Bite Sized Ricotta Cheesecakes

I live in house of cheesecake lovers.  Big, small, bite-sized or sliced, it really doesn't matter.  Up until today, the household favorites have always been the raspberry ( or chocolate ) swirl cheesecakes (here) and the  mini mascarpone - chocolate cheesecakes (here).  However, today, we have added yet another version of a cheesecake to the top of the list.

I had saved this recipe from a back issue of donna hay magazine.  Yet, another recipe in my overflowing "file" of all things edible that I hope to accomplish in this life time!  I was reminded of it when I was reading Patricia's blog, Technicolor Kitchen, and of course, she beat me to it!  Hers looked perfectly perfect.

I wanted to give these a trial run for an upcoming dinner event I have next month. My three trustworthy taste testers gave them the thumbs up!  And, I am confident you will too!

Vanilla + Macadamia Crumble Mini Cheesecakes
adapted from donna hay magazine #17
yield 48 bite sized morsels of goodness

ingredients:
cheese cake
370g ricotta cheese
300g cream cheese
1 1/3 cups (267g) caster sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla

base
125g shortbread cookies ( I used these )
1/2 cup (50g) almond meal
45g unsalted butter, melted

crumble topping
100g shortbread cookies
1/2 cup (70g) unsalted macadamia nuts
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbls. brown sugar, packed
50g unsalted butter, melted

instructions:
• preheat oven to 285*
for the base:
• in the bowl of a food processor, process the cookies ( I had some lemon scented sables in the freezer that I baked off, however any shortbread would work ) until crushed.  add the almond meal and the butter and process until combined.
• press 2 tsp. of the crumbs into mini silicone muffin tins. using a 1/8 cup measuring cup ( or a small bottle) flatten the crumbs into the bottom of the pans. refrigerate the crumbs until ready to use.
for the cream cheese filling:
• place the ricotta and the cream cheese in a food processor and process until smooth. add the sugar, eggs and the vanilla and process until combined and smooth.
• pour the mixture almost to the top of the baking cup.  set the silicone muffin pans on a baking sheet.
• bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until set.  rotating pans half way through.
 make the crumb mixture:
• while the cheesecakes are baking, place the cookies, macadamia nuts, vanilla, sugar, and the butter in the bowl of the food processor and process until roughly chopped.
• after baking the cheesecakes, top them with the crumb mixture and bake for another 10 minutes or until the tops are golden.
• cool completely to room temperature.
• once cooled, place trays in the freezer.  once frozen the cheesecakes pop out beautifully.  serve at room temperature!