These creamy mini cheesecakes are inspired by none other than.. the Cheesecake Factory! This recipe has more than 17 million views on our Youtube (as this post is published) and is also one of our readers' favourites.
We have uncountable messages and emails from our viewers and readers saying how they loved it as it's so easy and never fails. Many have also started selling these and they become one of their customers' favourites also.
We can't express enough how happy, grateful and satisfied we feel to know all the stories and feedback. This recipe truly has a soft spot in our hearts.
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Recipe Highlights
Texture and flavour - Creamy luscious filling with a crunchy base. The mildly sweet filling with delicious cream cheese flavour goes amazing with the contrast of the base that has a touch of saltiness to it. Amazing combo!
Level - Super easy, even for beginners. No water bath is needed.
Size - 12 mini cheesecakes, muffin size.
Occasion - I hate to limit these beauties to any occasion as they are perfect for any time, more when you want to impress somebody who's a cheesecake lover.
Lets Talk Ingredients
Digestive biscuits - Don't get taken aback by their name. We're based in Europe and instead of graham crackers, we use digestive biscuits which are easier to find. Honestly, I love the touch of saltiness from the biscuits, it's a nice contrast flavour.
SUBSTITUTION: Use graham crackers or any other similar biscuits.
Cream cheese - Use full fat, block ones. Not the ones for spreading on toasts, alright?
Sugar - Granulated sugar. Add a bit more if you want to use confectioner sugar as it's not as sweet as granulated. Or adjust to your liking.
SUBSTITUTIONS: Any dry sweetener will work. Add 30% more if you're using erythritol. The same amount for brown and coconut sugar but just know that they'll make the cheesecakes colour darker.
NOTE: I don't recommend using liquid sweetener as it'll affect the texture (too liquid).
All-purpose flour - I know it's not conventional but this small amount of flour will help prevent cracks, which is a huge no-no in baked cheesecakes.
Sour cream - Use full fat, please. We are making cheesecakes here. Go big or go home?
SUBSTITUTION: Use the same amount of full-fat unsweetened Greek yogurt.
Why This Recipe Has More Than 17 Million YouTube Views
These are the feedbacks that we keep getting from everybody who's made this recipe:
Super easy - Many who've never baked a cake, let alone made a baked cheesecake (which we know is tricky), have successfully made this recipe on the first try. No fancy method is needed here.
It works - The recipe never fails. I know it's difficult to find reliable recipes in the internet world but no recipes are published here on our website without me testing them first. We're also known for our reliable recipes here, just letting you know. What you see is what you get.
No water bath - Baked cheesecakes usually need a water bath to cook properly and beautifully. This recipe doesn't need it. Less hassle with great results.
Easy ingredients - No fancy ingredients here. So if you follow exactly my recipe or tips for ingredient substitutions above, then you'll nail it every single time.
Quick cooking time - Only 15 minutes in the oven, yep.
How To Prevent Cracks In Cheesecakes
Baked cheesecakes are considered a success if there's no crack on them. Right? And also when they maintain the flat top, or in other words, they don't deflate when they come out from the oven. Here's how you can easily achieve those:
Room temperature - Ingredients should be at room temperature. This is so that they mix easily with each other.
Don't over-mix - Never, at any point, in any of my baked cheesecake recipes, should you over-mix the filling. Less is extremely more in this case. Over mixing will whip in the air, which will cause the filling to inflate and crack in the oven.
Low speed - Use the lowest speed on your handheld or stand mixer. Remember, we don't want to over-mix.
Low temperature - Not all ovens are made the same. Yours could be hotter than mine, and vice versa. Use a portable oven thermometer to get the accurate temperature, it's very affordable. The high temperature will make them inflate, deflate and crack.
Conventional - Use conventional mode (without fan-assisted) as it'll keep the temperature stable-low. Lower by 20-25 degrees if you're using a convection oven.
Don't overbake - With the correct temperature, they take only 15 minutes to cook. Not more. They should still wiggle in the center when you lightly shake the pan. Over baking will cause them to crack.
Great Cheesecakes Need Time
Making these cheesecakes is super easy and quick. But we want that depth in flavour in our cheesecakes, right?
And we can achieve that by giving some time for the wonderful flavours to blend with each other. Chill the baked room temperature cheesecakes in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours. Preferably 8 hours. Trust me, you'll appreciate it.
Can I Put Them At Room Temperature For A Long Time?
The answer is, no.
All cheesecakes either baked or no-bake, are better-kept chill to maintain their structure. You can have these out on the table for a maximum of 30 minutes, not more.
If for some reason you want them to be longer than that, I'd recommend you freeze them for 1-2 hours, so that they hold longer at room temperature.
Can I Freeze Them?
Yes, you can. I do it all the time.
Place on a tray and freeze for 1 hour. Then put them in an airtight container and back in the freezer, for up to 6 months.
Thaw in the fridge.
More Recipes
- The BEST double chocolate cheesecake
- Fudgy pumpkin cheesecake brownies
- Pecan cheesecake bars
- Whole normal sized Cheesecake Factory inspired
- Cinnamon roll flavoured cheesecake
Recipe Video
📖 Recipe
Easy Mini Cheesecakes
Equipment
- Bowls (1 big and 1 small)
- Food processor or rolling pin (for biscuit crumbs)
- Muffin liners
- Handheld whisk
Ingredients
The Base
- 1 ½ cup biscuits crumbs (150 g) or use graham crackers
- ¼ cup unsalted butter (60 g), melted
The Cheese Filling
- 10.5 oz cream cheese, full fat (300 g), room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100 g)
- 2 large eggs , room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 ½ tablespoon all purpose flour (14 g)
- ¾ cup sour cream, full fat (185 g), room temperature
Optional Toppings
- some strawberry marmalade
- berries of your choice
Instructions
The Base
- Using a food processor, blend digestive biscuits into fine mixture. Pour into a bowl and add melted butter. Mix well.
- Divide evenly into 12 muffin liners in a muffin pan. Using a spoon, press the mixture tightly and evenly. Set aside.
The Cheese Filling
- Using a low speed in your mixer, mix cream cheese until just creamy. While mixing, gradually add in sugar. Then add in eggs 1 by 1, mixing just until well combined.
- Then add in vanilla extract, lemon juice, flour and mix again just until combined. Finally add in sour cream and mix everything together.
- Using an ice cream scoop, divide the cheesecake filling evenly into prepared muffin pan. Gently shake the pan to make the top surface flat.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 320ºF (160ºC), conventional mode, on ⅔ lower rack for 15 minutes or when you gently shake the pan, the cheesecake wiggle a bit and the center look not as set.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool to room temperature in the pan. Place the pan in the fridge overnight.
How To Serve
- Serve as they are or with some strawberry marmalade and your favourite berries.
Notes
- Do not over mix to avoid cheesecake from cracking while baking.
- Use portable oven thermometer to get the accurate oven temperature.
- It's easier to remove the cheesecakes from the pan after they're chilled in the fridge.
- Don't put them too long at room temperature to maintain their structure. Max 30 minutes. Freeze for 1-2 hours if you want them to hold a bit longer than that.
- They last up to 6 months in the freezer.
Nutrition Facts
Originally published on Feb 16, 2019. Updated with improved text and pictures on Aug 11, 2021.
Ghee says
Hello,
Instead of butter can we use coconut oil or cream.
Thank you,
Bea says
Hi! You can use coconut oil, no problem. Hope it helps!
Sherry says
How many full Graham crackers does this take?
Leanne says
Can you freeE these without the toppings?
Bea says
Yes, you can 🙂
Munira says
Tried this yesterday and it turned out perfect! So easy and so delicious! It was a big hit and everyone was asking for the recipe, quick question, would the same ingredients work if I make it in a cake pan? Any idea what temperature and time to bake for the 9” cake pan and do you recommend using a water bath for it! Thanks a lot for the wonderful recipe and your reply !
Bea says
Hi Munira! You can check out my whole baked-cheesecake here. No need for water bath. You can use the recipe for 9" pan (no need to make tall base). If you want the same height and look, multiply all ingredients by 1.4. Hope it helps and thank you for your feedback!
Aneela zsid says
Which digestive biscuits did you use in it, can you please send me the picture or brand name please?
Bea says
Hi Aneela, you can read and see more about digestive biscuits here. It doesn't matter the brand, really. Hope it helps!
Sheree says
I absolutely adore this recipe. I've made this multiple times and it's always been a crowd pleaser. Recently, I've been fancy-ing it up by swirling in homemade blueberry coulis from your blueberry cheesecake recipe and it's amazing. Thank you so much for this awesome recipe!
Bea says
You're welcome, Sheree! Great idea on the blueberry coulis 😉🙌!
Tarika R says
I have 200 grams of cream cheese. Can you tell me the weight of all other ingredients
Ann says
Haf not tried but will do. Luks yummy & simple. 😊
Chedva says
Do I freeze them straight away or first put them in fridge and then freeze them?
Bea says
You can directly freeze them, hope it helps!
Karima says
Thanksna lot for the mini cheese cake recipes, I love it very much and already made it several times.
If we make double recipes, how many minutes I should bake it?
Arina says
Hi! Should I also make a Bain-Marie condition in my oven ? Or I should just bake a cheesecake without it?
Bea says
Hi Arina! You don't need bain-marie for this recipe (or any baked cheesecake recipe in my website). Hope it helps!
Faiza Alam says
Hi
Would you be able to post the recipe in cups especially for the cream cheese and sour cream. I really like this recipe and will make it for my Eid Celebrations.
Rakhsar says
Hi. I am not getting 55% chocolate, can I use dark bitter sweet chocolate?
Kim Nguyen says
Your cheese cake are amazing delicious I loved it
Lily says
Hi there tried this cheesecake bites they are absolutely delicious. Great for dessert for company. Love them.
Shaznin says
Hi. Can I use this recipe to bake in a 20 cm pan? Should I triple the amount? N use the same temperature?
Bea says
Hi! You can refer to my easy cheesecake recipe for the ingredients. Hope it helps.
Lorraine Clark says
What sugar do you use ?
Icing sugar, caster sugar or normal ?
Thank you
Bea says
I use normal sugar, hope it helps.
Hamza Fazli says
I left the cheesecakes at room temperature in hot humid weather.. they look shiny and i inserted a toothpick and it's coming out dipped in chocolate liquid. But not batter sticking on it. Also some surfaces my finger is sticking back with batter others aren't. Do i pop it back in preheated oven of high or low temperature? Or should I refrigerate instead?
Bea S. says
Hello,
Thank you very much for this recipe. I made double the amount and they were easy to make but most important they were DELICIOUS. My family loved them, definitely will be making these mini cheesecakes again. Have you ever made Oreo cookie mini cheesecakes? Do you think I could make them using your same recipe but replace the graham cracker with an Oreo cookie and add some bits of cookie to the mix and they would turn out as delicious? I would appreciate your feedback as you are the expert. Thank you….
Seema Kanodia says
Absolutely delicious, everyone loved it..thank you
Bea says
Thank you Seema! 😍
Gaynor Wilyeo says
Hi
Can these cheesecakes be frozen
Thank you
Gaynor xx
Bea says
Yes, they can 🙂
Jasmine says
This looks amazing! I only have 250g of cream cheese, can I substitute anything else in to make up for the remaining 50g? Also, would it work if I made them into baby cupcake sized instead?
Alysha says
Hey!
Can I use this mini recipe to create a 7" cheese cake
Or do you have any recipes available for different size Cheesecakes?
Bea says
Use this easy cheesecake recipe for a 7 inch pan. Hope it helps!
Neeta says
This looks so awesome and simple. Defi going to try this out!
Could you kindly let me know what is the purpose of the flour? If its for thickening, Could I use xanthan gum instead? Thank you so much 🥰
Bea says
Hi Neeta! The flour is to help prevent cracks as we're not using water bath to cook them. Hope you give them a try! 😍
Jodi says
Hi can these be frozen for later use?
Bea says
Yes! I do it all the time 😊.
Valdineide Araujo says
Coloquei em português por favor
Bea says
Hola! Puedes mirar la receta en español cambiando el icono de bandera arriba 👆. No la tengo en Portuguesa, lo siento.
Cristhela says
They look delicious can’t wait to make them thanks for sharing 😊
aryna ds says
how many grams is one egg? thank you 🧡
looking forward to bake it!!
Bea says
It's L (large) sized egg, around 57 grams. Have fun!
Jayasree says
Can we substitute sour cream with full fat yogurt? As sour cream is not available in the place I live.
Bea says
Yes you can 🙂
Green Beans says
These cheesecakes are amazing! So creamy and delectable, I make mine bite sized and I highly recommend leaving in the fridge over night for best results!
Katarina says
I made the mini cheesecakes for new year lunch with my family.. they were such a hit! Thank you for the awesome recipe, Bea!
I have a question on how to make the strawberry stick on top of the cheesecake as I would like to send the cake to my mom and want to make sure the berries do not fall off during transport. Will edible cake glue (from tylose powder) work?
yolanda says
I have tried several recepies, but this one is by far the easiest. One question though, the paper cupcake gets a bit soggy and its then difficult to remove without messing them UP a bit, Any suggestions to avoid this?
Bea says
Hi Yolanda! Are you keeping them long enough in the fridge before removing the paper? You should remove the paper after they been in the fridge for hours and firmed up. If you are already doing this and still have problems, maybe you can try putting them in the freezer for 30 minutes and then remove the paper, it should come off easily. Let me know.
Sharria says
Tried this already and walla.. so yummy, everyone likes it 😋😋😋😍
tq Bea😘
Leanne says
Easy and delicious recipe. Thanks
Janiah says
Thank you for the recipe! So delicious! 😀
Audrey Lavko says
I’m going to try this it look delicious. But what is 6.5 oz sour cream is that 3/4 cup ..? And the cream cheese 10. 5 oz of cream cheese .? Our cream cheese come in 8 oz so from another package do I take 2 oz and 1/2 of another oz .Help I really like to make these. Thank you.
Bea says
Hi Audrey! Yes, it's 3/4 cup for the sour cream. And yes, for cream cheese take one whole block of 8 oz and then another block, cut in half and take half of that (2 oz), the balance of 2 oz take 1/4 of it. Let me know how it goes.
JackieR says
I decided this would be a good try for making cheesecake the first time and I can tell you it was a big hit. Will make it again and again thanks!
Mei says
Hello, can I make this in a square bake tray 35x24cm? How many ingredients (1x, 2x or 3x) do I need to use? And do I need to adjust the temperature and time? Thanks a lot for the recipe I made these several times everyone loves them!
Lucy says
Hi, i cant afford the sour cream... it is okey if i substitute to heavy cream instead?
Sarah says
I'm pretty sure sour cream is as cheap as heavy cream, everywhere I've been? It's usually maybe 1.39 or something for a small container. Heavy Cream will not be the same consistency at all. It will make your filling much runnier.
Kelly says
Beautiful little cheesecakes, first time trying mini ones, was hesitant trying a different recipe.. but they turned out gorgeous. This recipe is now printed and on my keep list. Thank you. 🥰
Bea says
Happy to hear that, thanks Kelly!
farhan says
Hi Bea
I want to make and freeze ahead. Can you advise on that?
1. shall I freeze after a night in the fridge
2. shall i thaw them in fridge overnight or on counter top for few hours
3. can i add whipped cream prior to freezing?
Bea says
Hi Farhan! You can directly freeze them without chilling in the fridge. Thaw either in the fridge or room temp (I've done both and they thawed fine). I'd suggest you add whipped cream before serving. Hope it helps.
Farhan says
Thank you so much for your quick reply. Can you tell me the best way to freeze too? I notice sometimes condensation forms on cling wraps when I put them in fridge to chill. Shall I put each one in a separate zip lock bag?
Bea says
I usually place them on a tray with parchment paper in the freezer for 1-2 hours till they're frozen. Then wrap them individually with cling film and place them in a ziplock bag. Hope it helps.
Althea Kerr says
Hi
What kind of sugar do I use on these easy mini cheesecakes?
ZHamid says
This was my first time making mini cheesecakes and it was a success. Everyone loved them. I will be making them again for thanksgiving, Instead of berries, I'll be topping my cheesecakes with chocolate, caramels, and pecans to make turtle cheesecakes. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe!
Rukhsana says
Hi
Think my comment got missed out. Really hoping you can help me please.
My only question is i want to try a different topping this time. Like add strawberry jam /preserve on top and top with fresh strawberries. Can i do this a day in advance as I wont have time next day. Or would that affect the cheesecakes in any way?
Thank you for such amazing recipe
Yehudit says
Easy and yummy! Thank you for the recipe 👌
Bea says
You're welcome! 😊
Althea says
What type of sugar do I use? As there’s plenty of sugars out there.
It requires all purpose flour, what type of all purpose flour did you use?
Would it be ok to use plain flour?
Bea says
Just regular caster sugar. Yes plain flour is ok.
Tarchouna says
Merci infiniment pour la recette je me suis régalée 😋
Bea says
Merci 👍❤️!
Santoh says
May I know what’s the purpose of the plain flour as I noticed most websites don’t require? Tks
Lorinner says
Hi..I do not have a muffin pan. Can I just use a muffin paper cup to bake these mini cheesecakes? I would love to try baking them. Thanks.
Bea says
Hi, you can try but since I haven't tried without the pan, I am not sure if it's going to hold its shape. Let me know how it goes.
Lovellyn says
Hello! Thanks for this recipe. Can I use plain greek yogurt to substitute with sour cream?
Bea says
Yes, use full fat plain greek yogurt. Hope it helps 🙂
Rukhsana says
Ive made these a few times and always such a hit.
Ive been topping them fresh cream and serving next day and they are still so good. My only question is i want to try a different topping this time. Like add strawberry jam /preserve on top and top with fresh strawberries. Can i do this a day in advance as I wont have time next day. Or would that affect the cheesecakes in any way?
Thank you for such amazing recipe
Rukhsana says
Can you let me know please?
Junidah says
Amazing recipe. First time trying is a success. My family love it
Bea says
That's awesome! I'm happy to know they liked it. Thanks for the feedback!