Gingerbread Cheesecake Bites
Want an amazingly delicious bite size dessert that is a crowd pleaser…. these Gingerbread Cheesecake Bites are a true winner!
Gingerbread Cheesecake Bites
We woke to 39 degrees, it’s much colder than the 95 degree days we had a week ago.
It’s a hot tea and cookie type of day.
With the smell of gingerbread in the oven, I think I need to start writing my Christmas list…
Have you written your list yet?
Do you have a running list that starts on Jan 1st and you just keep adding to it all year long?
Do you just jot down a few things it would be nice to have?
Do you rely on someone selecting the perfect gift with no list at all, or d
o you know exactly what you’d like to receive?
Just imagine the Christmas Carols playing in the background and the aroma of gingerbread baking in the oven.
Nothing says happiness at this time of year more than great baked goods, no matter what’s on your list.
This recipe combines two great holiday favorite flavors, gingerbread and cheesecake, and a winning duo it is!
One bite in and you’ll know exactly why these are so popular, the cookies has a nice spicy crunch while the cheesecake filling is creamy and rich and oh so delicious.
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To help you get in the baking mood, I created these quick and easy cheesecake filled gingerbread cookies.
In just a few simple steps your kitchen will smell like the holidays too.
Begin with a 30 oz. roll of Pillsbury Gingerbread Cookie Dough or USE MY GINGERBREAD COOKIE RECIPE if you want it all to be homemade or you can’t find the Pillsbury dough.
Roll 2 teaspoons of gingerbread dough into balls and place them into a mini cupcake/muffin pan with paper liners.
Make a well or indentation in each ball to fill the cookies.
To create the indentations in the cookie dough, place the end of a mini rolling pin or back of a measuring teaspoon dipped in flour and press into the dough.
Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla to create the cream cheese filling.
Place filling into a piping bag, cut off the edge, and fill each with a teaspoon or so of cheesecake mixture.
Do not overfill the dough, when the cookie bakes it will rise.
Take a look at the photos above and the final photos to see the difference.
See the dough puffs up!
Bake at 350 degrees for 9 minutes, or until the cookie part comes out with a nearly clean toothpick,
they will continue to bake a bit when the pan is out of the oven cooling down.
*****Substituting the gingerbread cookie dough has been a problem for many who couldn’t find the Pillsbury Dough, some gingerbread cookie doughs are soft and then when they are baked the filling absorbs into the dough as it bakes.
I have made these many times with my own gingerbread cookie dough recipe, it takes minimal ingredients and turns out great. So no need to hunt around for the cookie dough, you can make it.
CLICK HERE for the GINGERBREAD COOKIE RECIPE
These were baked with my gingerbread cookie recipe.
But don’t forget to put the paper liners in the pans. I tried them without liners and they were hard to get out of the pan.
Gingerbread Cheesecake Bites
Ingredients
- 1 batch of gingerbread cookie dough my homemade recipe is linked in the post, you'll need to print it separately or use a (30 oz) package of Pillsbury Gingerbread Cookie Dough (refrigerated section)
- 4 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Roll two teaspoons of cookie dough into a ball for each cookie. Place balls of dough into paper liners mini cupcake/muffin pan. Make a well/indentation into each ball of dough with a flour dipped mini rolling pin or the back of a measurement teaspoon.
- Beat room temperature cream cheese with powdered sugar. Stir in vanilla. Place filling into a piping bag, cut off the edge of the bag. Place one teaspoon or so of filling into each area of cookie dough.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 9 minutes or until cookie tested with a toothpick comes out almost clean.
- Don't overfill the cookies with filling as they will rise when baked.
- Let cool before removing it from the cupcake pan.
Notes
The cookie dough is firm.
If you use another cookie dough and it is on the soft side, add 1/2-1 cup flour. The cookie dough should be on the FIRM side so the filling does not get absorbed by the cookie dough as they are baking.
***update*** there is a bit of rise and fall when baking the gingerbread pre-made cookie dough. Add 1/4 cup flour to the cookie mixture and the dough will be a little firmer and will bake up with less puff, then there will be less collapsing of the dough when cooling. The gingerbread cookie and filling can be refrigerated to get them back to a cool temperature before baking and that too will help if the filling is melting or the cookie dough is rising too much. You can also bake the cookie cups empty and add the cheesecake filling when the cookie cups are cooled.
Take a look at this, make these Cookies all with ONE dough.
If you like PUMPKIN then you will LOVE these Pumpkin Spice Bites
Diane, how creative, these look so good!!!!
need now
Just received mini muffin tins for Christmas so making these.
I had some trouble with this recipe and I’m not sure why. The cheesecake filling came out hard and crusty on top and runny in the middle. I double and triple-checked the recipe and was following it exactly. Any idea why this may have happened?
Tried twice…failed twice. Cream cheese was not microwaved nor off brand so these were not factors. Since the filling is cream cheese and sugar we will make another batch of filing and pipe in the now empty cookie shells and refrigerate until serving.
should the leftovers be kept refridgerated?
Just curious if the leftovers should be kept refridgerated?
Just made these sweet babies!!!
I modified the recipe a bit. I added a couple of tablespoons of sour cream and a pinch of nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves to the sour cream……
Absolutely Yummy!!!
Thanks for the recipe!
These look delicious!!! I love the mini size!!!
I wasn’t able to find the pillsbury gingerbread cookie dough in any of my local grocery stores including wal Mart & Safeway!!! 🙁 I still plan to bake these today with a homemade gingerbread cookie recipe but not sure what recipe I should go with or whether they will turn out the right way?? This is a recipe I found online..will it work the same?
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup molasses
2 teaspoons vanilla
Thank you!!!
The biggest problem people are emailing me about with this recipe has to do with the filling. The only conclusion I’ve come to through emailing back and forth with people is the microwaved the cream cheese to soften it and that will certainly change the consistency. I left the cream cheese on my counter for about a half hour and it beat nicely and was nice and thick when I put the cheesecake mixture into the cookie dough. The other issue was oven temperature. If your oven runs on the hot side drop the temperature 25 degrees. I baked these in the upper 1/3 of my oven. I hope these tips help. I have received emails of plenty of people having great success with the recipe as it is, and people even posting them on their website with photos and they look just as mine do. If you have any other questions feel free to ask. You can email me directly if you’d like created by diane blog at verizon.net
As far as the gingerbread recipe. Since I haven’t used that recipe I really don’t know how it will be, just be sure it’s a bit on the thick side, the gingerbread cookie dough I used was firm.
I had a problem at first. But then I figured it out. It happened by accident when I ran out of filling. I had half of a pan ready to go but the other half needed more filling. I put the pan in the fridge while I made up more cream-cheese mixture. I filled the cooled cookies and put them in the oven. One side came out perfect the other side was a mess. So my theory is COOL THE ENTIRE TRAY FOR 20 IN THE FRIDGE BEFORE BAKING THEM!!! =D
i TRIED THESE WITH MORE CREAM CHEESE AND 1 EGG AND THE MIXTURE DID NOT DISSOLVE INTO THE COOKIE. GREAT RECIPE.
That is so great, Pillsbury wanted three ingredient recipes I think 5 would have been nice. I’ve not had any filling bubble over or disappear and have made five varieties of these. After discussing it with the people who had trouble, we came to the conclusion that it’s most likely their ovens run hot, for that result to have happened. Glad you had success.
I’m going to make these this year for Christmas…I’m going to swich up the filling though, I’d rather have a more cheesecake filling than a cream cheese icing filling. so I’ll use my fave cheesecake recipe (adding an egg, much less sugar and a little vanilla) Can’t wait to taste them! thanks for the inspiration!
Do these need to be served warm or room temp? I want to make these the day before Christmas and I’m struggling with how to serve them!
Thanks Diane! Even though my filling melted into the cookie some too, I still won “Best Tasting Cookie” at a cookie exchange last night! There were about 25 other entries. My prize was an adorable little sparkly living tree 🙂
oh that is so exciting that you won!!!
you got this from pillbury
the recipe
I was asked by Pillsbury to create this recipe, if you are seeing this on Pillsbury’s Website it is my recipe.
I cant find premade gingerbread cookie dough anywhere…what store is this available in LOL
I found it in my local grocer store (Ralph’s) If you can’t locate it, you could use a package (Betty Crocker makes one) just add an additional 3/4 cup flour to thicken it up so they don’t swell too much.
I tried so hard to make these but they just didn’t turn out right 🙁 Im sure I did something wrong. I did use the emaculate cookie dough, but the filling just kinda dissolved right into the cookie? I am going to try again they just look too good! Thanks Diane for the recipe.
I’m not sure why the filling disappears, unless it’s too thin. I would try more filling close to 2 teaspoons. I had two batches of these, neither time did the filling do that. Try baking at a lower temperature. 325. If you are baking in dark pans.
Yum ! I couldn’t find the Pillsbury version of the Dough, so I bought already formed dough globs of gingerbread spice dough made by Immaculate Baking Co. They’re already portioned out just right for this recipe, AND it comes with a small packet odd coarse sugar, which I sprinkled on top before baking. Super! Thanks for the great idea!