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.