The best mini chocolate cheesecakes that you'll ever make. These baked chocolate cheesecakes don't need a water bath, which is so easy and convenient to make. Just like New York-style cheesecakes, these beauties are dense yet creamy, rich, and decadent. They're also freezer-friendly!
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Why This Recipe Works
We're known for our success-guaranteed cheesecake recipes amongst our readers, like our delicious easy mini cheesecakes, no-bake mango cheesecake, and the best no-bake chocolate cheesecake. After more than 8 years of doing what we do, it's safe to say we know a thing or two about cheesecakes. Here's why this is another no-fail recipe.
Dense yet creamy decadent cheesecake - If you're a fan of New York cheesecake texture like our easy New York-inspired cheesecake, which is dense, rich, and yet creamy, then this is the perfect mini cheesecake recipe for you! Look at the texture, it's worthy of some good drooling!
Easy - The myth about cheesecakes is for pro bakers make everybody, especially beginners hesitant to make their own. Follow our detailed instructions and tips, and you'll be making out-of-this-world cheesecakes like a pro yourself! These chocolate cheesecake cupcakes are also the perfect size to serve and freeze later instead of a big whole cheesecake.
No water bath - Most baked cheesecakes require the hassles of using the water bath method. Well, this recipe doesn't, and look how amazing the mini chocolate cheesecakes are! Our secret is using a very low oven temperature like in our double chocolate cheesecake!
No cracks - Baked cheesecakes are notorious for having cracks on top of them, right? We're excited and proud to tell you that never happened to any of our recipes. Our secret is whisking the ingredients less, to prevent incorporating air into the batter, thus creating cracks when baked.
Freezer-friendly - Yes! These mini chocolate cheesecakes are still perfect, delicious, and creamy after being frozen. We always have some tucked away in our freezer for some family gatherings or cozy weekends!
Ingredients For This Recipe
Oreo cookies - No need to discard the filling! It adds flavor and sweetness to the mini chocolate cheesecake base. If you're not into Oreos, use other cookies that are similar in consistency, texture, and flavor.
Butter - Unsalted. We love to use unsalted butter in our house so we can control the amount of salt if we were to use any in a particular recipe.
Cream cheese - Full-fat cream cheese, we love the Philadelphia brand. In the US you can find it in blocks, and if you're in Europe like us, you'll find it in tubs. Don't use light cream cheese as it won't have enough fat content to help firm up these mini chocolate cheesecakes.
Chocolate - We use bakers' semisweet chocolate with 55% cacao. The perfect balance of chocolate flavor and sweetness for these mini chocolate cheesecakes and our no-bake peanut butter chocolate cheesecake. The higher the percentage of the cacao, the more bitter and less sweet the cheesecake will be.
Sour cream - Full-fat. It's going to add to the creaminess and luscious texture of our mini chocolate cheesecakes We've often interchanged it with full-fat Greek yogurt with no problems.
⭐ See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Step-By-Step Instructions
1. Make the base - Add Oreo cookies in a food processor and blend to get fine crumbs. Pour into a bowl together with melted butter, and mix well using a spoon. Divide the crumbs mixture into 12 muffin liners, in a muffin pan, and press evenly. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
2. Whisk the eggs - From this step onwards, never over-whisk, mix, or fold any of the ingredients. It'll prevent incorporating lots of air which will create cracks when we bake our mini chocolate cheesecakes later. Add the eggs into a bowl. Using a hand whisk, slowly whisk them. Set aside.
3. Melt the chocolate - Melt the chopped chocolate in the microwave or using a double boiler. For microwave, heat and stir every 30 seconds. For the double boiler, make sure the bowl containing chocolate doesn't touch the simmering water. Let the melted chocolate cool slightly before using.
4. Make the filling - Add cream cheese into a bowl and whisk using a handheld whisk on the lowest speed for a maximum of 1 minute, just until it's creamy. Now add in sugar, sour cream, vanilla extract, and salt and mix just until everything is well combined. Pour in melted chocolate and give it one last mix.
5. Fold in the eggs - Using a spatula, fold the beaten eggs into the mixture.
6. Bake - Bake in a preheated oven at 285ºF (140ºC), without the fan, on the lower ⅔ rack, for 25 minutes, or until when you gently shake the pan, the edges have set but the center still wiggles. Remove from the oven and cool completely at room temperature. Once cooled, chill the pan in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours. Optional, but we love to top them with some sweetened whipped cream and a square of chocolate each. Enjoy your delicious mini chocolate cheesecakes!
Recipe Expert Tips
- Use ingredients at the temperature specified. This will ensure all the ingredients for our mini chocolate cheesecakes mix better with each other.
- Do not over-whisk, mix, or fold any of the ingredients. We don't want to incorporate air into any of them, to prevent cracks when we bake the mini chocolate cheesecakes later.
- Use a low-temperature oven. Without the air. The circulating hot air tends to make the oven temperature higher. We love to use a portable oven thermometer every time we bake to make sure our oven temperature is accurate. It's one of the cheapest investments ever!
- How to remove the muffin liners and get the clean, sharp edges. Since we take a long time to photograph and film each of our recipes, we've learned from experience that putting the mini chocolate cheesecakes together with the muffin pan in the freezer for 1-2 hours will do the trick. The cheesecakes will be somewhat frozen, and easier to remove from the pan. Peeling the muffin liners is a breeze also, leaving them with clean, sharp beautiful edges!
⭐ Make cheesecakes like a pro, in your kitchen! Simply follow the tips and tricks we've put together in our Cheesecake eBook. We've crafted very detailed info for both baked and no-bake cheesecakes!
How To Store And Freeze
Store - In an air-tight container, in the fridge, for up to 5 days. These mini chocolate cheesecakes need to be chilled at all times, like any other cheesecakes. Depending on the weather of your place, take them out from the fridge 30-60 minutes before serving to experience their fullest creamy texture and flavor!
Freeze - Fast-freeze them directly in the muffin pan or on a tray for 2 hours. Then place the frozen mini chocolate cheesecakes in an air-tight container or a ziplock bag, and back in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge one day before.
Recipe FAQs
No, you don't. The reason for the water bath is to create a gentler heat medium between the cheesecakes and the hot oven temperature, so they cook evenly. By using much lower temperatures as we do, we are simplifying the process and achieving the same result!
There are 2 reasons for that. 1) You've overmixed the ingredients at some point, incorporating air and it inflates in the oven. 2) The oven temperature was too high, cooking the batter too fast, made them expand and crack, and the extreme change of oven to room temperature caused the cheesecakes to deflate, crack if they hadn't already, and sink.
The same reasons above, which are overmixing the batter and the oven temperature was too high. Use a portable oven thermometer as we do, that's the only way to get the accurate temperature for ovens.
For a creamy luscious cheesecake texture, the surroundings of the cheesecake should set but when you shake it gently, the center should wiggle. That's the perfect guidance. If it doesn't wiggle, then it's overcooked. The texture would be stiffer but it's still delicious though!
More Cheesecake Recipes
⭐ If you tried these Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes or any other recipe on our website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let us know how it went in the comments below!
Watch How To Make It
📖 Recipe
Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
Base
- 18 (200 g) Oreo cookies , or 7 oz
- 3 tablespoon (45 g) butter , melted
Filling
- 12 oz (340 g) full-fat cream cheese , room temperature
- ⅓ cup (65 g) sugar
- 1 cup (210 g) sour cream , room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 oz (110 g) semisweet bakers' chocolate
- 2 large eggs , room temperature
Instructions
Base
- Add Oreo cookies in a food processor and blend to get fine crumbs. Pour into a bowl together with melted butter, and mix well using a spoon. Divide the crumbs mixture into 12 muffin liners, in a muffin pan, and press evenly. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Filling
- From this step onwards, never over-whisk, mix, or fold any of the ingredients. It'll prevent incorporating lots of air which will create cracks when we bake our mini chocolate cheesecakes later. Add the eggs into a bowl. Using a hand whisk, slowly whisk them. Set aside.
- Melt the chopped chocolate in the microwave or using a double boiler. For microwave, heat and stir every 30 seconds. For the double boiler, make sure the bowl containing chocolate doesn't touch the simmering water. Let the melted chocolate cool slightly before using.
- Add cream cheese into a bowl and whisk using a handheld whisk on the lowest speed for a maximum of 1 minute, just until it's creamy. Now add in sugar, sour cream, vanilla extract, and salt and mix just until everything is well combined. Pour in melted chocolate and give it one last mix. Using a spatula, fold the beaten eggs into the mixture.
Bake
- Bake in a preheated oven at 285ºF (140ºC), without the fan, on the lower ⅔ rack, for 20-25 minutes, or until when you gently shake the pan, the edges have set but the center still wiggles. Remove from the oven and cool completely at room temperature. Once cooled, chill the pan in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours. Optional, but we love to top them with some sweetened whipped cream and a square of chocolate each. Enjoy your delicious mini chocolate cheesecakes!
Notes
- Use ingredients at the temperature specified. This will ensure all the ingredients for our mini chocolate cheesecakes mix better with each other.
- Do not over-whisk, mix, or fold any of the ingredients. We don't want to incorporate air into any of them, to prevent cracks when we bake the mini chocolate cheesecakes later.
- Use a low-temperature oven. Without the air. The circulating hot air tends to make the oven temperature higher. We love to use a portable oven thermometer every time we bake to make sure our oven temperature is accurate. It's one of the cheapest investments ever!
- How to remove the muffin liners and get the clean, sharp edges. Put the mini chocolate cheesecakes together with the muffin pan in the freezer for 1-2 hours. The cheesecakes will be somewhat frozen, and easier to remove from the pan. Peeling the muffin liners is a breeze also, leaving them with clean, sharp beautiful edges!
Originally published on Dec 7, 2019. Updated with improved text and pictures on Feb 10, 2024.
Joanne says
Hi, I want to make this in a mini muffin pan with 48 holes instead of the standard muffin pan. How long would I cook them and would it be at the same temperature?
Bea & Marco says
Hi Joanne! Use the same oven temperature and rack position as in the recipe. We haven’t tested this mini size, so begin checking at 10 minutes; they’ll likely need around 10–15 minutes. They’re ready when the edges are set but the centers still wiggle slightly. Depending on the size of the cavities, the recipe may make fewer than 48. Hope this helps!