This cheesecake with an almond crust and vanilla bean will make you, family and guests wanting more. Top it with chocolate sauce or a berry sauce.
Crust:
1 cu. almond meal
1 cu. almond flour
1/4 cu. sugar
1/4 cu. butter, room temperature
Filling:
16 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup.sugar
1 1/2 vanilla beans, scraped or 1 tablespoon vanilla
2 eggs
Top with magic chocolate sauce or a berry sauce
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Combine crust ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat for a minute or two, until well-combined. Press into the bottom of your small 4" springform pans or cupcake liners. If you are making miniature cheesecake bites, drop about a teaspoon of the crust mixture in the bottom of each cupcake liner. Then press it flat. Avoid getting too much of the crust on the sides of the cupcake liners, or you won't have much room for the filling.
Bake the crusts for 10 minutes and then remove from the oven. Let cool before filling.
Combine filling ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat for a few minutes, until completely smooth. Scoop filling onto the prepared crusts and smooth the top. If you are making bite-size mini- cheesecakes, about a tablespoon of the filling mixture will fit in them.
Bake the miniature cheesecakes for 20 minutes, or just until set. The small cheesecake pans will need to bake for 30-35 minutes, until the center is barely set.
Remove from the oven, let rest until room temperature and then chill until ready to serve. Chill the cheesecake bites at least 2 hours before serving and chill the small cheesecakes for at least 4-6 hours.
Top with chocolate sauce or berries just before serving.