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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.
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 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.
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.
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!
Expert Tips
- 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.
- Do not use low fat ingredients.
- Use a regular sized Muffin pan and use cupcake liners for easy removal.
- It’s best to use a Hand mixer or stand mixer to ensure you’ll have no lumps.
FAQs
Be sure not to overmix, don’t overfill the muffin liners, and don’t over bake the cheesecakes.
They’ll be slightly puffed and no longer wet-looking.
No, cheesecake bites will bake just fine without a water bath because the amount of batter is so small.
Freeze these in an airtight container for up to 2 months or store in refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Easy Mini Cheesecake Recipe
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
**Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!**
Last Updated on April 30, 2023
Excellent recipe! So easy! 😊 But, too much crust leftover & not quite enough batter.
So good and so easy. I made lemon cheesecake with homemade lemon and blueberry sauce.
Absolute best recipe. Easy to make and I love all the different types. Anything works. Everyone loves them. I’ll be making them for a long time. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Dorothy, my prayers go out to you and your family especially your husband.
Best wishes to your husband for a very speedy recovery. And prayers for you that you can takes this all in stride and rest your worry. 🥰🥰
Love and prayers going out to you and Mel for a fabulous outcome for his surgery. Praying for his speedy recovery and strength for you and your daughter through this difficult time.
I haven’t made the mini cheesecakes yet but plan on it for the holidays. ALL of the recipes sound yummy! We have enjoyed your recipes over the years.
We wanted to send our thoughts and prayers for your hubby’s successful surgery and full recovery. Take care of yourself also!
Love the options and versatility of this recipe. I had way more crust than batter also. I used 6 large cupcakes and cooked longer but couldn’t tell when they were done until they cracked. I cannot get the paper off because it tears them apart. Not sure if anyone else had this problem?
I just made a batch and holy cow! They’re soooo good. Not to mention super easy to make. I divided the batter into 2 batches: plain one (topped with blueberry later on) with graham crust and oreos. I just eyeballed the crushed graham and melted butter. Was able to make 12 cups (about 2tbsp of batter) but I feel like I should add more batter in each cup (probably I’ll double the recipe next time).
I’m writing another comment because we made these as a gift and our friends said the cheesecakes had the perfect balance between sweet without being too sweet and the crust was amazing as well. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
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