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.
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.
I have a few mini cheesecake recipes:
- Mini Margarita Cheesecakes
- Pumpkin Cheesecakes
- Red Velvet Cheesecakes
- Chocolate Chip Cheesecakes
- Sprinkle Cheesecake Cookie Cups
These recipes yield anywhere from 16–24 muffin-sized cheesecakes. They’re all fun and flavorful, but maybe 16–24 mini cheesecakes is still too many. I felt inspired to reduce down even further and leave out all the extra goodies. Today’s recipe yields 9–10 mini cheesecakes. They’re simple, straightforward, and at only a few bites each, they’re awesome for portion control.
Video Tutorial
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. Use a little more than 1 Tablespoon of both the crust and batter in each mini cheesecake. Like the big version, pre-bake the crust and make sure your cheesecake batter ingredients are at room temperature.
Bake the cheesecakes in a standard 12-count muffin pan. There’s no need for a springform pan and no need to mess with a water bath. Mini cheesecakes are not only easier than a full cheesecake, they take half the time to prepare! 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. Love those.
Get creative with the toppings. The baked and cooled cheesecakes will slightly sink down in the centers, but all is not lost. The way I see it, the dip gives you more room for toppings!
Cheesecake Toppings:
- Strawberry Sauce
- Lemon Curd
- Homemade Whipped Cream
- Red Wine Chocolate Ganache
- Homemade Salted Caramel
- Chocolate Ganache
Mini Cheesecakes
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 15 minutes
- Yield: 9-10
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Bake deliciously creamy mini cheesecakes in a muffin pan! This easy recipe yields 9 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
Graham Cracker Crust
- 2/3 cup (80g) graham cracker crumbs (about 5 1/2 full sheet graham crackers)
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 Tablespoon (12g) granulated sugar
Cheesecake
- 8 ounces (226g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (60g) full-fat sour cream, at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (optional, but recommended)
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a standard 12-count muffin pan with 9–10 liners. (For a mini muffin pan, see recipe note.) This recipe yields only 9–10 mini cheesecakes, so there will be 2–3 empty. You could skip the liners and spray the pan with non-stick spray or grease with butter, but the mini cheesecakes are pretty stubborn to release from the pan. I recommend using liners to make things easier.
- 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. (I use closer to 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons of crust per mini cheesecake.) Pre-bake for 5 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 smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the sour cream, vanilla extract, and lemon juice then beat until fully combined. On medium speed, add the egg and beat just until combined. Batter will be thick. Divide the batter between all the liners. It’s about 1 Tablespoon per cheesecake.
- Bake until the edges are set and the centers only slightly jiggle, about 18–20 minutes.
- Set the pan on a wire rack and allow cheesecakes to cool at room temperature for 30 minutes, then transfer to the refrigerator and chill for at least 2 hours and up to 1 day. If chilling for longer than 2 hours, loosely cover the cheesecakes. The cheesecakes will slightly sink in the middle as they chill. It gives you room for toppings!
- Once chilled, add any desired toppings (see Note below) and 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 fruit or maraschino cherries, and homemade whipped cream.
- More Than 9 Mini Cheesecakes: This recipe is fantastic for doubling, tripling, or quadrupling. Simply double, triple, or quadruple each ingredient, including in the crust.
- 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.
Keywords: mini cheesecakes
Can you use the small pre made Keebler graham cracker crusts In the metal tin? There are six I. A pack?
We don’t see why not! We’re unsure how many mini cheesecakes that would yield – let us know if you try it, Theresa!
Instead of using the full fat sour cream, is it possible to use a flavored Greek yogurt ?
Hi Bill, Plain yogurt will work in place of the sour cream here. Enjoy!
Can I use crushed sugar cookies instead of graham crackers in the crust?
Hi Sydney, That would certainly be delicious! Make sure the cookies are pretty crunchy. Let them sit out for 1-2 days prior to grinding up.
Can I eas6substitute Oreo cookie crumbs instead of Graham crackers? Or would the texture not work?
Hi Cynthia! Yes, you can either place a whole Oreo on the bottom or you can make an Oreo crust like we did in this recipe for Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cheesecakes.
What’s this about flour in the batter to prevent cracking? Does it work?
Is it necessary?
Hi Kate, We don’t add flour to our cheesecake recipes (neither this or our full size classic cheesecake have flour).
Delicious and easy! Doubled the recipe and only change made was that I used half the lemon juice. Will make again and again!
★★★★★
Can I use this recipe for making plain cheesecake bars? with 9×13 inch glass pan?
Hi Shameem, we’d recommend using our classic cheesecake recipe and then following the bake times and instructions from our white chocolate raspberry cheesecake bars. See recipe notes there for 9×13 instructions.
This recipe was amazing!!!! I have a Christmas party coming up and I used this recipe but I mixed red food coloring into the crust. I also put a whole strawberry on top of the mini cheesecakes and put whipped cream around the strawberry to make it look like Santa’s hat. They were absolutely adorable!!
★★★★★
Hello, if you double, triple, or quadruple the recipe would you do the same to the time for how long the cheesecakes cook and cool?
Hi Grace, as long as you’re still making them as mini cheesecakes, the baking time and temperature will remain the same. Make sure you are only baking the muffin pans on one rack in the oven and not stacking them. Enjoy!
I could’ve gotten more than 9 out these, but it might be that I whipped the cream cheese a bit too much. Silicone liners work wonderfully for these. The middles do sink a bit, but I’ve found that if I decrease the cooking time and then turn the oven off and let them sit in there for a bit it helps prevent the dipping. Super quick to make and tastes great. I’ve frozen a batch as well, and they held up nicely. Sometimes it’s nice to have them super chilly. Another winner.
★★★★★
I made a batch of these. Excellent!!
I did put the pan with water in the oven as it was heating
Left in the oven with the door cracked for 60 minutes, they didn’t crack or sink. These are just as good as the Cheesecake Factory!
★★★★★
Hi Sallly, looking Forward to try this week,
Can I make it in silicone tartalette moulds
We haven’t tested it, but don’t see why not! Let us know if you give it a try.
This was so easy and delicious! No cracks! I got 9 minis out of this, but it probably could have been 8 that filled the liners more. Love that it’s a small batch. I added a pinch of cardamom and cinnamon in the crust and topped with whipped cream and a high quality maraschino for a friend’s birthday. He loves cheesecake and he loved them.
★★★★★
Hi sally, can I skip the eggs?
Hi Amitha! Eggs are an important part of this recipe, we don’t recommend skipping them. You may love this recipe for mini no-bake cheesecakes that doesn’t require eggs. Let us know if you give them a try!
i have made this recipe 4 or 5 times, and making again tonight! never fails! and always delicious
★★★★★
It says use a full sized cupcake pan I have a mini meaning only 6 cupcakes per pan, I hope this works just the same! I’ll be back w. My experience w. This recipe I use her recipe for the full size cheesecake & it NEVER fails me
I made these starting with a tablespoon of filling for each standard muffin. It barely covered the crust so I added maybe 1/2 tablespoon more. They came out too flat, not enough filling. ????
Hi Candace, these cheesecakes are supposed to be flat or concave. When using more filling, I find they puff up, overflow, or significantly crack on top. Feel free to test it if you ever try the recipe again.
Can i make them in the cupcake tin straight away because I want to make them but don’t have cupcake liners (papers) right now or will it affect the recipe
Hi Malek! Without liners, it will be very difficult to remove the mini cheesecakes from the muffin pan. We strongly suggest using them for best results.
Epic fail for me. They came out of the oven looking beautiful but as they cooked they totally cratered. From the recipe I was expecting some indents but not this. So disappointed as I have used your other recipes with great success.
Hi Karen, this is totally normal – the cheesecakes will slightly sink in the middle as they chill. It gives you room for toppings! Hope you still enjoyed these mini cheesecakes.
Could I get some advice on removal? I use paper liners, but liquid seems to seep out of the base and stick them to the bottom of the pan. I have made them twice, and each time had to dig the cheesecakes out with a fork which leaves little marks in the side. I’m going to try to get some aluminium lined or silicone liners but in the meantime has anyone else had issues getting out the paper liners? Thanks!
If anyone is complaining about this recipe not turning out it’s your fault. If you follow the simple directions your cheesecakes will be perfect. This is my go to recipe for every cheesecake I make. I have not ever had 1 complaints ever. I’ve had people pay me to make this cheesecake recipe and I add my own toppings or fillings. This is the best base or just plain cheesecake.
★★★★★
Hi. What is the size of each cavity for the 12 cup muffin pan?
Hi Valerie, the size of each cavity can vary slightly depending on the brand of pan you are using. If you look up your pan on the internet (or are searching for a new one), the exact dimensions should be provided. Any 12-cup muffin pan should work perfectly for this recipe!
I followed the directions exactly as written and measured everything. They came out with a sour taste. What happened?
★★★★
Hi Nicole, is there any chance that any of the ingredients were spoiled or close to expiration? The final cheesecakes may be a bit tangy, but shouldn’t taste sour.
Excellent recipe read the reviews added 1/2 Tbsp flour and cooked them @ 350 degrees convection for 15 minutes.
They turned out perfect and they didn’t fall.
Topped them with blueberry sauce.
So yummy!
Thanks for a great recipe.
Cheers
★★★★★
Hi Sally!
Is it possible to use reduced fat cream cheese as my grocery store ran out of regular cream cheese?
Hi Sue! Full fat is best, but low fat may work in a pinch. The end result may be less firm.
For those of you who use mini cheesecake pans with the removable bottoms and for those of you who weigh your ingredients: I made nine of these cakes in my pan using the 1 1/2 TBSPS. of crust (didn’t bother weighing that) and 43 grams of batter in each cavity and I baked them for 15 1/2 minutes. It’s not that I am as fussy as I sound on the bake time; I was simply watching them for the last few minutes of baking and that was the point where I decided they were done. I let mine cool to room temperature over a rack before chilling them overnight in the refrigerator and I left the cakes in the pan for that chill time, covering the entire top of the pan with plastic wrap. I find chilling them in the pan makes it easy to remove the cakes the following day. Also, if I decide to freeze some, I place the pan (or the cakes if they are already out of the pan) on a tray, freeze for about an hour or two, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and pop them in either a zip top bag or a container suitable for freezing. To thaw, I take them out the night before, remove the wrapping, making sure they are still in a covered container and then I let them come up to chilled temperature in the refrigerator.
★★★★★
these say “mini” so I used a mini muffin pan, but are you sure they’re mini? I followed the recipe to a T and they turned out horribly. first, when I was trying to fill them with the crust, they were filled almost to the top. so I had to put about half a tablespoon in each one, and even had some left over (I made 10). then, I had a ton of filling left over. and I baked them for 16 minutes, and they are brown, and split 3 ways in each one, and they feel like rubber
★★
Mini means they are just not a full size cake. They need to be baked in a regular size cupcake pan.
yeah I got it now. I just love how the creator never said anything to me, but changed her title and description. thank you!
Hi,
Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe. What’s the substitute for sour cream? Plain yogurt was mentioned in one of your replies. But unable to find full fat yogurt. So is there any other substitute ? Can whipping cream with lemon be used instead. Thanks
Hi Vincy, plain full-fat yogurt really is the best substitute for sour cream. We don’t recommend whipping cream in its place. Hope you’re able to find some yogurt soon!
Try this for the 1st time yesterday, one word comes to mind, Wow. Super easy to make and super yummy. It’s just enough to take the edge off of wanting a full size cheesecake. Family enjoyed it!!! I will definitely be making these again.
★★★★★
Hi Lexi,
Thanks so much for your response about freezing mini cheesecakes. I had not scrolled down far enough for those details. It’s a GO! I’ll start making blueberry and strawberry for July 4th. Can I freeze them with the fruit topping on or should I wait until that morning to put on the toppings? Thanks. Barbara
Hi Barbara, it would be best to wait until that morning to top with the fruit!