These bite-sized vegan apple pie cheesecake are easy and delicious! You don’t have to prebake the crust or precook the apple pie filling! The perfect mini dessert for the holidays. Gluten-free.
Coming at your with the perfect bite-size dessert for casual holiday gatherings! Mini Apple Pie Cheesecakes – we know how holiday meals are – you have a big main meal and when you ask who has room for dessert, you get the common answer ” yes, not now, but maybe in a bit”.
Having these individual-sized desserts ready is the perfect solution. You can just put them out on a table and everyone can serve themselves once they are ready for something sweet!
These bite-sized apple cheesecakes are easy and delicious! You don’t have to prebake the crust or precook the apples. Apples are cut really finely so everything can be baked to perfection at the same time!
Why you’ll love these apple pie cheesecake bites
- They are perfect bite size desserts
- they are easy
- they are gluten-free and grainfree
- They are perfect for the holiday season and any season for that matter
- They don’t require prebaking the crust!
More apple desserts:
Gluten Free Apple Pear Crisp Vegan
Apple Cinnamon Scones (No Oil Low Fat)
Apple Cake with Cinnamon Custard
Mini Apple Pie Cheesecakes (Single Serve Vegan Apple Pie Cheesecake)
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 cup (112 g) blanched super fine almond flour or use natural almond flour
- 3 tablespoons tapioca starch or other starch
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon semi-solid refined coconut oil melt before using
- 3-4 tablespoons maple syrup
For the cheesecake filing:
- 3/4 cup (183.75 g) vanilla non-dairy yogurt such as Kite Hill
- 3/4 cup cashews soaked for at least 15 minutes in hot water
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or as needed
For the apple pie topping:
- 1 cup (125 g) finely chopped apples peeled and chopped
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Make the crust: In a bowl add all the dry ingredients for the crust; almond flour, tapioca starch, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and sugar, and mix really well. Press and mix to break all the almond flour lumps, if any.
- Melt your coconut oil if you haven’t already then add it to the bowl with 3 tablespoons of maple syrup.
- Use your hands or a spoon to press and mix really well. The mixture should be slightly dry-ish dough. Only add maple syrup one teaspoon at a time if needed. If there’s too much maple syrup the mixture will become a soft cookie dough and eventually sticky and difficult to work with. Set aside
- Make the cheesecake filling; add all the filling ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Depending on your blender, the consistency of the yogurt, and the cashews, you might need to add 2-4 tablespoons of water to get the filling to a smooth consistency.
- Add the water as needed, one tablespoon at a time, and blend. I usually blend for 30 seconds and let it sit for 5 minutes for the cashews to rehydrate really well and then blend again. Repeat this process 3 or 4 times. Check the consistency in between and add more water if needed. Do not add too much water and keep it a thick creamy consistency. Set the filling aside.
- Line a muffin tin with parchment or muffin liners, or grease really well, and add a parchment holder so that you can pop out the cheesecakes easily.
- If you have a non-stick muffin tin then grease really well. I usually only add a strip or rectangle of parchment across and add the crust on top which helps pop out easily. But if your muffin tin is older and is not non-stick then you’ll need to use muffin liners.
- Once the muffin tin is ready, take small portions of the crust mix and press it into the muffin tin. Do not make a thick crust, just spread it out all the way to the sides of the muffin tin. Then add the blended filling to the crusts. Only fill them a bit over halfway through as we will add apples on top. You will get anywhere from 6-8 mini cheesecakes.
- Make the apple pie topping: In a bowl add all the topping ingredients and mix really well. Top the mini cheesecakes with a good amount of apple topping.
- Preheat the oven to 335ºF (170ºC). Place the muffin tin on a baking sheet and place it in the oven to bake. Check at the 18 -minute mark if the crust starts to turn golden and the apples are somehow baked. If not bake for another 4 to 8 minutes, depending on the oven and the thickness of the crust.
- Remove the muffin pan from the oven and let it cool for 15 minutes before popping the cheesecakes out. Serve them at room temperature or let them chill for 1 hour for a more cheesecakey consistency.
Notes
- For a Carmelo pie-like topping, you can cook the apples beforehand in a skillet to get a saucy caramelized coating on the apples. Cook 5-8 mins.
- Nutfree:, use an alternate crust; which is a regular pie crust with regular or gluten-free flour and vegan butter. For the filling, use 1.5 cups of vegan yogurt instead of cashews. Add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch or tapioca starch to help the filling thicken during the baking process.
- To make the recipe oil-free, omit the oil from the crust and add 1-2 teaspoons more maple syrup.
Nutrition
Ingredients:
- The crust is made with a mix of almond flour and tapioca starch – you can use blanched, or natural almond flour
- coconut oil is used to bring the crust together
- baking soda helps crisp up the cookie crust
- some cinnamon is added to both the crust and the apple pie filling
- as a sweetener we use both sugar and maple syrup
- the cheesecake filling is made using blended soaked cashews
- For the apple pie topping we need about 1 cup finely chopped apples – your favorite kind. The apples are tossed with a bit of cinnamon sugar for that apple pie flavor, oil for shine and maple syrup for moisture
Tips & Variations:
- Add some chopped pecans to the apple topping. For a pie-like topping, you can cook the apples beforehand in a skillet to get a saucy caramelized coating on the apples. Cook 5-8 mins.
- To make this recipe nut-free, use an alternate crust; which is a regular pie crust with regular or gluten-free flour and vegan butter.
- To make the filling without nuts, use 1.5 cups of vegan yogurt instead of cashews. Add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch or tapioca starch to help the filling thicken during the baking process.
- To make the recipe oil-free, omit the oil from the crust and add 1-2 teaspoons more maple syrup.
How to make Vegan Mini Apple Pie Cheesecakes
Make the crust: In a bowl add all the dry ingredients for the crust; almond flour, tapioca starch, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and sugar, and mix really well. Press and mix to break all the almond flour lumps, if any.
Melt your coconut oil if you haven’t already then add it to the bowl with 3 tablespoons of maple syrup.
Use your hands or a spoon to press and mix really well. The mixture should be slightly dry-ish dough. Only add maple syrup one teaspoon at a time if needed.
If there’s too much maple syrup the mixture will become a soft cookie dough and eventually sticky and difficult to work with. Set aside
Make the cheesecake filling; add all the filling ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Depending on your blender, the consistency of the yogurt, and the cashews, you might need to add 2-4 tablespoons of water to get the filling to a smooth consistency.
Add the water as needed, one tablespoon at a time, and blend. I usually blend for 30 seconds and let it sit for 5 minutes for the cashews to rehydrate really well and then blend again. Repeat this process 3 or 4 times. Check the consistency in between and add more water if needed. Do not add too much water and keep it a thick creamy consistency. Set the filling aside.
Line a muffin tin with parchment or muffin liners, or grease really well, and add a parchment holder so that you can pop out the cheesecakes easily.
If you have a non-stick muffin tin then grease really well. I usually only add a strip or rectangle of parchment across and add the crust on top which helps pop out easily. But if your muffin tin is older and is not non-stick then you’ll need to use muffin liners.
Once the muffin tin is ready, take small portions of the crust mix and press it into the muffin tin. Do not make a thick crust, just spread it out all the way to the sides of the muffin tin.
Then add the blended filling to the crusts. Only fill them a bit over halfway through as we will add apples on top. You will get anywhere from 6-8 mini cheesecakes.
Make the apple pie topping: In a bowl add all the topping ingredients and mix really well. Top the mini cheesecakes with a good amount of apple topping.
Preheat the oven to 335ºF (170ºC). Place the muffin tin on a baking sheet and place it in the oven to bake. Check at the 18 -minute mark if the crust starts to turn golden and the apples are somehow baked.
If not bake for another 4-8 minutes, depending on the oven and the thickness of the crust.
Remove the muffin pan from the oven and let it cool for 15 minutes before popping the cheesecakes out. Serve them at room temperature or let them chill for an hour for a more cheesecakey consistency.
Storage
Store refrigerated for upto 4 days. Freeze for longer.
Rebekah
This sounds yummy! I just had oral surgery so I can only have soft food. I would like to make the filling only. Then season the apples, cook on the stove and blend like apple sauce. I do not own non-stick pans. Would you please share what you think would be the best way to bake the filling? Thanks!
Richa
Cook the cheesecake mixture in a saucepan as well. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Once it thickens a bit , transfer to individual serving bowls. Top with the cooked apples and refrigerate to set
Apoorva
Anything to replace store bought vegan curd as it is not available where I am located
Richa
Use more cashews . Add a few tbsp water to make thick cream
Diana
Hi! Do you think using regular all purpose flour would work, rather than almond flour? It’s expensive and I don’t keep it on hand
Richa
You’ll need to adjust the wet ingredients. Add some oil , 1 flax egg and and more maple