Did you know you can bake cheesecake in a muffin pan? This recipe for creamy mini cheesecakes is so simple and perfect for a small crowd. Make sure you use a standard 12-count muffin pan. For extra-mini cheesecakes baked in a mini muffin pan, see recipe Notes.
I originally published this recipe in 2018 and have since added new photos, a video, tweaks to the recipe to yield a full dozen, and additional success tips.
Cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts and I have two recipes that steal my heart each time: classic cheesecake and no-bake cheesecake. Both recipes serve A LOT of people. If you love cheesecake, but don’t need an entire cheesecake in the house, try mini cheesecakes instead.
This recipe for individually sized cheesecakes is so simple and the perfect dessert to make for a smaller crowd. The classic cheesecake flavor is a great base for any of your favorite toppings, like whipped cream and berries, salted caramel, chocolate ganache, or raspberry sauce. Have fun with it!
One reader, Rachel, commented: “Wow… I knew these would be good, but I was still impressed with just how delicious they are! Super easy too, definitely making again soon. ★★★★★”
One reader, Susan, commented: “Yes, this recipe is a winner! Easy, delicious, able to be topped in so many ways! This will definitely go into “My Signature Dishes” file! Thank you! ★★★★★”
One reader, Leah, commented: “These were super easy to make and incredibly delicious. It was difficult to just eat one. 10/10. ★★★★★”
I have a few mini cheesecake recipes:
They’re simple, they’re delicious, and at only a few bites each, they’re perfect for portion control. Today’s recipe is my go-to, signature version of the classic flavor. Since first sharing it in 2018, I’ve slightly scaled it up to yield 1 full dozen thick and creamy cheesecakes.
Why You’ll Love These Mini Cheesecakes
- Quicker and easier to make than a full cheesecake
- Same creamy, velvety-smooth filling and buttery graham cracker crust you love in a classic cheesecake
- Individual grab-and-go portions are great for parties—no fork and plate required!
- Wonderful make-ahead dessert option
- Perfect base for so many different topping options—see below for some suggestions
Ingredients You Need & Why
With so few ingredients making up the filling, you can be sure that each one is there to serve a specific purpose:
- Bricks of Cream Cheese: Whichever brand you use, make sure you’re using bricks of full-fat cream cheese—not the cream cheese in a tub you would use for spreading on bagels. Same rule applies when making cream cheese frosting and strawberry cream cheese pie.
- Granulated Sugar: You’ll love that this cheesecake isn’t overly sweet. Vanilla sugar would be great here, if you have some!
- Sour Cream: You need 1/4 cup of sour cream to help bind the ingredients together and smooth out the filling so it tastes creamy. It may be a small amount, but trust me when I say this is an essential ingredient.
- Vanilla Extract: Feel free to use homemade vanilla extract or even vanilla bean paste here.
- Lemon Juice: A splash of lemon juice adds freshness and depth of flavor.
- Eggs: A main ingredient in any baked cheesecake! Add them right at the end, and be sure to not over-mix the batter once the eggs are incorporated.
How to Make Cheesecake in a Muffin Pan
All we’re doing here is scaling down both the graham cracker crust and cheesecake batter from my classic cheesecake. Like the big version, pre-bake the crust, and make sure your cheesecake batter ingredients are at room temperature.
Mix up the graham cracker crust ingredients including graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. You need 8 full-sheet graham crackers for this. Firmly press a heaping Tablespoon of the crust mixture into each cupcake liner. Bake the crusts for 6 minutes, to give them a little head start.
Next, make the cheesecake filling using an electric mixer. It’s important to beat the cream cheese and sugar together until there are zero lumps; stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times as needed.
Like with most cheesecake recipes, add the eggs 1 at a time, beating just until combined before adding the next. Do not over-mix.
Expect a creamy, thick batter:
Bake the cheesecakes in a lined standard 12-count muffin pan. And if you’re looking for a version that sets in the refrigerator instead of the oven, you’ll appreciate these mini no-bake cheesecakes instead.
Want to add some flavor? Use my white chocolate raspberry cheesecake bars recipe and see those recipe Notes for how to turn them into mini cheesecakes. Yum!
Here’s an Easy Cheesecake “Water Bath” Method (& It’s Optional)
If you’ve never made cheesecake before, you might be wondering what a water bath is and why you need one. I actually have an entire post and video tutorial dedicated to How to Make a Cheesecake Water Bath, if you’re interested in learning more.
Baking these mini cheesecakes with a water bath is optional, but I recommend it because it keeps the cheesecakes from sinking as they cool. Cheesecakes like to bake in a humid environment, and you can create that by pouring boiling water into a large roasting pan set on the oven rack below the muffin pan of mini cheesecakes. Close the oven door quickly to trap the steam inside. This is a simpler version of a traditional water bath, and it works great for these minis!
Bake the mini cheesecakes until the edges are set and the centers slightly jiggle when you tap the pan, about 20 minutes.
Set the pan on a cooling rack and allow the mini cheesecakes to cool at room temperature for 45 minutes, then transfer to the refrigerator and chill for at least 2 hours.
And even if your mini cheesecakes do sink down after baking (some sinkage is always expected!), this just gives you plenty of room for…
Cheesecake Toppings:
- Strawberry Sauce, Raspberry Sauce, or Blueberry Sauce
- Lemon Curd
- Homemade Whipped Cream and fresh berries/mint
- Homemade Salted Caramel
- Chocolate Ganache
Mini Cheesecakes
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 15 minutes
- Yield: 12
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Bake deliciously creamy mini cheesecakes in a muffin pan! This easy recipe yields a dozen individual cheesecakes that are perfect for portion control. Use a standard 12-count muffin pan. For extra mini cheesecakes baked in a mini muffin pan, see recipe note.
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 cup (120g) graham cracker crumbs (about 8 full sheet graham crackers)
- 2 Tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar
- 3 Tablespoons (43g) unsalted butter, melted
Filling
- 16 ounces (452g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (60g) full-fat sour cream, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a standard 12-count muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- Make the crust: Combine all of the crust ingredients in a medium bowl. Mixture will be sandy. Firmly press a heaping Tablespoon of crust mixture into each liner. Bake the crusts for 6 minutes.
- Make the filling: Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed in a large bowl until the mixture is completely smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla extract, and beat until fully combined. With the mixer running on medium speed, add the eggs 1 at a time, beating just until combined before adding the next. Do not over-mix. Divide the batter among the liners, filling each all the way to the top. (It’s OK if the crust is still warm.)
- Optional Water Bath (prevents cheesecakes from excess sinking; skip this step if desired): Boil a pot of water. You need 1 inch of water in your roasting pan for the water bath, so make sure you boil enough. Place a large metal baking or roasting pan (I usually use a 9×13-inch baking pan—do not use glass) on the bottom oven rack of the preheated oven. Pour boiling water into pan, about 1 inch deep. Immediately place the cheesecakes on the center rack. Close oven to trap the steam inside. This unique water bath adds steam to the oven without having the muffin pan sit inside the water itself, which is a traditional water bath method used for full-size cheesecakes.
- Bake until the edges are set and the centers slightly jiggle when you tap the pan, about 20 minutes.
- Set the pan on a cooling rack and allow cheesecakes to cool at room temperature for 45 minutes, then transfer to the refrigerator and chill for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours. (Or place in the freezer for 1 hour to speed things up.) If chilling in the refrigerator for longer than 2 hours, loosely cover the cheesecakes. Even if you used the water bath method in step 4, the cheesecakes will slightly sink as they cool.
- Top the cheesecakes: I used Wilton 1M tip for piping whipped cream on the pictured mini cheesecakes. Garnish with berries, mint, and/or other toppings suggested in recipe Notes. Whipped cream can be made and piped/spread on mini cheesecakes up to 24 hours in advance. Refrigerate decorated cheesecakes until ready to serve.
- Cover and store leftover cheesecakes in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Prepare the cheesecakes through Step 3 up to 2–3 days in advance. Cover unbaked cheesecakes and store in the refrigerator until ready to bake. Continue with Step 4. Freeze individual baked cheesecakes for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-count Muffin Pan | Cupcake Liners | Food Processor | Glass Mixing Bowls | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Cooling Rack
- Topping Suggestions: Salted caramel, lemon curd, strawberry topping, chocolate ganache, red wine chocolate ganache, fresh berries and mint, and/or homemade whipped cream.
- Super Mini Cheesecakes: Line a 24-count mini muffin pan with mini muffin liners or grease with nonstick spray or butter. For easy and seamless removal from the pan, using liners is preferable. Make the crust and cheesecake batter as directed. Press 2 teaspoons of crust into each mini muffin liner. Pre-bake at 350°F (177°C) for 4 minutes. Remove from the oven and fill each with cheesecake batter. Bake for 10–11 minutes or until the cheesecakes appear set on top. Continue with Step 6 in this recipe. Yields approximately 30 super mini cheesecakes.
- Non-US Readers: Don’t have graham crackers where you live? Use these measurements for a biscuit crumb crust for these mini cheesecakes: 1 cup (105g) digestive biscuit crumbs (7 biscuits) + 30g butter, melted + 2 Tablespoons (25g) sugar. Grind the biscuits into crumbs, combine with sugar, then stir in the melted butter. Press into liners and pre-bake as directed in Step 2. And from what I understand, spreadable cream cheese sold in a tub in countries outside of the US is a little different from the spreadable cream cheese in the US. It’s thicker, sturdier, and more solid and should be OK to make cheesecake. I have no experience with it, but this is what I’ve heard from other non-US readers.
- Updated in 2025: This recipe was updated to scale up to 1 full dozen cheesecakes. To make the old version, use 2/3 cup (65g) graham cracker crumbs, 2 Tbsp (29g) melted unsalted butter, and 1 Tbsp sugar for the crust. For the filling, use 8 ounces (226g) cream cheese, 1/4 cup (50g) sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, and 1 egg. The sour cream and lemon juice remain the same. Use the same baking and cooling instructions. Makes 9 cheesecakes that aren’t quite as thick.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Can I make mini cheesecakes using your Amaretto cheesecake recipe? I’ve made the full cake several times to rave reviews and it is “to die for”. I’d like to try it in the mini cheesecake version.
Hi Chris, absolutely! The yield will be higher using that particular batter.
My new oven (cue happy dancing feet) has a well in the bottom designed for baking with steam. I’m assuming this replaces the need for the 9×13 pan.
Hi Carmin, yes, that would work in place of the alternative water bath. Hope you enjoy the cheesecakes!
To make these faster, I use Nilla Wafers as the bottom crust instead of the traditional graham crust.
Can this recipe be doubled, Sally?
Hi Lori Ann, for best results, we recommend making separate batches rather than doubling.
Is it possible to substitute the sour cream for greek yogurt? or omit it?
Hi Sophia, you can use plain Greek yogurt instead. Hope they turn out great!
Could I use a full-sized, premade, graham cracker pie tin instead of a muffin tin to make a whole cheesecake? Would baking instructions change?
Hi Shauna, we’d follow our regular cheesecake recipe instead. Since the pre-made crusts are more shallow than a crust in a springform pan, you’ll have some leftover batter which can be used to make some of these mini cheesecakes on the side.
Can I add chocolate chips to these or maybe some pumkin?
Hi Mackenzie, you can add 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips to this batter. For pumpkin, we recommend using the filling from this pumpkin cheesecake pie. Enjoy!
Does this recipe freeze well?
Hi Pamela, Yes! You can freeze individual baked cheesecakes for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
I want to make these for an event this weekend but I would prefer to use the mini silicone pans that I have. Would you recommend changing the baking time?
Hi Wendy, see recipe Notes for super mini cheesecake baking times and instructions. Enjoy!
Hi Sally, would using a brick light cream cheese be okay? No particular reason, other than the fact that I only have l have the light one at home haha.
Hi Laura Ann, for best taste and texture, we highly recommend using a full-fat block of cream cheese instead.
This is such a great recipe. I’ve made them several times, and even made the “ulltra-mini” ones, adding lime juice and lime zest, for a Cinco de Mayo party. They were a huge hit! If I wanted to mix in a more involved filling/flavor like a fruit puree or nutella, what modifications would I need to make?
Hi, I was wondering how long these can be left outside of the fridge for an outdoor party? Thank you.
Hi Allison, It really depends on the temperature outside the day of the party. If it’s hot/humid or if they will be in direct sun, it would be best to keep them refrigerated or indoors until serving.
Great recipe! I’m not so good with baking but this was so simple to follow and turned out amazing. I used digestive biscuits because I’m in Europe and the quantities work better than the ones for Graham crackers because the crust would have been too thin otherwise
So good. Question tho- what’s the best sort of liners to use? Foil? Paper? Silicone? I’ve only tried it with silicone but I need to make a lot more than I have liners
Hi Erni, a high quality grease-proof parchment liner is our favorite!
If I wanted to make the cheesecake bites in a mini-muffin tin, how much batter do I put into each cup?
Hi Paula! It should be about 1 tsp of cheesecake batter.
Confused. Said to use standard muffing pans but then talks to min muffin pans. Also 1 Tablespoon isn’t enough for a standard muffing pan.
Hi Maureen! This recipe is for a standard muffin pan, but we also include instructions in the recipe Notes for mini muffin pans if bakers choose to make super-mini cheesecakes. 1 Tbsp of cheesecake filling should be just about enough for each standard size mini cheesecake, but you can certainly add more filling to make fewer mini cheesecakes.
Could I substitute heavy whipping cream for the sour cream?
Hi Terri, plain full-fat yogurt really is the best substitute for sour cream. We don’t recommend heavy whipping cream in its place.
I only have fat free sour cream, will that still work?
Would it be ok to use a different crust for this recipe? I was thinking an Oreo crust.
Hi Amanda, absolutely! An Oreo crust would be delicious.
Is 3 oz muffin tray perfect for this one?
Yes, we use a standard size 12 muffin tray – it holds about 3-3.5 ounces per cavity.
Could I add pumpkin pie filing? If so could it be a can or less??
Hi Nicole, Yes! You can use the filling for these Salted Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecakes. Enjoy 🙂
Would it be possible for this recipe to make one big cheesecake instead of individual cupcakes?
Hi Alex, For a full size cake see the recipe for Classic Cheesecake.
Hi Sally,
Can I add Bailey’s Irish Cream to this recipe? Do I need to adjust the other ingredients to do so?
Thank you!
Hi Nicole! I haven’t tested the recipe with the addition of Baileys, but you could try reducing the sour cream (and leaving out the lemon juice) and adding some Baileys. Let me know what you try!
They are amazing! My daughter and I substituted biscoff cookies for the Graham crackers and it turned out scrumptious!
I trialled these mini cheesecake as I needed to provide 100 “fingerfood” size items for a ladies luncheon. I really appreciate you giving the weights in grams, not just spoons and cups as these can vary from country to country. However I want more of a lemon flavour. Do you think I could double the amount of lemon juice and also add lemon zest to increase the lemon flavour? I found them a little too sweet for my taste but it may be partly due to the biscuit base, as here in Australia we cannot get Graham biscuits so I used Granita. I may reduce the sugar in the biscuit base. I’m also considering using the blueberry sauce from your Blueberry Swirl cheesecake recipe to swirl through 50 and to top the other 50 with lemon curd. I followed your recipe exactly for my trial batch with a great result. I’m now doing the freezer test. Thank you for your detailed information in the recipe and also about making ahead. So helpful.
Hi Heather! So glad you enjoyed these and adding more lemon flavor would be just fine. Add lemon zest to your liking and if adding more lemon juice, I would reduce the sour cream. So if adding 2 extra Tbsp of lemon juice, reduce sour cream by 2 Tbsp. Let me know how they turn out!
When you say ‘mini cheesecake’ are you referring to regular size muffin pans or the ‘tiny’ muffin pans that are usually referred to as the ‘mini’s ??
I understand that baking cheesecake in muffin pans are ‘mini cheesecakes’ because they’re not the regular- size big cheesecakes, but I’ve always heard the ”mini’ cheesecakes’ being referred to as being baked in the tiny pans.
Your recipe here seems as though you are referring to regular size muffin/cupcake size pans.
Would you please clarify this for me.
Also, I must be Gluten-free (due to having Celiac Disease) so if I do not use the crust in this recipe & just do the filling, how would this change the baking time?
. Thank you.
. Marti
Hi Marti! A regular 12 cup standard muffin pan, not a mini muffin pan. In comparison to a big cheesecake, these are indeed still mini! 🙂 I’m nervous you’ll have a hard time removing the cheesecakes from the cupcake wrappers if there’s no crust, though you can certainly try it. (Or use gluten free graham crackers.) Obviously skip the pre-bake time and bake the cheesecakes until the edges are set and the centers only slightly jiggle, which will probably still be about 18-20 minutes.
Thank you Sally. I appreciate your prompt reply.
I plan on making these mini cheese cakes tomorrow for my daughters’ birthday. I’ll let you know how they turn out.
Marti
I’ve made these cheesecake minis several times and they’re always so delicious! Cheesecake was always something I was intimidated to make but your instructions make it so easy! I recently made your coconut cream cheese frosting and was thinking of using it as a topping for these cheesecakes. Any suggestions on how to incorporate a little coconut flavor into this recipe? Thanks!
Hi Gina! Thanks so much for sharing– I think the best way to add coconut flavor to these mini cheesecakes is to add a little coconut extract. 1/2 teaspoon should be plenty. No need to adjust or remove the vanilla extract.
Hello, fellow Germans! I always use Hobbits Kekse (kernig) from Brandt. They work perfectly for making the crust. I add a little sugar but a bit less.