Pomegranate Cheesecake Bites

Pomegranate!!! My favorite fruit is now in season and I am thrilled about it! A cheesecake "bite" just has to taste like cheesecake right? So these cocoa laced pate a choux puffs work as crust and the whipped Greek yogurt cream cheese filling yields the cheesecake flavor/ texture one desires. So delicious!

Pomegranate Cheesecake Bites
Cocoa Pate a Choux
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup minus 3 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet or line with sil pat or parchment paper. Bring water and butter to a boil in a small sauce pan. Add the flour and cocoa powder to the water and stir until throughly blended and mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat and add sugar and eggs. Beat until all the egg has been incorporated. Drop by teaspoons on to baking sheet. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Allow to cool before filling. Makes 25 puffs.

 Cheesecake Filling
8 ounces Greek yogurt cream cheese
3 tablespoons half and half
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon clementine zest
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger root, optional
1 cup pomegranate arils
Whip the cream cheese, half and half, sugar, zest and ginger until well combined and light. Fold in pomegranate arils.
Slice puffs open and fill with about 1 tablespoon of filling each. Replace tops. Chill any leftovers.

Hints: The pate a choux will just about double when baked but you want to have bite sized puffs so make sure to keep them small. The filling can be made with regular cream cheese if you like. Adjust the sugar if you want to make the filling sweeter.

I love cheesecake but the full experience comes with lots of calories and a fair amount of time. These bites are relatively less of both. I think you'll like them...