Creamy cheesecake bites, flavored with pear nectar, with graham cracker–granola crust.
Pear Cheesecake Bites
2014-08-27 20:58:20
Yield: 2 dozen miniature cakes • Preparation: 25 minutes • Bake: 15 to 20 minutes • Cool: 30 minutes • Refrigerate: 1 hour
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups granola cereal
- 1 cup graham-cracker crumbs
- ¾ cup sugar, divided
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 egg white, lightly beaten
- 1 (5.5-ounce) can pear nectar
- 1 (2.35-gram) bag herbal spiced tisane*
- 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
- 1 (4-ounce) package goat cheese
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Garnish: sugared thyme†
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- In a small bowl, combine granola, graham-cracker crumbs, and ¼ cup sugar. Add melted butter and egg white, stirring to combine. Press mixture into bottoms and halfway up sides of 2 (12-cup) miniature cheesecake pans.‡ Bake for 5 minutes. Set aside.
- Increase oven temperature to 375°.
- In a small saucepan, bring pear nectar to a boil over medium-high heat. Add tisane bag. Remove pan from heat. Steep for 10 minutes. Remove and discard tisane bag. Set nectar aside.
- In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add goat cheese, and continue beating until combined. Gradually beat in remaining ½ cup sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and reserved nectar, stirring to combine.
- Evenly divide batter (approximately 1½ tablespoons) among prepared crusts, filling two-thirds full. Bake until puffed and set, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for approximately 30 minutes. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.
- Garnish with sugared thyme, if desired.
Notes
- *For testing purposes, we used Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice herbal tea.
- †Lightly coat 24 thyme sprigs with cooking spray. Sprinkle with sugar. Use immediately as a garnish.
- ‡Chicago Metallic and Norpro both manufacture miniature cheesecake pans. These pans have 12 wells (or cups) and have removable bottoms. Look for them wherever bakeware is sold.
TeaTime Magazine https://teatimemagazine.com/
Trying to find out where to buy mini cheesecake pans
Sur La Table, a kitchen store with locations around the country, sells the Chicago Metallic cheesecake pan mentioned in the recipe. Here’s a link: http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-555284/Chicago+Metallic+Mini+Cheesecake+Pan
The Norpro version is available online at Target.
http://www.target.com/p/norpro-mini-cheesecake-pan-black/-/A-14097599#prodSlot=medium_1_1&term=mini+cheesecake+pan
The main page shows this as a pinwheel swirl- how do you make that????????
Hello Sharon! I’m not quite sure which pinwheel swirl to which you are referring. We do have a recipe for Strawberry Cheesecakes that are also bite-sized and feature a swirl design (http://bit.ly/2gFWZBW). Could this be what you were looking for? I hope this helps.