Back to the Classics: Steakhouse Edition: Cheesecake

Cheesecake is normally a most "sinful" dessert at a Steakhouse so I made this a bit more "house" friendly and made them lower fat.

Low Fat Mini Cheesecakes

For the crust:

1/2 cup finely crushed graham crackers (about 7 graham crackers)

2 Tbsp butter, melted

For the filling:

8 oz low-fat cream cheese

1/4 cup low-fat ricotta cheese

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 orange, zested

1 egg

Directions

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350° F, and line a muffin tin with liners. Combine crushed graham crackers and melted butter in a small bowl.

Step 2: Tightly pack 1 tsp of the graham cracker mixture into the bottom of each muffin cup, and press down firmly (this will be the crust).

Step 3: Combine the ricotta cheese, cream cheese, vanilla, sugar, orange zest, and egg in a food processor, and blend until smooth. (If you don’t have a food processor, you can do this in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer.)

Step 4: Put about 2 Tbsp of the cheesecake mixture in each muffin cup (it should fill the cupcake liners about halfway).

Step 5: Bake for 25 minutes, or until the center is almost set (you can put a toothpick in the center of one mini cheesecake and see if it comes out almost completely clean to test this).

Step 6: Cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

Step 7: Garnish with crushed graham crackers (about 1/4 tsp to 1/2  tsp per mini cheesecake).

Excuse the residue on the pan.

I used a regular size cupcake pan and I did not have enough crust! I would add about 1/4 cup more crumbs and 2.5 tbsp of butter for the crust so that it actually feels like there is a solid base. These turned out pretty well. I like a tart Cheesecake which this was not. The addition of a bit of Sour Cream would not go amiss with me. Next time I will change it up!

Until the next dessert....