Brooke Stewart, a Colorado Springs, Colorado, resident of just over two years, shares her original recipes on her food blog, See Brooke Cook. Stewart says that she grew up in the kitchen with her mom and grandma and credits them with “the roots of all my cooking.”
See Brooke Cook accurately reflects what Stewart eats at home and although there are lots of healthy options to peruse there is also “a good dose of indulgent things and lots of sweets.”
Due to Stewart’s issues with celiac disease she is very cognizant of gluten-free modifications that showcase adaptations to meet her own and other’s dietary needs.
“I’m really inspired and motivated by the love I have of sharing food,” says Stewart. “I think cooking for people you care about is very intimate and for me it’s a true expression. I’ve tried to cultivate a place with really approachable, fresh recipes while staying on curve with trends.”
For Valentine’s Day Stewart shares a festive, gluten-free, handheld treat from See Brooke Cook.
Triple chocolate Nutella mini cheesecakes
Ingredients:
Crust
- 2 cups Oreo cookies or gluten-free equivalent (I use 1 package Glutino’s)
- 5 tablespoons butter, melted
Filling
- 16 oz cream cheese (2 packages), room temperature
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 2 tablespoons all purpose or gluten-free flour
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 oz semisweet chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup Nutella
- Whipped cream for topping, if desired
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325º, lightly grease mini cheesecake pan and set aside. Begin by making your crust, to do so crush or process your cookies in a food processor and mix in melted butter until crumbs are moistened.
- Spoon ~1 tablespoon of crumbs into each mini cheesecake cavity and press evenly into bottom. Place in refrigerator and chill while preparing filling.
Photo credit: See Brooke Cook - Next, melt chocolate using your favorite method and set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer or in a large bowl using an electric beater, beat cream cheese, sugar and flour on medium speed until just combined and fluffy. Turn mixer to low and add vanilla then eggs, one at a time, until just combined.
- Remove approximately 1 cup of filling and mix with melted chocolate and set aside.
- To remaining 2/3 filling add Nutella and blend until just combined.
- Removed prepared crusts from refrigerator and scoop approximately 1 tablespoon of chocolate filling onto cookie crusts, then top with Nutella filling to the top of each cavity. Tap pan lightly on counter to work out any air.
- Bake cheesecakes in prepared oven for approximately 15-17 minutes until just set. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack for 30 minutes before removing cheesecakes from pan.
- Cool to room temperature then refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Top with fresh whipped cream, if desired.
- Yields: 18 mini cheesecakes
