The classic vanilla cheesecake got a mini makeover with these mini cheesecakes made in a muffin pan! These individual vanilla cheesecakes are easy to make with just a handful of ingredients, too—they don’t need sour cream or heavy cream for a perfectly rich and creamy vanilla cheesecake filling. I made a typical graham cracker crust for these, but you can easily substitute a Biscoff cookie crust for a little more spice.
This recipe makes 12 mini vanilla cheesecakes, which are far easier to serve at events compared to full-sized slices of cheesecake. You can also make a batch of these in advance and store in the freezer for up to six months—but they won’t last that long!
When I traveled out of state to go meet my new baby niece, I made a double batch of these mini cheesecakes for the new parents. I popped them all in the freezer before I left, and my brother and sister-in-law had easy, homemade desserts for a couple weeks, even after I was gone. All they had to do was to defrost them!
“Soooo easy to make and delicious! I made some raspberry sauce to put on top and it was delightful!” -Abby
Ingredients for Mini Cheesecakes
One of my favorite things about these muffin pan cheesecakes is that they don’t require a ton of ingredients. (And that’s helpful mostly because you might be able to avoid a trip to the grocery store!) This is a cheesecake recipe without sour cream or heavy cream, and it turns out just as delicious and creamy as more complicated cheesecake recipes with more ingredients.
- Graham crackers. I use honey-flavored graham crackers most often, but cinnamon-flavored grahams or even gluten-free grahams work, too! You can also substitute this graham cracker crust for the Biscoff cookie crust in my mini Biscoff cheesecakes.
- Salted butter. I love a well-salted dessert, so I use salted butter in the graham cracker crust, then add more salt on top of that. If you’re watching your sodium intake or don’t have salted butter, you’re welcome to use unsalted butter.
- Salt. A big pinch in the batter and a bit in the crust helps enhance the flavors of this cheesecake.
- Cream cheese. This is the main component of the cheesecake, so use full-fat cream cheese in its block form, like the 8-oz block from Philadelphia—not the tubs. It’s also important that it is close to or at room temperature to prevent any lumpiness.
- Granulated sugar. Sugar adds sweetness and moisture, and it also helps to prevent the cheesecake from cracking while in the oven.
- Vanilla bean paste. I recommend splurging on vanilla bean paste if you can (it has so much more flavor), but vanilla extract will work, too.
- Eggs. The eggs help to firm up the custard just enough to make the cheesecake light and silky.
How to Make Mini Cheesecakes
I love mini cheesecakes made in muffin pans, and I’ve learned quite a few tricks to baking perfect individual cheesecakes. Mini cheesecakes are far easier to master than full-sized ones because they use far fewer ingredients, don’t require a water bath, and bake up super quickly!
I outlined the entire process for making these mini vanilla cheesecakes below—with step-by-step process images to help ensure your success.
How to Make the Graham Cracker Crust
First, line a muffin pan (preferably light in color) with 12 paper liners. I recommend using traditional paper liners instead of parchment paper liners. Parchment is almost nonstick, which is helpful when serving the cheesecakes… but incredibly frustrating when transporting the cheesecakes and the liners start peeling off if you look at them funny. (Ask me how I know!)
Then, add graham crackers and salt to the bowl of a food processor. If you prefer, you can crush the graham crackers in a plastic bag (or in parchment paper with a rolling pin or wooden spoon). Process until fine, then stream in the melted butter. Mix until the crumbs are fully coated with butter.
Once the cookie crust looks mixed, divide the cookie crust into your prepared muffin pan. I use about one packed Tablespoon of the graham mixture in each paper liner. Then, press down the crumbs to make a flat, packed base for the cheesecake batter to bake on later.
For the easiest cleanup, I like to sacrifice an extra paper liner to use as a barrier between the graham cracker crust and my pressing tool. You can use your fingers to press the crust down, but I find that a flat-bottomed measuring cup works quickest! Scrape out as much of the crust as you can from the food processor bowl, then set the pan aside.
How to Make the Vanilla Cheesecake Filling
One of the biggest reasons cheesecakes crack is because too much air was incorporated into the batter. To prevent this, I use a food processor rather than a stand or hand mixer. The blade of the food processor spins much more quickly, but it doesn’t add quite as much air as the whisk or beater attachments on electric mixers. And because most cheesecake recipes also call for a cookie crust that requires a food processor, using the food processor for the recipe twice helps to cut down on the dishes significantly!
If you don’t have a food processor, you can still use a stand mixer or hand mixer with a large bowl. Just be conscious about how much mixing you’re doing. You don’t want to overdo it!
For these vanilla cheesecakes, I add my room temperature cream cheese to the bowl of the food processor, then add the granulated sugar, salt, and vanilla bean paste. I use vanilla bean paste for the extra boost of flavor, but you’re welcome to use vanilla extract.
Pulse the cream cheese mixture until fully combined and smooth, then add in the eggs and pulse until just combined.
Scrape down the sides and edges of the bowl to put the thickest part of the cheesecake filling back in the center of the bowl to mix. Pulse a few more times until the mixture is just combined. The mixture should be nice and smooth with a few bubbles but no lumps. You can scrape down the sides of the bowl once more to make sure you incorporated all of the cream cheese.
How to Fill Mini Cheesecakes
Once the cheesecake filling is smooth, divide the batter evenly between all liners. Do your best to fill each one with the same amount of batter to help them all bake at the same rate.
Standard paper liners fit one packed Tablespoon of the crust and about 2-3 heaping Tablespoons of the vanilla cheesecake filling. But since some liners run big or small, I recommend filling all of the liners to 2/3 full, then doubling back and dividing the rest of the batter (if there is any) between all 12.
How to Bake Mini Cheesecakes
Tap the filled pan on the counter a couple of times to remove any extra air bubbles, then bake these mini cheesecakes! I bake mine for about 16 minutes in a light aluminum muffin pan, but darker pans can bake the cheesecakes a few minutes quicker. Bake the individual vanilla cheesecakes at 350°F/175°C until the edges of the cheesecakes are set but the very centers are slightly jiggly.
You may end up with some cheesecakes that are more done than others; that’s okay! For firmer, more dense cheesecakes, you can bake them for an extra minute or two, until the cheesecakes dome a little bit. Leaving them in the oven after they have domed will likely result in cracking. Keep an eye on them after 14 minutes or so!
Once baked to your perfection, remove the mini cheesecakes from the oven and cool in the pan for about an hour to finish baking.
How to Remove Mini Cheesecakes from a Muffin Pan
At first glance, you might worry about how to remove these mini cheesecakes once they’ve baked. Fortunately, it doesn’t require any special equipment! I like to use clean hands myself, but you can also use a fork or offset spatula.
Once the pan is no longer hot to the touch (so you don’t burn yourself), pinch the very top of a cheesecake’s paper liner on opposite ends with the tips of your fingers. Pull up to unstick it from the pan, then transfer the mini cheesecake to a plate or cooling rack.
If you have long nails or just don’t want to use your fingers, you can also slide a knife, fork, or offset spatula in between the muffin pan and the paper liner. Pop the cheesecake out from the bottom, and transfer to a plate or cooling rack. Metal utensils may scratch your bakeware, so use caution!
Once removed from the pan, chill the individual cheesecakes in the fridge for at least two hours. When ready to serve, the bottoms of the cheesecakes will feel cold to the touch.
How to Top Mini Vanilla Cheesecakes
I love topping my mini cheesecakes with something to signal what flavor the cheesecake is, but vanilla cheesecakes are so versatile that almost anything goes! You can top these individual cheesecakes with cherry jam, vanilla whipped cream, chocolate shavings, salted caramel, toasted pecans… The list could go on forever!
FAQs about Mini Cheesecakes
Other Recipes You May Enjoy
I have more mini cheesecake recipes here on The Floral Apron! It’s hard to pick a favorite between the mini chocolate cheesecakes and mini Biscoff cheesecakes…. Especially if it’s fall and I’m craving mini pumpkin cheesecakes!
For more vanilla-centric recipes to use up vanilla bean paste, try the following:
Dish Cleanup: A Lil Messy
I rate my recipe cleanups on a scale of 1 to 5. 1 is only a handful of dishes, and 5 is everything including the kitchen sink.
This plain mini cheesecake recipe has a cleanup rating of a 3. The cheesecake batter will stick to the food processor bowl the more it dries, so I recommend rinsing it with warm water as soon as the cheesecakes go in the oven. Everything else (the muffin pan and measuring cups) aren’t too bad to clean up!
Mini Cheesecake Recipe
Thanks so much for stopping by!
If you make these individual vanilla bean cheesecakes and love them, please don’t forget to leave a review to share how they turned out with others.
Mini Vanilla Cheesecakes
Ingredients
For the Graham Cracker Crust
- 8 sheets (125 g) graham crackers
- 4 Tablespoons (56 g) salted butter melted
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For the Vanilla Cheesecake Filling
- 12 oz (340 g) cream cheese 1.5 blocks, softened
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1 pinch of salt
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
Instructions
To Make the Vanilla Cheesecake Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C, and line a standard muffin pan with 12 paper liners.
- Crush the graham crackers until fine in the bowl of a food processor (or with a rolling pin in a bag or parchment paper). Then, with the food processor running, pour the melted butter through the feeder tube over the crumbs. Add salt, and process until combined.8 sheets (125 g) graham crackers, 4 Tablespoons (56 g) salted butter, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Divide the crumbs into the paper liners in the muffin pan, about 1 packed Tablespoon in each. Press the crust into the liners with your fingers or a small flat-bottomed measuring cup to flatten the bottoms, then set aside.
To Make the Vanilla Cheesecake Filling
- In the bowl of a food processor,** add the cream cheese, granulated sugar, vanilla, and salt. Pulse until smooth and combined.12 oz (340 g) cream cheese, ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste, 1 pinch of salt
- Then, add the eggs. Pulse just a few times until smooth, then scrape down the sides of the bowl and pulse one or two more times until just combined and no lumps remain.2 large eggs
- Divide the cheesecake filling evenly into the paper liners, about 3 Tablespoons per liner. The cups will be very nearly full.
To Bake the Mini Vanilla Cheesecakes
- Bake for 14-16 minutes, until the edges are set and only the very centers of the cheesecakes are slightly jiggly. (Some cheesecakes may be fully set while others are still a little jiggly—that's okay!) For firmer cheesecakes all around, bake for an extra minute or two until all of the centers are fully set but before they dome and crack. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for about an hour on a cooling rack.
- When only slightly warm, remove the mini cheesecakes from the pan. You can pull the cheesecakes out by the liner with the very tips of your fingers, or slide a fork between the pan and the liner to pop them out. Cover and chill in the fridge for at least two hours, until the bottoms of the mini cheesecakes feel cold.
- Optional: Top with a spoonful of jam like my cherry jam and vanilla whipped cream if desired, then serve. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Recommended Supplies
Nutrition
I’d love to see how your mini cheesecakes turn out: Take a photo and tag me on Instagram @floralapronblog to share with me, or use the hashtag #floralapronbakes.
Soooo easy to make and delicious! I made some raspberry sauce to put on top and it was delightful!
That sounds delicious!! Thanks so much for sharing a review, Abby 🙂