These Easy Mini Cheesecakes are the perfect party food. From wedding receptions to to baby showers, these mini desserts look gorgeous and taste even better! But make sure to know the secret to keep these cute desserts from sinking!
Raise your hand if you love cheesecake. (Me!) Raise your hand if you have three hours and a springform pan. (Not me!) Actually, I do have a springform pan, but I never use it. Not when I can make these oh-so-cute and tasty mini cheesecakes! Plus, they only take a half an hour from start to finish! They are the best easy desserts to make for any kind of dessert table, whether it’s for a bridal shower, birthday party, or any of your other special occasions.
The recipe that I have for these says to use Vanilla Wafers for the bottom crust. I made them this way for years. Then I thought, “Hey! What if I used an Oreo for the bottom crust?” A chocolate crust with cheesecake? Yes please! So I split an Oreo in half and scraped out the frosting. Then I dropped the halves into the bottom of the cupcake liners and voila! Chocolate crust! You can also use the golden Oreos if you want a traditional vanilla crust.
Today’s Freebie!
Easy Mini Cheesecakes
Let me show you how to make these and give you some troubleshooting tips.
Tips for Making Mini Cheesecakes
- There is one thing that will help you immensely in making these cheesecakes. It is the OXO Good Grips Non-Stick 12 Cup Muffin Pan
. (This is an affiliate link). With regular muffin pans, you are always sticking your hot pad into the muffins or cupcakes as you take them out of the oven. The OXO muffin pan has wide edges so that you can easily remove them from the oven without worrying about dropping the pan, burning yourself, or ruining your cupcakes (or cheesecakes, in this case). I used this muffin pan in the recipe for my Double Ginger Molasses Cookies. You totally want to get one of these. - When you split the Oreos in half and scrape the frosting off, set the Oreo down on the counter or a cutting board. If you try to hold them in your hand and scrape off the frosting, the cookie will break almost every time, no matter how gentle you think you are being.
- Don’t over-whip the batter! You want it to be creamy, not fluffy. If you whip the batter too much, then you’ll get too much air and your cheesecakes will puff up nicely in the oven, and then sink despairingly. To help with this problem, I’ve also added a little flour to this recipe. It gives the cheesecakes just a little more structure and helps prevent the dreaded sinking problem.
. (This is an affiliate link). With regular muffin pans, you are always sticking your hot pad into the muffins or cupcakes as you take them out of the oven. The OXO muffin pan has wide edges so that you can easily remove them from the oven without worrying about dropping the pan, burning yourself, or ruining your cupcakes (or cheesecakes, in this case). I used this muffin pan in the recipe for my 
How to Make Mini Cheesecakes
Get out your muffin pans (this recipe makes about 18 mini cheesecakes). Insert a cupcake liner into each muffin spot. Then place half an Oreo cookie (minus the filling) in the bottom of each cupcake liner, with the formerly frosted side up.
Next you’re going to mix up your cheesecake batter. This will consist of cream cheese, sugar, eggs, flour, lemon juice, and vanilla. Mix on low speed using a hand mixer until creamy and most of the lumps have disappeared. (It’s o.k. to have a few small lumps). Use a medium cookie scoop to place a heaping scoop-ful of batter on top of each cookie.
The batter should fill each cupcake liner about 2/3 full.
Then bake at 350 degrees F. for 18-20 minutes. Let them sit in the pan for about 10 minutes (or longer) before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Once they have cooled, it’s time for the topping! To top these cheesecakes, you can either use canned topping (like cherry pie filling), jam, or my Berry Topping for Ice Cream, using any type of berries you would like. You could also just top them with a bit of whipped cream and fresh fruit, or chocolate ganache. The possibilities are endless!
These little desserts are always impressive. They are perfect for weddings and baby showers and any other party you can think of. They can be eaten without a fork and don’t get any plates dirty (like traditional cheesecake). Don’t get me wrong. I will never turn down a piece of regular cheesecake. As long as somebody else makes it.
Nutritional information consists of estimates only. Actual numbers will vary depending on the ingredients and toppings you choose.
Today’s Freebie!
Whip up these Easy Mini Cheesecakes in no time with just a cookie base and fruit topping. Perfect for weddings, baby showers, and every occasion!
- 18 vanilla wafers or nine Oreo cookies, split in half with the frosting removed
- 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- fruit (or other) topping of your choice
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place one vanilla wafer or Oreo half in the bottoms of 18 cupcake liners.
Mix all the other ingredients on low speed using a hand mixer (except the fruit topping) until creamy.
Spoon into the cupcake liners, filling each about 2/3 full.
Bake for 18-20 minutes.
- Cool and top with fruit, nuts, whipped cream, chocolate or caramel sauce, etc.
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Have you ever made this ahead and frozen them?
I have not! But I think it could work! If you give it a try, will you let me know how it turned out?
How long do these last? Wanting to make for my wedding but not sure how many days in advance i can make them.
Hi Brooklynn. Congratulations on your wedding! These will be the perfect treat! I would say you could make them up to two days in advance, but wait to put the topping on until just before you serve them. Also, I suggest baking them in those double paper liners (they have those ones that have a shiny silver on the outside and then a plain white cup inside). Condensation can form on the paper cup if you store these for a long time, so that’s why the other foil liner would be perfect (to hide anything like that). Let me know if you have any other questions!
These look amazing!!!!! I might have to change my Easter menu!
Those cheesecakes look like perfection~and delicious!
I absolutely LOVE these mini cheesecakes!! They are so pretty!!
I’m sorry but I am confused…are these baked in a regular sized cupcake (muffin) pan or one that is for tiny muffins or (cupcakes)? Some of the photos appear to be the regular size cupcake pan, but one photo shows the cakes on a tiered plate and they looked as if they were baked in a tiny muffin pan.
Hope you understand this.
Hi Phyllis! Thanks for your question. The cupcakes are regular-sized baked in normal muffin tins. Hope that helps!
They care out amazing and it was so easy to make, only complaint is there isn’t a run down of the nutritional facts.
Sorry about that Jeannie! I have to add the nutritional facts by hand and I haven’t done it for this recipe yet! I apologize!
Did you put a little syrup on top prior to placing fruit on top? It seems to have a bit of a syrup or caramel underneath.
Hi Krystle. I did use a little bit of homemade strawberry syrup. You can also use jam, or just add fruit without any syrup. That’s the beauty here! You can do whatever you like!
Would this be possible to do ahead for dessert table at a wedding reception of 275 people? Do you have to keep them refrigerated? Also, how would we transport them all to the reception site?
Cathy, yes, these are perfect for wedding receptions! Yes, you do need to keep them refrigerated. Keep in mind that over time, the cheesecakes will start to pull away from the liners, so you want to make sure to wait to put any toppings on until just before you serve them (to cover up any cracks or sinking or separating). If you don’t put the topping on until you get to the reception, you can stack layers of these in a large cooler separated with waxed paper or parchment paper. (Just put a bunch at the bottom the put a sheet of waxed paper over them all, then do another layer). Hope that helps!