of the liner but does not break. With a spring-loaded ice cream scoop, fill each well about 3/4 of the way full with the cheesecake batter. Shake the pan from side to side to distribute the cheesecake in an even layer. Sprinkle the tops of the cheesecake batter with a few of the (optional) miniature chocolate chips. Place a large baking dish with at least 4 inch sides, into which your muffin tin can rest, in the center of the preheated oven. With the oven rack halfway out, fill the large pan halfway with water (or high enough that the water will come at least halfway up the undersides of the wells of the muffin tin). Rest the muffin tin on top of the water bath in the large pan, carefully slide in the rack and close the oven. Bake, without opening the oven, for about 30 minutes or until the cheesecakes are set. Turn off the oven, and allow the cheesecakes to sit in the oven with the door ajar until the oven temperature cools to about 200°F.
Remove the pans from the oven and place the muffin tin on a wire rack to allow the cheesecakes to cool completely. Remove from the muffin wells and serve. Store any leftover cheesecakes in a sealed container in the refrigerator. They keep well for at least 2 days.
Michelle says
I think you are being too hard on yourself regarding your old posts. I can say with assurance that I never read an older post and critique your writing or your photography. Mostly I just marvel that you are able to come up with so darn many recipes! I think you have a recipe for almost anything a gf person could want.
Cheesecake *and* thin mints in the same dessert? Fabulous. Oh, and I agree- a bain marie makes cheesecakes really creamy and wonderful.
ShawnBeautiful says
Thank GOD for the greaseproof muffin liners. I’d hate to explain why I was looking at nude chef for gluten free recipes. Shawn
Jennifer Tilton says
I love your posts, even the old ones! You talk to me like my best friend, so don’t change anything. And I like your pictures too; who wants fancy when we all know that our kitchens are anything but. I don’t get a chance to style food; it disappears into the gaping maw called my daughter before it hits the plate half the time.
Kendra Mitchell says
Oh, Nicole! You know I love you. And the fact that you let your gawky, pimply, early posts stay makes me feel better about myself. I currently don’t have a stove or oven (kitchen remodel) and can’t manage much in the way of anything with only a gas BBQ grill, an electric skillet and a crock-pot, but I still look forward to reading your post every day because you make me smile, and that counts for a lot! Looking for the light at the end of this tunnel when I will have my double oven and 6 burner range top, but doing all the work ourselves means it is a looooong tunnel. Please keep making me smile!
Jennifer S. says
You are hilarious! Good thing I just made a double batch of the cookies this weekend for us. I’m going to throw them in already dipped in chocolate just to see what will happen…..
Good, bad, or ugly – we thank you for all that you do! :)
Missy says
Where do you get your grease proof muffin liners?
gfshoestring says
Hi, Missy,
Just search “greaseproof cupcake liners” on amazon.com, and you’ll have your pick! No one source is really better than others, really. There are also a number of independent websites that sell them, but I think they’re all pretty equally overpriced! I order them all over the place, always trying to chase the best value.
xoxo Nicole
Molly Cavanaugh says
It’s nice to hear about your progression from awkward “teenage” food stylist to experienced photo maven. Gives me hope for my own cooking endeavors. Also, I’m pretty sure I’d have read “greaseproof liners” and assumed you meant the cheapo Reynolds liners, or just decided to go with them anyway. Oops!
gfshoestring says
I’m afraid I’m still progressing toward adult, Molly, but at least I’m far from the awkward teen stage! Those Reynolds liners are maddening. Don’t use them! ;)
xoxo Nicole