These mini no-bake cheesecakes are formed in a muffin pan. Using only a few basic and delicious ingredients, these tiny cheesecakes set up in the refrigerator instead of the oven. They’re extra creamy and lightly sweetened just like my regular no-bake cheesecake!
One reader, Jennifer, commented: “Such a great recipe. Quick and easy, but the results are delicious and decadent. This is one of those recipes that makes it seem like more work than it actually is. I made some chocolate ganache to go with them and it was the perfect touch. I bet lemon curd would also be incredible. โ โ โ โ โ “
So, What Are Mini No-Bake Cheesecakes?
No-bake cheesecake, no-bake pumpkin cheesecake, and even my no-bake cheesecake jars are exactly that: cheesecake without the oven. I like to compare the filling to cheesecake mousse. It has a light and airy texture because it’s made with homemade whipped cream. When spooned over a graham cracker crust and refrigerated, the eggless cheesecake filling sets up beautifully.
It’s pure dessert magic.
What it lacks in oven time, it makes up for in taste and texture:
- Thick, buttery, and crunchy graham cracker crust
- Light, creamy, and velvet-rich cheesecake filling
Though I already have a full no-bake cheesecake recipe on my website, sometimes I enjoy making it in individual muffin cups instead of a springform pan. And I figured you’d want to see how it’s done! These mini no-bake cheesecakes are simple, straightforward, and at only a few bites each, perfect for portion control.
Overview: How to Make Mini No-Bake Cheesecakes
- Make room in your refrigerator. Two muffin pans need to squeeze in there!
- Line two standard 12-count muffin pans with liners. Cupcake liners are keyโyou won’t be able to remove the cheesecakes without them.
- Combine the crust ingredients. You need graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and brown sugar. Butter and moist brown sugar (as opposed to regular granulated sugar) help this crust set up properly. Spoon 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons of the crust mixture into each liner and use the back of the spoon to pack it down tightly.
- The next step is optional. To really ensure that these tiny crusts set up properly, I recommend a quick 5 minutes in the oven. Now I know these are NO-BAKEโand the filling still isโI simply found that the crust is sturdier after 5 minutes of baking. But if you can’t use an oven, you can definitely skip it. The crust will just be a bit crumblier.
- Make the cheesecake filling. These no-bake cheesecakes set up because we add homemade whipped cream. This is the secret to a thick sturdy filling, and we also use this trick in strawberry cream cheese pie. First, whip heavy cream into stiff peaks and set it aside. Next, combine the rest of the filling ingredients including cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Gently fold in the whipped cream.
- Add filling over crusts. I’ve made these countless times and prefer piping the cheesecake filling on top of the mini crusts. You can certainly spoon the filling onto the crusts instead, but piping isn’t quite as messy. Feel free to use a piping bag with a large tip (star or round), or you can snip the corner off of a zipped-top plastic bag.
- Refrigerate until set. The mini no-bake cheesecakes set up in about 3 hours. I don’t recommend using the freezer to speed this up because the graham cracker crust will quickly freeze before the filling does. A frozen crust is difficult to bite.
By the way, if you’re looking for a baked variation, here are my regular mini cheesecakes. I even have mini margarita cheesecakes (obviously!), plus plenty more cheesecake recipes and even an easy cheesecake pie too!
Below Left: Heavy cream whipped into stiff peaks. Below Right: Smooth cheesecake filling before adding the whipped cream.
After you fold in the whipped cream, the no-bake cheesecake filling will be fluffy and airyโjust like mousse. Here is a photo for a visual:
Won’t the Filling Stick to the Wrappers?
I was skeptical at first, but they donโt. As long as you follow the recipe exactly and chill the mini no-bake cheesecakes for long enough, the wrappers will neatly pull away from the filling. The cheesecakes do begin to soften up when at room temperature, so as long as you unwrap them shortly after taking them out of the refrigerator, you’re fine.
Toppings for Mini No-Bake Cheesecakes
Though plain mini no-bake cheesecakes are flavorful on their own, they welcome all sorts of fun toppings. I love serving these with strawberry sauce and fresh berries. Don’t have fresh berries? Top with a spoonful of lemon curd, salted caramel, apple butter, or your favorite fruit preserves. You can also top with chocolate ganache or hot fudge sauce. If using ganache or hot fudge, I recommend spooning a little over each mini cheesecake before refrigerating so the ganache can set up too.
3 Final Success Tips
- Whip the Heavy Cream: The most important step in this recipe is to beat cold heavy cream into peaks before folding it into the cheesecake filling. The whipped cream helps solidify the filling and its airiness creates an irresistible mousse-like consistency. (You’re basically making unsweetened, unflavored whipped cream!)
- Use Bricks of Cream Cheese: To guarantee the cheesecakes set up properly, use 8-ounce bricks of full-fat cream cheese. Do not use low-fat cream cheese or cream cheese spread that’s sold in a tub. Same success tip I recommend when making the icing for fruit pizza, too!
- Refrigerate, Don’t Freeze: You might be tempted to speed up the chilling process in the freezer, but the colder air won’t chill the cheesecakes evenly. The crust will firm up before the filling does. And trust me, you don’t want to bite into frozen crust underneath partially frozen cheesecake.
Mini No-Bake Cheesecakes
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: 24 mini cheesecakes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Whipping
- Cuisine: American
Description
Follow this recipe for perfect mini no-bake cheesecakes that set in lined muffin pans. Before beginning, read through the recipe and recipe notes below and review the success tips in the blog post above. Step 3 is optional.
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Crust
- 2 cups (240g) graham cracker crumbs (about 16 full sheet graham crackers)
- 1/3 cup (67g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, melted
Filling
- 1 cup (240ml) cold heavy cream or heavy whipping cream
- 16 ounces (452g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (30g) sour cream or plain yogurt, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- optional: your desired toppings (see recipe Note)
Instructions
- Line two standard 12-count muffin pans with cupcake liners. Make sure you have room in your refrigerator for both pans. (You refrigerate them in step 6.)
- Prepare the crust: If your graham crackers aren’t crumbs yet, use a food processor to pulse them into fine crumbs. Pour crumbs into a medium bowl and stir in the brown sugar and melted butter until combined. Mixture will have the consistency of wet sand. Spoon 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons of the crust mixture into each cupcake liner and use the back of the spoon to pack it down tightly.
- The next step is optional. Though it’s not required, I recommend baking the crusts for a quick 5 minutes in a 350ยฐF (177ยฐC) oven. The crusts are a little sturdier this way. However, if you can’t use an oven or simply don’t want to, you can skip this step. The crust will just be a bit crumblier. If baking, let the warm crusts cool for 10 minutes before adding the filling on top.
- Make the filling: Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the cold heavy cream into stiff peaks on medium-high speed, about 3 minutes. Set aside. Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and granulated sugar together on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed. Add the sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth and combined, about 1 minute. Make sure there are no large lumps of cream cheese. If there are lumps, keep beating until smooth. Using your mixer on low speed or a silicone spatula, fold the whipped cream into the cheesecake filling until combined. This takes several turns of your rubber spatula. Combine slowly as you don’t want to deflate all the air in the whipped cream.
- You can use a spoon or piping bag to transfer the filling on top of the crusts. Spoon or pipe about 2 Tablespoons of filling over each crust. I prefer piping the filling because it’s a little easier and neater. Fit your piping bag with a large star or round piping tip, then transfer the filling to the bag and pipe.ย (You could also use a plastic zipped-top bag. Spoon the filling inside, snip an end off a corner, and pipe.) Use the back of a spoon to smooth the tops so they are flat.
- Refrigerate the mini cheesecakes in the pans for at least 3 hours and up to 2 days. If refrigerating for longer than 3 hours, I recommend covering with aluminum foil or plastic wrap.
- Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Serve with optional toppings (see recipe Note). The cheesecakes begin to soften and stick to the liners after about 30โ60 minutes at room temperature.
- Cover and store leftover mini cheesecakes in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: The mini cheesecakes can be made 1-2 days in advance and refrigerated for up to 2 days before serving, as noted in step 6. Another way to prep these mini no-bake cheesecakes is to freeze them. Refrigerate them as directed in step 6, then remove them from the muffin pan (keep the liners on them) and line in a single layer in a large freezer-friendly container. Cover tightly and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-count Muffin Pans | Cupcake Liners | Food Processor | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Silicone Spatula | Piping Bag (Reusable or Disposable) | Large Piping Tip (like Ateco 808)
- Optional Toppings: Right before serving, you can add toppings to the mini cheesecakes. You can also add the following toppings after the cheesecakes have chilled in the refrigerator for just 1โ2 hours (step 6), then store the topped cheesecakes in the refrigerator for the remaining time. Use 3/4 cup strawberry sauce divided over each chilled mini cheesecake. (Spoon about 1/2 Tablespoon over each.) And/or use 1 cup mixed berries, plus a few mint leaves, divided over each for additional garnish. Instead of strawberry sauce, try the same amount of lemon curd, apple butter, or your favorite fruit preserves. You can also top with chocolate ganache. I recommend spooning a little over each mini cheesecake before refrigerating so the ganache can set up too.
- Lemon Juice: Lemon juice brightens up the flavor. This cheesecake does not taste like lemon. For lemon flavored mini no-bake cheesecakes, replace the sour cream with 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice (in addition to the 1 teaspoon lemon juice that it already calls for) and add 2 teaspoons lemon zest.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: Bring the cream cheese and sour cream to room temperature before beginning. Room temperature ingredients guarantee a smooth cheesecake filling. Beating cold ingredients together will result in a chunky cheesecake filling. (The heavy cream, however, MUST be cold in order to whip into stiff peaks.)
- Non-US Readers: โโDon’t have graham crackers where you live? Use 2 cups (240g) ground digestive biscuits instead (about 16 biscuits), the same amount of butter, and add a bit more sugar (about 1/2 cup, or 100g). You may need to add a few extra minutes to the pre-baking time, as digestive biscuits are not quite as crispy-crunchy as graham crackers. 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.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Hi Sally, (and team:)
I have a question, I’ve made the Perfect No Bake Cheescake before it turned out great but a bit too sweet this time I’m sure I’ll decrease the sugar but back to the question, do you think I could half the recipe and do one muffin pan.
Thank you BTW your recipes are genius there’s literally an oat casserole in the oven right now,
#1 fan
Yes, you can halve this recipe if you would like. Thank you so much for making our recipes!
Your recommendation for baking the crust for 5 minutes was spot on! If any other metric users are here go 180c if you have a fan forced oven. You also need to add gelatine as a setting agent or it doesn’t turn out as the recipe describes.
Hi, just curious why the recipe is slightly different between the full cheesecake and the mini ones
Hi Brooke, the recipes are very similar! We found these proportions worked best for mini cheesecakes.
Can they be made in the plastic cups for like a hand held walking dessert? Looking for wedding desserts I can make for a dessert table.
Hi Laurie! You can put this in small cups or jars, like we do in this no-bake cheese cake jars recipe.
Is there a nutritional value available ?
Hi Tiarne, We donโt usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Since there isn’t crust enclosing the cheesecake, do these lose their shape at room temperature?
Hi Sayler, they shouldn’t lose their shape, no, but they also should be kept refrigerated as much as possible. They can be out at room temperature for a maximum of 2 hours. Hope this helps!
Hi, do you think I can use whipped cream cheese instead of a block? Trying to use what I have on hand
Hi Autumn, full fat block cream cheese is the only cream cheese that works in this recipe, so that the cheesecakes will properly set. (Unless you are located outside of the US โ We have been told by readers outside the U.S. that cream cheese in a tub is different from ours and can work, but we have not tested it. Please let us know if you try!)
Did not set at all. Very disappointing
Made these for a pickleball get together and they were a big hit. Everyone wanted the recipe, so thanks!
Would I be able to add flavor to the batter, such as cotton candy or pineapple? Or will it change the integrity of the structure?
Hi Kate, you could certainly use a bit of extract for another flavor, but we don’t recommend too much additional liquid like using pineapple juice. Let us know what you try!
Hi Sally! I want to make this recipe, but brick cream cheese is hard/impossible to find where I am. Will it be alright to use full-fat cream cheese from a tub instead? Are there any modifications or extra steps I should be mindful of? Thanks ๐
Hi Becky, If you are located outside of the US โ We have been told by readers outside the U.S. that cream cheese in a tub is different from ours and can work, but we have not tested it. Please let us know if you give it a try!
I made them with the tub cream cheese available here and they turned out great!
For anyone wondering, I did some light research which suggested the fat content is lower (& water content is higher). There was a recommendation to measure out a little extra, wrap it in cheese cloth, and put it over a strainer with a light weight on top overnight in the fridge. I tried it, but Iโm not sure it mattered much because I didnโt get much excess liquid. I did pour off any that I could though. I also used double cream & castor sugar.
And because the tub cream cheese is softer than brick, it didnโt require as much mixing for everything to be combined.
Can you use evaporated milk instead of the heavy cream
Hi Roberta, whipping cream is required for the cheesecakes to set and keep their shape properly.
The no bake mini cheesecake recipe did not set up for me. I think the recipe may be dependent on temperature and humidity in your cooking environment. The flavor was fine, but the texture and presentation was a big flop. Ended up throwing everything out unfortunately; as it did not meet my requirements for a finger food only potluck contribution.
For a different no bake crust t use Oreo cookie on the bottom. Put filling on top of that, then cut a Oreo cookie in half and with a few crumbs on top.
Very good!!
These are absolutely delicious! It’s a simple way to get perfect cheesecake flavor.
Just be aware that the setting/firming up is not guaranteed! I followed the recipe exactly (yes stiff peaks in the cold cream, yes full-fat brick cream cheese, yes 3+ hours in the fridge), and they didn’t set. They were fluffy and soft, not solid like the photo. I brought them to a party and we all had to eat them with spoons!
Still, they’re incredibly tasty! Just have your spoons ready. ๐
I want to make mine in parfait cups. Should I put the graham cracker mix in raw or bake on sheet pan to get crunchy?
Hi Sherry, weโd recommend these no-bake cheesecake jars instead!
how come the 2nd recipe for Sallys baking challenge never gets picked?is it by chance or purposely done that only the 1st recipe will win?
Hi Ester, we use an app called Gleam, which randomly selects the winner. I wouldn’t even know how to select a different winner if I had control over it! We get a lot more entries for the actual assigned recipe, so the odds are higher. The last time we had an alternate recipe win was last April, and I believe before that was the October before. So it happens!
Can you use a silicone muffin tray?
Hi Kristan, we don’t see why not!
To make 12 of these I can just halve the ingredients, right? I want to try half baked and 12 non baked because they both look so good and i cant decide on one!
Hi Kirah, yes, feel free to halve the ingredients for a smaller yield. Hope you enjoy both recipes!
Hi Sally :). I was wondering if I could incorporate small pieces of cooked apple pieces into this recipe. My son loves Carmel apple cheesecake bites. I would like to try but not sure of how. I’d appreciate your help.
Hi Sue! We would try topping the cheesecakes with a cooked apple mixture, and drizzling with salted caramel sauce. We do something similar with this caramel apple cheesecake pie – let us know if you try it!
I have never left a review for anything ever. These little cheesecakes are well deserving of one. And an excellent one at that. These were a huge hit with the fam. Baking the crust is a must. These were delightfully delicious. Served them with the choice of homemade strawberry sauce, salted caramel drizzle and chocolate ganache. Fantastic! Thank you!
Could I add a layer of fruit in the middle of the filling? Making about 4 dozen of these for a party next week and I would like the fruit to be in the middle so o can add an edible frosting tile
Hi Christina, we havenโt tested that, but fear the fruit layer would prevent the cups from setting up properly. We would try swirling some into the top instead or topping them with a fruit layer, but let us know what you try!
These turned out so yummy! The only issue I ran into was pulling them out of the muffin pan. The liners were ripping when I was trying to pull them up. Any suggestions to avoid this? The only thing I can think of is I noticed the liners looked โoilyโ on the inside after baking the graham cracker crust in the oven. Maybe the butter kind of soiled the liners? Thank you!!
Hi Kaitlyn, what brand of liners were you using? Some are simply better than others, so if you can try a different brand of liners next time, that should help!
Hi Kaitlyn, I found using a fork to lever them out worked well. I just pushed the side of the liner away from the muffin pan and then slid the fork down under the cheesecakes. Hope it helps ๐
Which do you think is better? Your regular mini cheesecakes or the no bake mini cheesecakes?
Hi Tabitha, They are different textures so it would be whatever your personal preference is!
Can you use this recipe and make a mini cake?
Hi Carissa, You could but we are unsure what size pan would be best. Or you can use our regular no bake cheesecake (which is essentially the same recipe just with the addition of confectioners’ sugar so that the filling is more sturdy) and split that one between two six inch springform pans. Let us know what you try!
Is there a savory version of these? Iโm thinking maybe a ritz cracker base and a not so sweet filling, maybe topped with chives?
That sounds fantastic! I don’t have a recipe for it at this time, though.
I decided to try these for April’s alternate choice for the Challenge. These were very simple to put together. They tasted like I had spent hours in the kitchen. I will certainly be making these again in the future. I’m already thinking of endless possibilities for the toppings !
These are such a crowd pleaser. Easy, fun, and delicious. Go great with any fruit, we used blue berries and it was fantastic. The graham cracker crust when fresh offers an wonderful crumble texture.
We’re so glad these were a hit, Elizabeth!
These mini no-bake cheesecakes were SO good! I topped them with slices of strawberries. They looked so nice. Perfect for a night time snack. Would definitely make them again.