Cheesecake Bites (Healthy + Easy + Delicious!)
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure.You’ll want to savor every taste of these rich Cheesecake Bites! They are velvety smooth, creamy, and the best decadent low sugar dessert for all occasions.
No one can resist these cheesecake bites because they are so creamy and have the perfect ratio of filling to that buttery, crumbly, graham cracker crust. The best part is that these cheesecakes are great for classy dinner parties or when you want an after-dinner dessert on movie night at home.
In addition to tasting amazing, they are actually MUCH healthier than traditional cheesecakes.
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A slice of the usual variety can run as high as 710 calories and 29 grams of fat! Once in a while, as an indulgence, that’s fine. But I also wanted to create a lightened up version without losing any of the flavor of the original recipe — because why should cheesecake be only a “once in a while indulgence”?
These cheesecake bites are absolutely delicious, skinny, perfectly portioned, and 107 calories per serving. You’ll never have to feel guilty about eating cheesecake ever again!
Tools and Equipment You’ll Need
Recipe Ingredients & Notes
- Graham Crackers: Any graham cracker will work here! For a gluten free crust, try a gluten free graham cracker or cookie.
- Filling: I used low fat cream cheese + low fat ricotta to keep that creamy texture while reducing the overall fat and calories in this recipe
- Sugar: I used granulated sugar, but you can use coconut sugar as well for this recipe.
Step by Step Instructions
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, 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). Cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.
Step 6: Garnish with fresh berries or your favorite toppings.
What Makes These Mini Cheesecake Bites Healthy?
While these cheesecakes aren’t exactly healthy, they are so much better than classic cheesecake recipes. Here is why these mini cheesecake bites are healthier than the traditional version:
- Low Calorie: While a typical piece or cheesecake is going to provide you with hundreds of calories, these cheesecake bites only have around 107 calories per serving. This is ideal because you can get your cheesecake fix without filling up on empty calories.
- Low Sugar: There are only 5 grams of sugar per serving in this recipe! That’s so much lower you could even enjoy two of these bites for less than half the sugar and calories of a regular slice of cheesecake!
Will Kids Enjoy These Cheesecake Bites?
Absolutely, kids will gobble up every last crumb of these cheesecake bites. First, they will be excited that they can have their very own cheesecake and don’t have to share it with anyone. Then they will be thrilled to taste how creamy and rich they are. Unless your kiddo just doesn’t like cheesecake, I don’t think you’ll have any trouble getting them to eat it.
Recipe FAQs
These cheesecake bites will always need to be refrigerated except for when you are serving them. Store them in the fridge in an airtight container, and they will last 4-5 days.
When hosting a dinner party where the cheesecakes may be setting out for longer than 2 hours, it’s best to keep them on ice. To do this I recommend setting them in a sturdy serving tray with deep sides. Then place the tray inside of another container that is filled with ice. You don’t want the ice to get to the cheesecakes, but keeping them on ice will make them last longer while out of the fridge.
Absolutely! To Freeze: Place them an an airtight, freezer-safe container that doesn’t have much room for them to slide around. They will last about 1 month in the freezer.
Recipe Variations
- Fruit: Add your favorite fruits on top of the cheesecakes such as blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, slices of lemon, or anything else you enjoy. You can make several varieties with every batch of cheesecake bites.
- Chocolate: Drizzle melted chocolate on top to give them an elegant look. Mix your favorite chocolate chips with a little bit of coconut oil and melt. Then use a fork to lightly drizzle on top.
- A Different Crust: Instead of graham crackers, use your favorite cookies. Any kind of shortbread or crunchy cookie should work. Just keep in mind that if you change the recipe, you will be changing the nutritional information as well.
- Mix-Ins: Try different jams or even nut butters swirled into the cheesecake filling. Just add 1 tsp of your favorite mix in on top of the cheesecake filling before baking, and use a toothpick or fork to incorporate it into the batter. Then pop them into the oven and bake!
Top Tips For Making Cheesecake Bites
- Use melted butter when preparing the crust. Otherwise, the crust will crumble apart and not stay together.
- Blend the filling ingredients only as long as it takes to make the batter smooth. Don’t overmix — this will incorporate too much air which will make your cheesecake bites rise and then collapse as they cool.
- Don’t overbake the cheesecakes, or they will be dried out and not as creamy and rich.
- If you don’t have ricotta you can use sour cream or marscapone cheese
- Make these gluten free by substituting a gluten free graham cracker or cookie for the graham crackers in this recipe.
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🎥 Watch How to Make It
Cheesecake Bites (Healthy + Easy!)
Ingredients
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 coconut sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 orange zested
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F, and line a muffin tin with liners. Combine crushed graham crackers and melted butter in a small bowl.
- 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).
- Combine the ricotta cheese, cream cheese, 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.)
- Put about 2 Tbsp of the cheesecake mixture in each muffin cup (it should fill the cupcake liners about halfway).
- Bake for 15-20 minutes (up to 25 min depending on your oven) 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).
- Cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.
- Garnish with fresh berries or your favorite toppings.
Notes
- Fruit: Add your favorite fruits on top of the cheesecakes such as blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, slices of lemon, or anything else you enjoy. You can make several varieties with every batch of cheesecake bites.
- Chocolate: Drizzle melted chocolate on top to give them an elegant look. Mix your favorite chocolate chips with a little bit of coconut oil and melt. Then use a fork to lightly drizzle on top.
- A Different Crust: Instead of graham crackers, use your favorite cookies. Any kind of shortbread or crunchy cookie should work. Just keep in mind that if you change the recipe, you will be changing the nutritional information as well.
- Mix-Ins: Try different jams or even nut butters swirled into the cheesecake filling. Just add 1 tsp of your favorite mix in on top of the cheesecake filling before baking, and use a toothpick or fork to incorporate it into the batter. Then pop them into the oven and bake!
- Use melted butter when preparing the crust. Otherwise, the crust will crumble apart and not stay together.
- Blend the filling ingredients only as long as it takes to make the batter smooth. Don’t overmix — this will incorporate too much air which will make your cheesecake bites rise and then collapse as they cool.
- Don’t overbake the cheesecakes, or they will be dried out and not as creamy and rich.
- If you don’t have ricotta you can use sour cream or marscapone cheese
- Make these gluten free by substituting a gluten free graham cracker or cookie for the graham crackers in this recipe.
can’t wait to try this
You will love this recipe Pamela – enjoy!
Absolutely loved this recipe! I found a sugar free Graham cracker recipe and used that in the place of regular graham crackers for this recipe and used brown sugar monk fruit sweetener to replace the coconut sugar. The monkfruit with erythritol will just make the top of the cupcakes look a little whitish colored after cool down and I did get some cracking going on. My husband who usually hates healthy food loved these little bites. Such a yummy recipe!
Aw yay!! I’m so happy to hear that Niki – love that you were able to substitute in the monk fruit as well! Thanks for letting me know!
My daughter and I loved baking these together and they were so yummy and just the right amount of indulgence!
Awesome!! That is so great! My kids love this recipe too!
Can these be made in the mini-cupcake pans? Maybe less cooking time?
Hi Rose! Yes they can be made in mini cupcake pans! I haven’t tried that yet – so I can’t advise on the exact cooking time – but I’d try it out and just watch them in the oven / periodically check so they don’t get overcooked!
Such cute little cheesecake bites. I love that they have coconut sugar in them.
Thanks so much Katherine! Enjoy!
They look gorgeous and my kinda little bites to control the portions.
Absolutely loving it.
Yes! The individual portions are the best!
Absolutely love it!! These cheesecake bites are so delicious with ricotta cheese.
So happy you liked this recipe Sandhya!
These are absolutely adorable! And so delicious too I bet 🙂
Yes!! They are amazingly good!
Beautiful! I love that these are made with ricotta cheese and are the perfect guilt free little bites. Thanks for this!!
Thank you so much Farah!! 🙂
These sound delicious! I especially love that the recipe is simple but can probably fool others into thinking otherwise 😉 With temptation around every corner during the holiday season, these sound like a verrrry good idea. Definitely pinning these for my next get-together!
Aw thanks Anna! And yes — this recipe is a great way to fool people into thinking they’re eating something decadent because it really does taste great! Let me know how these turn out when you make them! 🙂
These look amazing! I love cheesecake, but so do my hips 🙂 These will be perfect for my holiday party!
Woohoo! Thanks Pam – let me know how your guests like them!
These look so yummy! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Thanks Marjorie! I’m sure you will love this recipe if you try it!
I love individual desserts!
Me too! 🙂