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Easy mini cheesecakes, in 5 different flavors! This simple cheesecake recipe makes 12 perfect mini cheesecakes, in virtually any flavor you want! Lemon, Oreo, S’mores, Fruit, Peanut Butter Cup – any mini cheesecake recipe you want to make can be ready in no time at all.

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Easy Mini Cheesecake Recipe - this simple cheesecake recipe makes 12 perfect mini cheesecakes and can be made so many ways! Lemon, Oreo, S'mores, Fruit, Peanut Butter Cup - any cheesecake you want in no time at all.


Mini Cheesecakes so many ways!

Today I’m bringing you lots of CHEESECAKE in lots of different flavors! These are MINI cheesecakes, my favorite things ever.

Make the easy mini cheesecakes for every season, to every liking, or have a cheesecake bar at your next party.

Why you’ll love this recipe

The BEST thing about this easy mini cheesecakes recipe? You just need the one basic cheesecake recipe and you can easily turn it into about a million other recipes.

To change up the flavors of this cheesecake, the easiest way to do it is in the crust. I’ve given a basic graham cracker crust recipe, but I also love using Oreos as the crust, or any cookie. There’s not even any mixing needed with that option, just use the full cookie as the crust.

Ingredients in mini cheesecakes

Ingredients in Easy Cheesecake Bites

The basic crust combines graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and brown sugar. You can also use Oreos or similar sized cookies as the crust – see some of the variations below.

The basic cheesecake filling recipe starts with cream cheese, egg, sugar, sour cream, and vanilla extract. Then you can doctor it at your pleasure to make so many other flavors, or leave it plain and save the transformations for the garnish.

Easy Mini Lemon Cheesecakes - this easy cheesecake recipe makes 12 mini lemon cheesecakes with a Golden Oreo crust and lemon curd on top!

How to make Mini Cheesecakes

  • Make your crust: If you’re using a graham cracker crust, stir together graham cracker crumbs with melted butter and sugar.
  • Line muffin pans with liners for easy removal. Press some of the crust into each liner, or place a cookie in the bottom instead.
  • Mix cream cheese, sour cream, and sugar until smooth. Mix in egg and vanilla and any flavorings.
  • Divide into muffin pans and bake until puffed and no longer glossy. Cool to room temperature then chill at least 4 hours.
  • Top as desired with pie filling, ice cream, chocolate sauce, caramel or anything you like.
Easy Oreo Cheesecakes - this simple cheesecake recipe makes 12 perfect Cookies 'n Cream Cheesecakes with an Oreo Crust!

Favorite Mini Cheesecake Flavors

  • Mini Lemon Cheesecakes: Lemon is my absolute favorite, obviously. I love pairing lemon cheesecake with a Golden Oreo crust because the flavors compliment each other nicely. Feel free to use the plain cheesecake recipe and then just top with lemon curd, but you can also add some fresh lemon zest to the cheesecake batter. It amps up the flavor of the lemon!
  • Mini Oreo Cheesecakes: These have an Oreo crust and the basic cheesecake filling full of chopped Oreos.
  • Candy IN Cheesecake Bites: You can put a whole mini cup in the cheesecake, on top of the Oreo crust, or you can chop up some peanut butter cups to mix with the batter. I can’t wait to try Milky Way or Kit Kat cheesecakes!

Even More Cheesecake Bite Flavors

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake - this easy cheesecake recipe makes 12 mini peanut butter cup cheesecakes with an Oreo crust!

Expert Tips

  1. Make sure your cream cheese is room temperature before starting to avoid lumps. It’s also best if your eggs and sour cream are room temperature too.
  2. Do not use low fat ingredients.
  3. Use a regular sized Muffin pan and use cupcake liners for easy removal.
  4. It’s best to use a Hand mixer or stand mixer to ensure you’ll have no lumps.

FAQs

How do you keep mini cheesecakes from sinking?

Be sure not to overmix, don’t overfill the muffin liners, and don’t over bake the cheesecakes.

How do you know when mini cheesecakes are done baking?

They’ll be slightly puffed and no longer wet-looking.

Do mini cheesecakes need a water bath?

No, cheesecake bites will bake just fine without a water bath because the amount of batter is so small.

Do mini cheesecakes freeze well?

Freeze these in an airtight container for up to 2 months or store in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Easy mini cheesecakes

Easy Mini Cheesecake Recipe

3.91 from 251 votes
Easy Mini Cheesecake Recipe – this simple cheesecake recipe makes 12 perfect mini cheesecakes and can be made so many ways! Lemon, Oreo, S’mores, Fruit, Peanut Butter Cup – any cheesecake you want in no time at all.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Chill time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 40 minutes
Yield 12 cheesecakes
Serving Size 1 plain cheesecake

Ingredients
 

Basic Graham Crust:

  • 1 ¼ cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 3 tablespoons (38g) brown sugar
  • 5 tablespoons (70g) unsalted butter melted
  • *See Note for additional crust ideas*

Basic Cheesecake Filling:

  • 8 ounces (226g) cream cheese room temperature
  • 1 large egg room temperature
  • ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup (62g) sour cream room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • *See Note for additional filling and topping ideas*

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.
  • Make the graham cracker crust: Stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press about 2-2 1/2 tablespoons of the mixture into the bottom of each muffin liner and press to compact.
  • Beat room temperature cream cheese with a hand mixer until fluffy. Beat in room temperature sour cream. Beat in egg, sugar, and vanilla extract. (Room temperature ingredients are a must to avoid lumps!)
  • Evenly divide (about 2-2 1/2 tablespoons each) cheesecake among crusts. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until they just begin to brown. Cool completely and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.
  • Serve plain or topped with whipped cream and berries. See notes for additional serving suggestions.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

  • Crust: instead of a graham cracker crust you can use 12 Oreos (any flavor). Just place them (whole) into each cupcake liner and they will form the crust.
  • Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecakes: use an Oreo cookie for the crust. Chop up 6 regular sized peanut butter cups and sprinkle them into the batter  in step 3. Alternately, use 12 Reese’s Minis and place one on top of each Oreo before dividing filling. Top cooled cheesecakes with chocolate sauce and more peanut butter cups.
  • Oreo Cheesecakes: use an Oreo cookie for the crust. Chop 4 additional Oreos finely and stir into the cheesecake batter before step 4. Continue as directed.
  • Lemon Cheesecakes: use either a graham cracker crust or a Golden Oreo cookie for the crust. Optional: add 1 teaspoon lemon zest to the batter in step 3. Top cooled cheesecakes with lemon curd and fruit.
  • Plain: Top plain cheesecakes with hot fudge, caramel, whipped cream, or pie filling.

Recipe Nutrition

Serving: 1plain cheesecake | Calories: 190kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 50mg | Sodium: 130mg | Sugar: 11g
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Course Dessert
Cuisine American

**Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!**

Last Updated on April 30, 2023



Dorothy Kern

Welcome to Crazy for Crust, where I share recipes that are sometimes crazy, often with a crust, and always served with a slice of life.

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Recipe Rating




123 Comments

  1. I tried this recipe for the first time last year for the holidays and it was so great! Very easy, simple and delicious! It was the perfect bite size amount for my sweet tooth!

    Thank you for sharing!

  2. I made this recipe for my first actual baked cheesecake and I’m impressed! The flavor was amazing, the amount was perfect, the crust was just right. I’ll be making these often!!

  3. Great recipe – Made a variety for a friends Birthday – Made two batches and did cookies in the bottom for some, and the others with graham cracker crust. The favorite was the basic cheesecake with lemon curd dolloped on top from a can of lemon for pie recipe with homemade “stabilized” whipped topping for the top with some lemon zest for top. Another favorite was turtle cheesecake. Just a dollop of fudge from a jar for ice cream and some pecans on top, blueberry with whipped topping on top and so on…. You can do so many versions with this recipe and it’s a no fail recipe. Easy but great presentation!

  4. Wonderful recipe. I’ve been using this for 3-4 years now. I usually top with lemon curd. I get requests for these all the time.

  5. Has anyone done this yet,? The cheesecake filling part if you follow the recipe it is not enough to fill up the amount that it cost for in each individual cupcake liner if you’re going to make this then you need to double the cheesecake mix.

  6. I want to make turtle cheese cakes, raspberry white chocolate and a milk chocolate toping. What would you suggest.
    Crista

    1. For turtle, top with caramel and chocolate and a pecan, use raspberry jam and white chocolate drizzle, and milk chocolate chips melted.

      1. These are so good. On the raspberry cheesecake can I do white chocolate drizzle and raspberries and swirl it into the cheese cake before I bake it?

    1. I think they fall more when they are over baked – if they puff too high in the oven. Could also be the fillings affecting that!

  7. Amazing recipe! I was looking for one that used sour cream in it as I love traditional cheesecake. I made them for a tea party and they were gone in minutes. I would like to make pumpkin ones for Thanksgiving but not sure of a successful ratio of pumpkin using this same recipe? Thanks for any input.