I love cheesecake! This recipe for homemade mini cheesecakes is really easy to make. These mini cheesecake bites are perfect for parties or for people with self-control issues like me, although I just wind up eating several of them, which probably amounts to more than a standard slice of cheesecake, oh well. Time to impress your friends and family with these awesome desserts. If I can do it, you can do it, let’s get baking!
For more scrumptious dessert recipes click here.
Step 1: Gather ingredients and tools
Preheat the oven to 325 F (162 C). Then let’s gather together our ingredients and tools. For this mini cheesecakes recipe you will need the following:
Cheesecake Crust
- Graham crackers – I really like a classic graham cracker crust for my cheesecakes but there are a variety of different things you can use for your crusts. You can use vanilla wafers, ginger snaps cookies, animal crackers, Oreo cookies, etc.
- Butter – I usually use unsalted butter.
- Powdered sugar – also referred to as confectioner’s sugar or icing sugar.
Cheesecake Filling
- Cream cheese – the star of this dish.
- Large eggs – generally it is a good idea to use room temperature eggs. This helps the cheesecake to not crack.
- Sour cream – I love how the sour cream gives it a bit of a zing taste. But this is optional you can leave it out if you wish. For an awesome homemade sour cream recipe click here.
- White granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Various toppings – some of my favorites to use are chocolate, strawberries, black berries, raspberries, strawberry jam, etc.
Tools
- Bowls
- Hand mixer
- Food processor
- spoon
- muffin pan/cupcake pan – yes we are using a muffin pan for these! Isn’t that cool we aren’t using a springform pan, so that means no special pans to buy. Provided you already have a muffin pan/cupcake pan of course.
- paper cups
Step 2: Crush those graham crackers
After you have the ingredients and tools gathered. Time to make the cheesecake crust. Now place the graham crackers or any of the other varieties you want to use, into a food processor (or use a bag and rolling pin). Then blend those crackers until you have a nice powder.
Step 3: Butter and sugar oh yeah
Next, melt the butter and add it to the crumbs. Also, add in the powdered sugar. If you want the crust to be less sweet, you may omit the sugar, or if you have a major sweet tooth double that sugar! I won’t tell. Then turn on the food processor and blend it all together. The result will be something that resembles damp sand.
Step 4: Fill it up
Next, take a muffin pan lined with paper cups and add in a heaping tablespoon amount of crumbs. Yes for this recipe we are using a muffin pan to to make the mini cheesecakes. This is cool because you don’t have to worry about a water bath and buying a springform pan. Then smash them down using the back of a spoon or a bowl/spice container that has the same diameter as the muffin pan. You will probably have some crumbs leftover, I just place them all in which results in a thicker crust. If you like a thinner crust, you will want another muffin pan with 4 to 6 more cups. Set them aside for now.
Step 5: Make the easy mini cheesecakes filling
Now it is time to make the filling. This recipe will resemble other classic cheesecakes. Take the softened room temp cream cheese and add it to a large bowl. Then with a hand mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment mix up the cream cheese. Next, add in the white granulated sugar and vanilla extract, then blend once again, just until combined. We don’t want to over mix the cream cheese.
Step 6: Sour cream and eggs
Now optionally add in the sour cream for a bit of zing. 🙂 You can certainly omit it if you like. But try it first with it in and see if you like it. 🙂 Again mix until just combined. It is important to not over mix the cheesecake filling. It may introduce too much air into the batter which can cause cracks while baking.
Next mix in the eggs, one at a time. Put one in, then mix until just combined. Then put in the second one and mix. Remove the beaters and then use a spatula to do the final mix along with scraping the sides of the bowl. The cheesecake filling is ready to go. 🙂 Resist the urge to lick the beaters and spatula…you know the raw eggs and such. I may or may not have licked the beaters.
Step 7: Fill, shake and bake
Now using a 1/4 cup or an ice cream scoop or spoon, fill up the cups with the cream cheese filling. If you used all the crumbs and made thicker crusts chances are you will have some cream cheese filling leftover. I usually just take a few more cups and then just fill them with the leftovers leaving me with a few crustless cheesecakes…mmm. I generally like a thicker crust, but you can wind up making about 18 of these if you make thinner crusts.
Next bake them in the over (325 F/162 C) for 16 to 18 minutes. Check them at 16 minutes, you want to have just a slight little jiggle in the middle. Once baked, let them cool completely, then place in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight to set, the longer the better. 🙂 Although I will admit sometimes I can’t wait that long and eat one at around the 2-hour mark. You may or may not get cracks if you do don’t worry they will be covered by the toppings and they don’t affect the taste at all.
Step 8: Cheesecake Toppings time
Now once they have set properly it is time to finish them off! If you don’t like extra toppings eat them plain. I like to add some strawberry preserves to the center than a variety of fruit, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and of course some of them I like to drizzle with chocolate. You could also get a little fancy and make a ganache with some cream and chocolate. Then cover the whole top with a thin layer and then place it back in the fridge for the tops to set…oh yeah. haha.
Step 9: Enjoy the Mini Cheesecakes!
See? I told you this recipe for mini cheesecakes was easy to make. Now it is time to take these mini cheesecakes to a party or family event and share them. Or maybe you want to eat them all yourself, can you eat just one?
Cheesecake is one of my favorite treats of all-time one of my other favorites is homemade chocolate chip cookies, they are the king of the cookie. Click here if you would like to learn how to make those awesome cookies.
Mini Cheesecakes Video Tutorial
Now that you have read through the steps watch them in action by checking out the video tutorial. 🙂
Mini Cheesecakes
Equipment
- Bowls
- Hand mixer
- Food processor
- spoon
- Muffin pan/cupcake pan
- Paper cups
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs about 12 full crackers worth (125g)
- 6 Tbsp of butter 85g
- 1/4 cup of powdered sugar 30g
Cheesecake Filling
- 16 ounces Cream Cheese room temperature (450g)
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1/4 cup sour cream optiona(60g
- 2/3 cup of sugar 135g
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract 5ml
- Various toppings chocolate, fruit, jam/jelly
Instructions
- First preheat the oven to 325 F (162 C). Now place the graham crackers into a food processor (or use a bag and rolling pin). Then blend those crackers until you have a nice powder.
- Next melt the butter and add it to the crumbs with the powdered sugar. If you want the crust to be less sweet, you may omit the sugar, or if you have a major sweet tooth double that sugar! Then turn on the food processor and blend it all together. The result will be something that resembles damp sand.
- Now take a muffin pan lined with paper cups and add in a heaping tablespoon amount of crumbs. Then smash them down using the back of a spoon or a bowl/spice container that has the same diameter as the muffin pan. You will probably have some crumbs left over, I just place them all in which results in a thicker crust. If you like a thinner crust, you will want another muffin pan with 4 to 6 more cups.
- Take the softened room temp cream cheese and add it to a large bowl. Then with a hand mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment mix up the cream cheese.
- Next add in the white granulated sugar and vanilla extract, then blend once again, just until combined. We don't want to over mix the cream cheese.
- Now optionally add in the sour cream for a bit of zing. 🙂 You can certainly omit it if you like. But try it first with it in and see if you like it. 🙂 Again mix until just combined.
- Next mix in the eggs, one at a time. Put one in, then mix until just combined. Then put in the second one and mix. Remove the beaters and then use a spatula to do the final mix along with scraping the sides of the bowl. The cheesecake filling is ready to go. 🙂
- Now fill up the cups evenly with the filling using a measuring spoon or spoon. I generally like a thicker crust, but you can wind up making about 16 of these if you make thinner crusts. Next bake them in the over (325 F/162 C) for 16 to 18 minutes. Check them at 16 minutes, you want to have just a slight little jiggle in the middle. Once baked, let them cool completely, then place in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight to set, the longer the better. 🙂
- Once they have set eat them plain or add whatever toppings you like such as strawberry preserves, a variety of fruit, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and of course chocolate. Now enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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The recipe calls for muffin pans but the picture looks like regular cupcake size pans. Which should I use ?
Hi Donna, they are the same thing. Muffin pans are synonymous with cupcake pans. They each use the same size paper cup. But with that said, you can make them whatever size that you want. 🙂