Mini Chocolate-Chip Cheesecakes

Lately in the blogosphere there was chocolate temptation everywhere I looked.. so I started craving it as well. Combined with the fact that there was a pack of Low fat Cream cheese lying in our refrigerator, an idea for a cheesecake + chocolate temptation was formulated and soon I was browsing several cheesecake recipes. I finally narrowed it down to a few and made a few changes to suit our palate and pantry.

The measurements below make 6-7 mini-cheesecakes and was extremely easy to whip up. It also tasted very good with a top layer or creaminess and a bottom layer of chocolatey goodness - perfect! This recipe is a very basic one so it lends itself to quite a few modifications and flavorings so the possibilities are endless.

MINI CHOCOLATE-CHIP CHEESECAKES

Ingredients:
Lowfat Cream Cheese - 1 pack (8oz), softened (brought to room temperature)
Sugar - 1/3 cup
Flour (All purpose) - 1/2 tbsp
Egg - 1

Semi-sweet Chocolate chips - 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup (as per taste)

For Crust:
Chocolate Graham Crackers - 1/2 cup, powdered (you could use Plain or Honey)
Margarine - 1/2 tbsp, melted

Method:


1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line muffin tins with paper cups (no need to grease)

2) For the crust: Combine powdered graham crackers and melted margarine in a bowl (it will be powdery). Divide this mixture equally and press into base of paper cups. Refrigerate this while the filling is done.

3) For the filling: Beat softened cream cheese, sugar and flour till combined and fluffy. Add egg and beat again for a few minutes. Stir in the chocolate chips.

4) Fill the muffin cups to the top with cream cheese mixture and bake for 25-30 minutes. (Don't let the tops crack). Remove, cool completely and then refrigerate for about 4-5 hours before serving.

You could top with chocolate shavings but I just added raspberries that I froze.



Variations:

  • Melt half of the chocolate chips and beat into the cream cheese mixture before stirring in the remaining half.

  • Skip the chocolate, add a swirl of raspberry or strawberry puree, sweetened with some sugar if necessary, after pouring the cream cheese mixture into the muffin cups. Also substitute chocolate graham crackers with honey graham crackers.

  • Make the crust with crushed Oreo cookies and add some chopped oreos to the creamcheese filling.

Comments

  1. Its like a Mexican wave. There are so many temptations here :). You made a low-fat one too. Looks lovely!

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  2. yummy laavanya...my mouth is watering..incidently i was thinking to make something with choc chip too :D

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  3. that looks so adorable Laavanya! very nice creation. hats off to you.

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  4. yup, it's easy to give in to choc temptations, like i'm doing now looking at that gorgeous yummy cake :)

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  5. I just love cheesecake...I dont know where we get it in India though....drooling over urs

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  6. Wonderful Laavanya... I never experimented with cheesecakes... bookmarked urs!!! Yours looks Gorgeous!!

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  7. Looks incredible lavanya, i have never made a cheesecake till now!!
    u made it look so simple n easy

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  8. i absolutely love cheesecake and this is a different shape than i have normally seen :)

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  9. and i thought we were done with chocolate for now!!!! :D. looks so cute.

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  10. Just last night, my son asked for Cheese cake!:))
    Looks yummy.

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  11. Lovely looking raspberry on the top!

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  12. gorgeous. i would like to try this with an oatmeal crust. thanks for the recipe.

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  13. WOW Lavanya, delicious, will make these for sure

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  14. OMG! I have to make this but I still have my pineapple pudding & banana bread(I eat that as a dessert with whipped cream).
    So this is what you were talking about,huh?
    Looks great & I like the first pic.
    This has been bookmarked, my friend!:-)

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  15. I luv cheese cakes and this would be a real treat. Hope I can take some time to try these

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  16. nice one laavanya! cheese is just so divine! I'd go with the raspberries variation instead of chocolate with cheese:)

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  17. Fantastic !! I have drooled all over my keyboard.

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  18. Thank you Pushpa.

    True Suganya.. this chocolate temptation is infectious. Thanks.

    Thanks Rajitha. Waiting for your choc. treat.

    Sharmi.. that's very kind of you.

    Richa.. looking is okay and even eating one is okay. Stopping with that is the issue with me :)

    Bhags, I remember seeing one version that Nandita created using thick yogurt.

    Cinnamon.. I hope you try it. It was a breeze to make.

    Thank you TimePass

    Padmaja, it really is easy. Give it a shot.

    Nags, I made them in mini muffin cups to exercise some kind of portion control :)

    Lakshmi, are we ever done with chocolate?? :) Thanks.

    Asha, Maybe you ought to make this to indulge him.

    Thanks Padma & Sirisha.. :)

    Bee, that's a great idea to have an oats crust. Since Graham crackers are slightly better than other cookies, I didn't think too much about changing the crust. Will remember oats for next time.

    Bindiya, I sure do hope you try them.. Let me know.

    TBC, Yes this is what I was referring to. Once your other lovely desserts are over, you can give this a try. Thanks.

    Rina, it's super easy to make. Hope you try.

    Thank you Manasi. I love the idea of raspberry puree.

    Thank you so much Pooja.

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  19. Wow, this looks wonderful. Also, is it my imagination or does it also seem kinda low in fat ;)

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  20. Lavanya,
    This is awesome, I love cheesecakes.this is a must try.Pic looks good too

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  21. Make me crazy.....my dear....Send some pieces!!!!!!!!

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  22. It looks so cute Laavanya. Very nice. Viji

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  23. Though i dont prefer to have cakes, this looks very cute and feel like starring at the picture.

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  24. What a great combo. I adore mint anything. Great pictures.

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  25. That is a gorgeous cake Laavanya! Looks yummy!

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  26. Looking lovely laavanya! I just love all the petit cakes posted in all the blogs. I feel I am so lazy to make these ! I better search or buy new muffins before I get a complex!:D

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  27. Thank you Dhana. It is a shade better when compared to store bought ones. I calculated them to be about 200 cals (approx) per cheesecake.

    Sreelu.. Thanks. I hope you try it.

    Gini, Cynthia, Kajal, Viji, Nirmala and Sig - Thank you! :)

    Seec, how come you don't like cakes? This doesn't taste so much like a cake though.

    Latha maami, when compared to so many of the fundoo recipes you make this is extremely easy. Just beat, mix, pour and bake. :)

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  28. Lovely! chocolate and cheesecake both my favorites...so this makes this makes these mini cheesecakes absolutely Divine!!! :)

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  29. You've a great blog and I was very impressed with this cheesecake. I tried it tonight and I didn't seem to have enough filling to fill 12 cups. I used a regular muffin pan. Should I've used a mini-muffin pan?

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  30. Hi Uma, Thank you so much for your comments and for trying out this recipe. You will notice that I've mentioned that this makes 6-7 mini cheesecakes when you use the std. size muffin pan (2nd para)... not 12. Hope this helps. Please let me know if there are any other qns.

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  31. Hi,

    Will this work if i use either flax seed or ener-g egg substitute? I want to pour the mix in store bought small pie crusts. will that be ok too? Also, could you tell me how much of fruit puree should be used when making variations ? I am thinking strawberry and mango. I would love to make this soon.

    Thanks,
    Anusha

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  32. To be honest I have not tried cheesecake with any egg substitutes so I wouldn't be able to tell you if it would or not work - sorry.
    As for using storebought pie-crusts, you do get mini graham cracker crusts... that are available on the same section.. those would be a better fit for cheesecake than piecrusts.

    For the amount of fruit puree, I would recommend about half cup of fruit puree for every 8oz of cream cheese. Hope that helps.

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