Mini chocolate chip cheesecakes with a thick Oreo cookie crust and topped with homemade salted caramel sauce.
Today’s post is very special, so I hope you listen up. There are two parts:
- Hunger.
- The recipe.
With all Thanksgiving around the corner, let’s start with hunger.
1. Hunger.
Today a few bloggers and I got together and brought a Thanksgiving dish/dessert to the table. A Thanksgiving potluck. Our purpose? Feeding America. Raising awareness of the hunger epidemic sweeping our country (and well, our world). 15.9 million children live in homes where they cannot consistently access enough nutrition to sustain a healthy life.
During a time of the year when we are all focused on food and family, it’s important to take a step back and think about others who may not be as lucky as we are. Find volunteer opportunities in your area. Virtually volunteer by spreading the word. Donate food, get involved, and help the 1 in 6 Americans who aren’t able to eat.
Because of my job, I have a plethora of food laying around. I certainly can’t eat it all, nor do I have a bakery in which to sell the food. I can, however, donate extras to our church. Our church then brings it to Our Daily Bread, a Baltimore-based food kitchen.
2. The Recipe.
My recipe to contribute to our combined effort to raise hunger awareness is cheesecake. But this isn’t your regular cheesecake. Nope, not at all. There’s homemade salted caramel + cheesecake + Oreo cookie crust + chocolate chips. They are mini, they’re cute, they’re decadent, and they’re simply divine.
The mini cheesecakes begin with a solid cheesecake base. You’ll need room temperature cream cheese, sugar, a dash of yogurt (or sour cream), 2 eggs, and vanilla. Just beat all of those basic ingredients together until smooth and add some mini chocolate chips. Regular sized chocolate chips would be fine as well.
The cheesecakes sit atop a simple Oreo cookie crust. The same Oreo cookie crust I always use, except slightly scaled down: crushed whole Oreos and melted butter. Or, you could a graham cracker crust, just like I do for classic mini cheesecakes. Press the mixture into 16-18 cupcake liners. Like so:
Top the crusts with the cheesecake batter and bake. Allow the cheesecakes to chill in the refrigerator to “set.” There! You just made mini cheesecakes. It’s pretty simple, right?
Here’s the fun part: homemade salted caramel. Salted caramel is like liquid candy. Sweet, sticky, salted, sugary candy. Having a standard salted caramel recipe under your belt is priceless. With my salted caramel recipe, you’ll be an expert in no time, I promise. (And you’ll want to pour the caramel on top of everything you eat, I promise.)
Drizzle the salted caramel on top of each cheesecake. Some of your cheesecakes may slightly sink down. There are a variety of reasons why the centers may sink. Over-mixing the eggs, not using a cheesecake water bath, etc. That’s ok with these cheesecakes. You want a slight sink in the center so you have a place for the salted caramel. When it comes to full-sized cheesecake, you want to be a little more aware of sinkage-prevention.
Enjoy your new favorite way to eat cheesecake! But if you need more ways to enjoy cheesecake, here are a few other tasty options:
- Cheesecake Pie & Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie
- Pecan Pie Cheesecake
- No-Bake Cheesecake & Mini No-Bake Cheesecakes
- Lemon Cheesecake
- Caramel Turtle Cheesecake
Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cheesecakes
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 28 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 50 minutes
- Yield: 16-18 mini cheesecakes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Mini chocolate chip cheesecakes with a thick Oreo cookie crust and topped with homemade salted caramel sauce.
Ingredients
Oreo Cookie Crust
- 18 regular Oreo cookies (not Double-Stuf)
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp; 56g) unsalted butter, melted
Cheesecake Filling
- 16 ounces (452g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (60g) yogurt*
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (180g) mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (or regular size)
- homemade salted caramel
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ยฐF (177ยฐC). Line two 12-count cupcake pans with 18 liners.
- For the crust: In a food processor or blender, pulse the whole Oreos into a fine crumb. Stir the cookie crumbs and melted butter together in a medium sized bowl. Press 1 heaping Tablespoon of mixture into the bottom of each liner, see picture above for a visual. You should have enough for 16-18 cups. Bake in batches for 5 minutes and allow to slightly cool as you prepare the filling.
- For the filling: In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until completely smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the sugar and yogurt and beat on medium speed until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating on low speed after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla extract and mini chocolate chips.
- Spoon batter into the crusts until nearly full. Bake each pan for 20-23 minutes. The centers will still be slightly jiggly, that’s OK. The centers may also have risen up quite a bit, but they will deflate as the cheesecakes cool. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely at room temperature, at least 1 hour. Transfer to the refrigerator and allow to chill for at least two hours.
- Before serving, top each cheesecake with salted caramel and additional chocolate chips, if desired.
- Cover leftover cheesecakes tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: After the cheesecakes have cooled to room temperature, you can freeze them. I recommend freezing without caramel. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator and top with salted caramel before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-count Muffin Pans | Cupcake Liners | Food Processor | Glass Mixing Bowl | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand)
- Yogurt: Sour cream OR nonfat, low fat, vanilla, plain, Greek or regular yogurt is OK.
Reader Comments and Reviews
This was delicious. I halved the recipe for a dinner party with a few friends, and it was a hit. I’ve had troubles making a full cheesecake in the past, and these individual cakes were the way to go. So moist and perfectly sweet. I think the salted caramel sauce takes some practice to get the consistency right, but all in all, this recipe was a 10/10.
I made these for a Super Bowl party and they were a hit. I loved the caramel but am thinking a berry filling on top might be in order next timeโฆ and there will be a next time!
Hi!!! I absolutely love these. They have been a hit anytime Iโve made them. Just wondering if there is a way to make the cheesecake part into a chocolate cheesecake?
Hi Kate, we haven’t tested a chocolate cheesecake version of these (or any others on our site), but you could try adding a drizzle of chocolate ganache on top of the finished cheesecakes. Glad these are a favorite for you!
Sally, I never substitute a single thing in your recipes but I am not a lover of yogurt. Will sour cream work the exact same way. I really don’t like altering your recipes. I’d rather not make it at all or just adjust to yogurt if you think it will change the taste or consistency.
Sour cream will work great! Hope you love them, Macky.
Great. Thank you so much.
Should I be cooling these in the muffin pan or remove them from the pan and onto a cooling rack?
Hi Sarah, you can let them cool in the muffin pan before removing.
Ive made this recipe a couple of times for dinner parties. Love it. Super easy. Used jar of caramel sauce and added little salt to the caramel sauce as i warmed it in the microwave
I did a recipe similar to this BUT used a whole Oreo Cookie as a base. Have you ever tried this method instead?
Hi. Ive tried it this way. The Oreo doesnt fit exactly as a base. Easy shortcut though. I made these as directed for a dinner party last night and i have to say it has more flavor this way.
This was really good and easy to make. Do you know if we wanted more of an oreo flavor, if I could include some oreo chopped in the cheesecake mix or would it mess up the cheesecake?
I’ve done this recipe 3x in 2 months. Taste soo good and easy to make (except for the salted caramel part – i burnt mine).
Anyway, I don’t have a food processor so I just buy oreo crushed pieces. I read somewhere that 1 oreo =11 grams, so that’s how I computed my ingredient. Just wondering if my measurement is correct, can you provide how many grams of oreo is used in this recipe?
Hi Sally,
Just discovered this recipe โ canโt wait to try this! Love all your recipes :D. Iโm planning to make these for my cousins birthday and she loves maple; could I use maple cookies instead of Oreos?
I canโt see why not!
Yayโthanks for the speedy reply!
Thank you so much for the recipe, it went together so easy and I’ll be making the salted caramel topping today. I’m surprising a friend at work who declared her love for cheesecake!
I want to make this as a full-size cheesecake, what are the ratio of ingredients?
Hi Darlene, here’s my full cheesecake recipe. Add 1-1.5 cups mini chocolate chips and serve with warm salted caramel.
Hi Sally, for the salted caramel sauce, is whipping cream same as heavy cream ? Does whipping cream works the same as heavy cream ? Or thickened cream is the same thing ?
Hi Catherine, Heavy cream (approximately 36% milk fat) may also be sold as whipping cream. Light whipping cream (30% milk fat), or double cream (48% milk fat) may be substituted. Do not use milk.
Hi Sally,
I would like to make one big cheesecake instead of mini one for this salted caramel chocolate chip cheesecake for my daughterโs birthday . Do you have this recipe to follow?
Thanks!
Randi
Hi Randi! I sure do. Here’s my full cheesecake recipe. Add 1-1.5 cups mini chocolate chips and serve with warm salted caramel.
Hi Sally,
I love your recipes–and I’m so excited to make these! I just bought a mini cheesecake pan with the removable bottoms…Would you still recommend using cupcake liners in this case?? I was hoping to have the sides look smooth and not have the liner ‘ridges’…Thank you!
Hi Lynn! Using a pan with removable bottoms means the liners wouldn’t really be necessary– because they will remove from the pan nicely! So, you can skip the liners.
I made these and they were great! Do you think I could make a large one in a large spring pan? Thanks!
Hi Sara! Yes, absolutely. You can follow this recipe and bake in a springform pan for a thinner cheesecake. I’m unsure of the exact bake time. Or you can use my cheesecake recipe and add chocolate chips and salted caramel on top.
I am making cheesecakes for my sister’s wedding and will be freezing them and pulling them out the day before. I planned on doing some of your normal cheesecake with your caramel sauce on top, can I freeze this with the caramel on top or should I wait to add the topping until after I remove from freezer? She wanted me to make a turtle cheesecake but every recipe I found was over my skill level lol. Do you think adding pecans on top would be good, too? Thank you for all your recipes, you’re the best!
Hi Tracy, we’d recommend freezing the cheesecakes without the caramel on top and adding on the day of. Pecans would also be a delicious addition. Hope they’re a hit at your sister’s wedding!
I made these for my friends a while back and now it is their go-to request any time I offer to bring a dessert! Thank you for all your recipes (I have yet to make one that doesn’t taste good ๐ )
Would these freeze well? Make ahead and then put the caramel on before serving?
Hi Kelly! Yes. You can freeze the baked & cooled mini cheesecakes and top with some warm salted caramel before serving.
Could I use home made creme fraiche instead of yogurt? Would it still be 1/4 cup?
Yes. I would use the same amount, 1/4 cup.
Hi I have a question, the cup cake pans are they regular size or mini cup cake trays?
Regular size. Use a 12-count muffin pan.
These have become a Christmas staple in our house! The salted caramel topping puts these over the top! I did change it a little as I make mini (mini muffin size) cheesecakes and drop 1 regular sized chocolate chip in the center. Bake them at 10 (about) minutes. My big fat Italian family LOVES them we have them on Christmas Eve, and I bake a batch at my church for those of us that have to work Christmas Eve. They are famous!
I don’t have a paddle attachment for my mixer! I just have the 2 beaters on my handheld. Will it ruin my cheesecake filling?
The beaters on your handheld work just fine! ๐
These are excellent little cheesecakes. I was worried about the making the caramel as I had never made it this way but it turned out great. I received lots of compliments on them. I did use the double stuffed oreos and the bottoms of the liners were a bit greasy but the actual cheesecake was not. This is a keeper!
Curious about the baking tins…do you use normal cupcake size or mini muffin tins?
I used a regular 12-count muffin pan
Susan thanks for asking this question. I am unsure myself but now I know. Thanks!
Does anyone know how long to bake when using mini muffin pans? Can’t wait to try making these.
Hi Janice, For super mini cheesecake bake times, see the recipe notes on our mini cheesecakes. Same would apply here. Enjoy!