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Right now I have more apples to use up than I know what to do with! I’ve already made applesauce (post coming soon), baked apples, dehydrated apples, apple butter, and toasted apple-cheese sandwiches. Later this week I’m planning to make a savory soup with apples and cheddar, and if I get a chance I want to try my hand at Spiced Apple French Macarons. (So many apples so little time!)
Anyway, back to my Individual Apple Cheesecake Pastries. I wanted a way to use up some of my abundance of apples…I had puff pastry in my freezer that wasn’t earmarked for anything…I’ve been craving a good apple-cheese pastry…and I always have cottage and Neufchatel cheeses in my fridge. There was really no way around it, I had to make these pastries! ;) Like many of my sweets, these aren’t overly sweet (so feel free to add more sweetener if you like things a little sweeter), which means they work well as a breakfast or dessert.
What To Do With the Extra Apple-Cheese Filling: Butter an oven-safe ramekin and cook the extra filling in it. Don’t forget, depending the size of your ramekin, it could take less or more time to cook than the pastries.
Individual Apple Cheesecake Pastries
(Yield: 12 pastries, plus a little extra filling)
1 sheet puff pastry, cut into 12 equal pieces
Butter, to grease the pan
2 c diced apples (about 2 medium apples)
½ c cottage cheese
6 oz Neufchatel cheese
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ tsp lemon juice
¼ c brown sugar
Pinch salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg
Cinnamon
Muffin tray that holds 12 muffins
Lightly butter your muffin tray. Place one piece of puff pastry inside each well of the muffin tray and mold the pastry up the sides of the well (see picture below). (Don’t worry if this looks messy, the filling will completely cover it up.) Use a fork prick the bottom of each pastry. Chill the dough like this in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400F. In a blender or food, process the cottage cheese until smooth (a few lumps are ok), then add the Neufchatel cheese, egg, vanilla, and lemon juice and purée until smooth. Add the brown sugar, a pinch of salt, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, and ¼ tsp cinnamon and process again until smooth. Transfer the cheese mixture to a bowl.
Wash, peel, core, and dice the apples, then mix them into the cheese mixture. Once the dough has chilled spoon the apple/cheese mixture into each muffin well, so that each well is about 2/3 to ¾ of the way full. Sprinkle just a pinch of cinnamon on top of the filling. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, until the pastry is lightly golden and the apple-cheese mixture is mostly set (it will set more as it cools).
Cool completely on a wire rack, then run a knife along the edge of each pastry and gently remove them from the muffin tray.
I’m the writer, recipe developer, photographer, and food stylist behind this blog. I love finding the human connection through something we all do every day: eat! Food is a common ground that we can all relate to, and our tables tell a story. It’s my goal to inspire you to get in the kitchen, try something new, and find a favorite you didn’t know you had.
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Delightful pastries! I bet they taste heavenly!
Cheers,
Rosa
What a fantastic recipe. It is clever and creative and looks delicious.
I’ll trade you one of these cheesecakes for the early ending of Isadora.
Look at all of your wonderful comments. No wonder. Those are the cutest things i’ve ever seen. I’m a tom boy but now I’m questioning that. Those make me want to throw a tea party or invite ladies over for brunch or whatever cute housewives who throw parties do. I really need to get baking again.
I like that your sweets aren’t too sweet. These look perfect and I think that I would have one for breakfast and one for dessert!
Too many apples (& apple recipes) isn’t a bad thing to have! :)
That apple cheese filling sounds delish!
~ingrid
This is one of my favorites from you!
ahhhh adorable! these look sooo good – anything regarding cheesecake sounds amazing to me!
These individual pastries sound scrumptious!
These totally have my name on them. THey look great!!!
Ooooo … another great use for puff pastry! Love the convenience and versatility of it … these apple cheesecake bites would be heaven in my mouth, I just know it!
Oh these sound like such tasty treats and so pretty too.
By making individual, it’s great! No need to think to cut evenly, hehehe…
Wonderful little two-bite desserts! And most of the ingredients are already in our pantries! Don’t you love the ease of working with puff pastry??
Oh! This little apple cheesecakes are great! Lovely idea by using the puff pastry…yummie yummie!
Delicious! Everything you make looks so wonderful. I’m always impressed!
I have way too many apples as well so I guess I’ll be making these! :D
They look fabulous Faith! And I swoon at apple desserts and pastries so this is completely drawing me in. I must go now or I’ll be transfixed all afternoon!
wow!! What a wonderful idea of making small treats. Lovely!!
What heavenly little bundles of joy these are! I have lots of apples to use up too! You’ve been so much more creative than I.
make an apple dapple cake! it might not top these in presentation or heck, even flavor, but it’s darn good.
meanwhile, puff pastry, can you do no wrong? :) and the cottage cheese is a unique addition!
I have the same apple problem… with the addition that I’m leaving town in two days and have no clue what I’m going to do with all the food I have in the house. I guess I could make these and take them with me for snacks though!
Great, creative recipe! They’re kinda like sweet quiches! Love!
We are having a potluck at work next week and I drew dessert, I was racking my brain on what to do and then I came to visit you and…Wala! Problem solved!! Thanks for the wonderful recipe!!!
Amazing and delicious! Surprisingly enough I have everything on hand to make these wonderful treats…guess what I’m making for dessert :)