Not every cheesecake recipe works in a mini version. Here’s how to avoid a flop and make those mini cheesecakes come out perfect every time.
I was first introduced to the Norpro Mini Cheesecake pan when Leah and I were working on Dairy Made Easy and used the pan to bake the cheese babkas featured in that book. Since then, I’ve used the pan for what it’s meant for – mini cheesecakes – very often. Sometimes I was successful and made cute cheesecakes that looked beautiful and perfect, and other attempts were a disaster (like when my sister-in-law asked me to make for her daughter’s bas mitzvah and I used the new recipe that I had tasted and loved by my friend’s house). And I’ve learned some important things along the way.
The cheaper versions of the pan will work, but I found the Norpro Mini Cheesecake Pan with Removable Bottom to really be the best (prices fluctuate but usually it’s just $3-$4 more than the alternatives). Be careful not to lose those little discs! Add the discs to the pan and grease very well.
Forget graham crackers. Crush anything you want (any cookies or even cereal) and mix it with melted butter until moist. Here we crushed chocolate chip cookies.
Pipe the cheesecake batter into the pan to keep things neat.
The most important tip when making mini cheesecakes is to avoid using your favorite cheesecake recipe. Some will work, most will not. Soft, creamy, fluffy batters are very nice for a large cheesecake. But if you try to put your batter in a mini pan it will simply fall apart and you’ll have very messy minis. You need a simple recipe based on brick-style cream cheese and no cream, sour cream, or anything with a looser consistency. The recipe I use (below) is as simple as it gets: cream cheese, egg, sugar, and vanilla. There’s no need to complicate things!
I know you want to bake more than one batch of minis. And you might only have one pan. But if you rush to take them out while they’re still warm, you may end up with a mess. When the cheesecakes come out of the oven, let them cool a bit, then put the pan in the freezer. The cheesecakes will remove easily and cleanly when they’re solid and cold. Once they’re cold, release the edges gently with a knife.
You’re all set to decorate!
The best part about minis is that there’s portion control so there’s less cheesecake guilt. Plus you can vary up the toppings to suit all tastes.
Now let’s make cheesecake.
- Cookie crumbs of your choice mixed with melted butter (4 tablespoons butter for every 1 cup crumbs)
- 1 (8-ounce) brick cream cheese
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Grease your mini cheesecake pan very well. Mix the crumbs and butter and press into pan (if you want to be perfect you can measure and put the same amount of crumb in each cup).
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, egg, sugar, and vanilla. Pipe into pan.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, until edges of cheesecake are beginning to turn golden at the top.
- Let cool first on counter, then transfer to freezer. Be patient! Loosen edges with a knife and pop out of pan (pushing up from the bottom) once cheesecakes are firm and cold. Decorate as desired.
This recipe sounds just like what I’m looking for. My question is, can I put them into cupcake holders in muffin tins being that I don’t have this specific baking sheet?
Yes would love to know the answer to this as well!
If you’re using cupcake wrappers, while you can use this recipe, you can likely use any cheesecake recipes as you don’t have to worry about how they release or hold up as their shape is held in place by the wrappers!
Hi! I want to make this recipe and I want to give it to someone in a platter. Once the cheesecake is cooled can i remove the removable pieces on the bottom or the cheesecake will not hold up?
Yes. they will hold up!
Yes
Does this yield exactly 12 minis?
Yes, this recipe filled this pan exactly, although you see I love a large ratio of crust to cheesecake. If you have less crust it might not fill all the cups. Double or triple as needed.
What temperature do I bake the cheesecakes at?
What temp to bake using this recipe
Looks yum!
Want to try this.
I’m assuming you bake on 350?
Is that caramel cream homemade? I’m looking for a good recipe. Mine tastes yummy but is a bit runny I’m looking for a thicker one that stays in place and doesn’t run…
I make these on 325 for about 23ish min. So quick and easy and everyone always loves them!
Do you have a chocolate filling recipe?
Can this be made without the crust?
Definitely if you bake them in ramekins. They’d likely work in the mini cheesecake pan too if greased well, although I never tried it so I don’t know for sure.
Thank you! I am going to use them as a middle layer in a blueberry lemon cake that I bake in cupcake form, slice in half and layer them in jelly jars for a gift
Can you update to include temperature of the oven and the time baked?
Hi! Thanks for posting. A few questions here please-
1. Do you remember how many TB of crumbs do you put on bottom and how much cheese filling on top? Do they rise?
2. Do you know of a box to place these in, like I wanted to give 4 or 6 as teachers gift?
3. Do you use water bath with this? Thanks
Thanks so so much!!
Anyone tried making this in mini loaf pans? Those are a lot bigger. I’d add more time, I assume. Thoughts?
MIni loaf pans don’t have a removable bottom, so it would probably be hard to get them out of the pan intact.
I’m thinking just as individual snacks but not needing to be presented nicely. So I’d eat it out of the pan with a spoon
I made this for Christmas in my new mini cheesecake pan. A few problems questions I have. My cheesecake batter was really thick, i didnt have enought to make 12, only 8 and filled not to top.. when I took them out they were all puffed out, but then they fell in the middle. What can I do to fix these problems? BTW, they were delicious! Ty!
Can I make it in a spring form pan instead of making minis
It’s too small of a recipe to fill a springform. It doesn’t even fit a graham cracker pie shell. I use this recipe in a lot of recipe where there is a cheesecake layer, but never made it into a whole classic cake. If you do try, let us know!
Hi this recipe doubled is my regular cheesecake recipe that I make for every shabbos in a graham pie crust. It’s delicious!
Amazing! And couldn’t be simpler! I guess we learn we don’t need to complicate things 🙂
What can I do to make them look nice , like to put on top of the cheese
There’s lots of different ideas in the photos above. Alternatively, you can add some diced tropical fruit.