Mini Lemon Cheesecakes with Ginger Cookie Crust
These Mini Lemon Cheesecakes are just perfect for a party! The filling is rich, creamy, and full of bright lemon flavor, and the soft and chewy molasses ginger cookie crust is a great compliment. Your guests will love these individual gluten-free desserts!
This is a sponsored post, written by me, and created in partnership with Among Friends baking mixes. All opinions expressed herein are straight from my heart.
Hey everybody! Things are real busy this week with family and holiday stuff, but I just wanted to pop in quick to share this cute recipe idea that I think would be so perfect for entertaining!
I love these little lemon cheesecakes for this time of year, because the ginger and molasses cookie crust just feels so “holiday” to me. But honestly I really think they could work all year ’round, because that lemon-y filling is so bright and fresh!
Wouldn’t these be so cute for a party? I love the mini-size. You can have one of these in one hand, and a glass of champagne or mulled wine in the other 🙂
I used Among Friends’ Shane’s Molasses Ginger Cookie Mix for the crust. This baking mix is made with whole grains, with no gums or fillers, and is totally gluten-free! It’s got a great soft, slightly chewy texture, and I loved the nutty bite from the oat flour. It’s a perfect base for this creamy, citrus-y New York cheesecake filling!
One bag of Among Friends cookie mix yields about 2 dozen cookies, so if you don’t have 2 mini cheesecake pans, you can do like I did and halve the filling recipe, then just make an additional dozen cookies. Or, you could double the filling and do one big cheesecake. I’m including instructions for that in the recipe card below.
I just love these little cuties with a dollop of whipped cream and their little corkscrew curl of lemon zest! You can use a zesting tool like this to get about a 2 or 3 inch long piece of lemon rind, then wind it tightly around a bamboo skewer to get that shape. So fun!
Among Friends has tons of different baking mixes that taste great and are made from wholesome ingredients. You can check ’em out here, and be sure to follow along on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.
If you know (or are!) a cheesecake lover, be sure to have a look at all the different cheesecake recipes I have here on Baking a Moment! There are lots of choices, to please every palate. Have a great weekend!
This post contains affiliate sales links.
Mini Lemon Cheesecakes with Ginger Cookie Crust
Ingredients
For the Molasses Ginger Cookie Crust
- 1 11.9-ounce bag Among Friends Shane's Molasses Ginger cookie mix
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (75.67 g) unsalted butter,, softened
For the Lemon Cheesecake Filling
- 12 ounces (340.2 g) cream cheese, (1 1/2 bricks) softened
- 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice, (juice of 1 lemon)
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest, (zest of half a lemon)
- 1/8 teaspoon (0.13 teaspoon) kosher salt
Additionally
- 1 cup (238 ml) heavy cream
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- zest of one lemon, (for garnish)
Instructions
To Make the Molasses Ginger Cookie Crust:
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F, and lightly mist 2 mini cheesecake pans with non-stick spray.
- Place all the crust ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix on medium-low speed until combined.
- Roll into 1-inch balls, and press into the wells of the pans.
To Make the Lemon Cheesecake Filling:
- Place the cream cheese, sugar, and cornstarch in a large mixing bowl, and beat on medium speed (using the paddle attachment), until smooth.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula after each addition.
- Stir in the cream, lemon juice, zest, and salt.
- Divide the mixture equally between the wells of the pan.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until set around the edges, but still a little jiggly in the center.
- Chill completely before unmolding.
To Garnish:
- Place the cream in a medium mixing bowl and whip until soft peaks form.
- Slowly add the sugar and continue to whip until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
- Place a dollop of whipped cream on each mini-cheesecake, and top with a curl of lemon zest.
Woohoo! These are lemony. Otherwise they turned out well. They sunk quite a bit in the middle, but taste pretty good. I’ll probably add less lemon next time.
Thanks so much for the feedback Jess!
Great flavor combination. Sounds strange but it actually makes me think of gingerbread with lemon sauce!
So happy you like it Kathy! That’s actually exactly what I had in mind when I came up with the idea. 🙂