Chocolate Chip “Cheesecake” Cookie Cups {GF & Paleo}

Cute and fun, chewy chocolate chip cookie cups filled with a sweet, creamy and surprisingly easy  “cheesecake” filling!  Kid approved, gluten free, dairy free and Paleo!   

So, I’ve been completely crushing on cashews lately, have you noticed?  Ever since I broke through my mental block about making cashew cream, I’ve been having lots of fun with my food processor, seeing what sweet, creamy combos I can make next.

The coconut cashew cream cheese frosting was seriously perfect (I just frosted a carrot cake with it yesterday, coming soon!) and I’m dreaming up more cheese-cakey treats to make in the near future.  Today, it’s all about chocolate chip cheesecake cookie cups – because filling chewy cookies with even more deliciousness never seems like a bad idea.  And these were a hit!  My husband Adam had no clue what he was eating at first (as usual) and told me there’s no way they could possibly be Paleo.  You’d think he would’ve learned my now…

Anyway, besides making them insanely delicious, my goal with these cookie cups was to keep them simple, and keep the ingredient list down as much as possible.  Possibly easier said than done, right?  In this case, it worked out.   Phew!!

One of my own pet peeves with recipes in general, is when it feels like you need a little bit of everything from your pantry, and then, WAIT!  You’re missing ONE ingredient and it’s only a TBSP, but, you’d have to go to the store to get it.  Yes, me and my recipes are guilty of this, for sure.

It’s just that sometimes, a little bit of this and that leads to the perfect texture, or flavor, or both, and you CAN’T compromise!  Totally forgivable.  However, some recipes are more forgiving than others, and, for those, I like to try to keep things as simple as possible.

In the spirit of simplicity, I decided to use some of the same ingredients for the cookies and the filling.  They’re both sweetened with pure maple syrup, flavored with vanilla and both use coconut oil.  I don’t know about you guys, but my countertop space is quite limited, and, I definitely appreciate not having to empty all my cabinets/fridge for one recipe.

To make the recipe (and your life) even easier, I recommend a few steps.  First, make the filling a day ahead, if you can.  You can chill it in the fridge and it makes the cookie cups come together fast!  Second, definitely use mini muffin liners in your muffin pan – even if you have EXTREME faith in the non-stickiness of your muffin pan, use the liners anyway.

I actually made some without liners just to test the results (you can sort of see this in the photos) and though it worked, it was very stressful removing them from the muffin pan.  Muffin liners = LESS STRESS.  Just saying 🙂

Third, even though you technically could, don’t use a spoon to fill the cups – use a plastic bag with an end cut off, or a piping bag if you have one.  The result is instant filling, rather than a gloppy, sticky mess that you eat half of off the spoon/your hands.  Again, I speak from experience!

Okay, are you ready to make these cute, sweet little cookie cups?  Let’s go!

Chocolate Chip “Cheesecake” Cookie Cups {GF & Paleo}

Chocolate Chip "Cheesecake" Cookie Cups {GF & Paleo}

Cute and fun, chewy, sweet, creamy and surprisingly easy chocolate chip "cheesecake" cookie cups that are gluten free, dairy free and Paleo!

Author: Michele Rosen

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Paleo

Servings: 30 cookie cups

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4.41 from 5 votes

Ingredients

For the Cookie Dough -

• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup organic coconut oil melted
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 and 3/4 cups + 1Tbsp blanched almond flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup dairy free soy free mini chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life)

For the "Cheesecake" Filling

• 1.5 cups raw cashews soaked in filtered water at least 4 hours, or overnight, drained, and gently dried**
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 3 Tbsp pure maple syrup
• 2 tbsp organic coconut oil solid
• Extra mini chocolate chips and/or melted chocolate to top

Instructions

1. Recipe note* - For this recipe, you can make the cheesecake filling ahead of time and chill until you're ready to make the cookie cups, or, you can make the filling while the cookies bake and cool.

For the Cookie Cups:

1. Line a large mini muffin pan (or 2 mini muffin pans) with liners - this makes up to 30 cookie cups - and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl using an electric hand mixer or whisk, combine the egg, maple syrup, coconut oil and vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then add the the wet mixture and stir or mix until a cookie dough forms. Stir in the mini chocolate chips, then chill for 5 minutes if needed to firm up.
3. Once cookie dough is firm enough to work with, fill the muffin liners with tsp-size balls of dough, pressing down and up the sides a bit to fill (you'll push down right after baking again so no need to do this step perfectly!)
4. Once you've used up all the cookie dough, bake in the preheated oven for 9-11 minutes or until the centers are almost done - you want them soft enough to create the "cups" when still warm.
5. After removing from oven, push down gently in the center of each cookie (they puff up a bit in the oven) to create cups. Remove from pan and allow the cookie cups to cool completely (still in liners) on wire racks. Once completely cooled, fill with the cashew cheesecake filling and top with more mini chocolate chips and a drizzle of melted chocolate.

For the Cashew Cheesecake Filling:

1. In a food processor or high speed blender, blend the soaked and drained cashews on high until a paste begins to form, turn off blender and scrape the sides. Add the remaining ingredients and continue to blend/process on high for about 5 minutes, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed, until a thick creamy mixture forms. Chill the mixture in the refrigerator until ready to fill the cookie cups.

Filling the cookie cups:

1. You can add the cashew cheesecake filling to a piping bag or plastic bag with one corner cut to fill the cups quickly and easily, or you can simply use a small spoon if you prefer. Top with chocolate chips and drizzle with chocolate before servings. Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Recipe Notes

**Prep time does not include the time needed to soak the cashews

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What I Used to Make My Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Cookie Cups:

Want more Paleo cookie recipes?  Try one of these!

Chewy Chocolate Almond Butter Sandwich Cookies

Coconut Butter Macadamia Nut Cookies

Ultimate Chewy Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies

Double Chocolate Tahini Cookies

Tell Me!

What do you do when you’re missing ONE ingredient?

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