Looking for sweet tasty bites to serve at your holiday party or take to one? These mini cheesecakes are the answer. They’re easy to make, they look elegant, and they taste yummy too (who doesn’t like cheesecake?). Plus, they’re the perfect size to pop in your mouth while mingling at a party.
It’s easy to make different flavors of cheesecake and add toppings. So I decided to make two different kinds of mini cheesecakes from the same batter – plain cheesecake with cherry topping (the classic) and cinnamon cheesecake topped with caramel (one of my favorite combinations). This recipe makes about 48 mini cheesecakes, so half will be cherry and half will be cinnamon caramel.
So let’s get to it…time for some merry baking! Here’s what you’ll need:
Cheesecake Filling
2 packages cream cheese (8 ounces)
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs (room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (optional)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Graham Cracker Crust
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
1/3 cup sugar
Cheesecake Toppings
1/2 package of Kraft Caramel Bits or Caramels
1-2 teaspoons water or milk
cherry pie filling
Confession to readers: I did not take as many photos for this recipe. I’d like to say it was intentional, but honestly I just forgot while in the midst of baking. Forgive me?
Okay, so first you need to make the crust. Melt the butter and then combine with the sugar and graham cracker crumbs. Press the crust mixture (less than a tablespoon) into the bottom of mini muffin tins.
Refrigerate the crusts while putting together the filling.
To make the plain filling, cream together the cream cheese and sugar until it’s light and fluffy. Then beat in one egg at a time. Make sure your eggs are room temperature; this will keep your filling from getting lumpy. Mix in the vanilla extract and lemon juice.
Using half the filling, scoop spoonfuls into the mini muffin pans on top of the graham cracker crusts. They should be about 3/4 full.
Use the remaining plain filling for the cinnamon filling. Just mix in the ground cinnamon. Scoop this filling by spoonfuls into the remaining mini muffin pans with graham cracker crusts.
Since these cheesecakes are so tiny, they bake quickly. Pop them in a 350 degree oven for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Chill the cheesecakes. Make sure they are cold before you remove them from the pans.
Once they are out of the pans, they’re ready to be topped! For the plain cheesecakes, simply spoon a bit of cherry pie filling on top. So pretty and festy.
To make the caramel topping for the cinnamon cheesecakes, melt the caramel bits with the water or milk over low heat on the stove until it’s smooth. Spoon a teaspoon of caramel on the top of each cinnamon cheesecake. Fancy, right?
You may reconsider serving these at a holiday party and keep them all for yourself instead.
Which do you like better? The classic cheesecake with cherry topping?
Or the cinnamon caramel cheesecake?
Luckily I made both so I don’t have to pick!
