Mini Cheesecake Bites
Servings: 24 Mini Cheesecakes
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 2 cups vanilla wafer cookies, crushed
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 4 tablespoon granulated sugar
For the cheesecake filling:
- 12 ounces of cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- Zest of one lemon
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
For the lemon whipped cream:
- 1 cup of heavy cream
- 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
- Zest of one lemon
For garnish:
- Fresh raspberries, strawberries, or cherries
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F (160°C) and line a muffin tin with paper cupcake liners.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the vanilla wafer crumbs, melted butter, and sugar until well combined. Press about 1 tablespoon of the mixture into the bottom of each cupcake liner to create the crust.
- In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese and sugar together until creamy and smooth using an electric mixer. Add in the eggs, one at a time, and continue to beat until well combined.
- Stir in the Greek yogurt, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla extract until fully incorporated.
- Spoon the cheesecake filling on top of the crust in each cupcake liner, filling them about ¾ full.
- Bake the mini cheesecakes in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes, or until the edges are set but the center is still slightly jiggly.
- Remove them from the oven and let them cool in the muffin tin for about 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the mini cheesecakes are cooling, prepare the whipped cream. Add the lemon zest to the sugar and press it in until the zest has combined with the sugar, then set aside. Beat the heavy cream with an electric hand mixer or a whisk until it thickens and soft peaks form. Add in the sugar and lemon zest mixture and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
- Once the mini cheesecakes are fully cooled, pipe or dollop the whipped cream on top of each mini cheesecake.
- Garnish with the fresh berry or fruit of your choice.
Notes
Make sure to mix the cream cheese until it has lightened in color and is more fluffy. This is essential to get a nice creamy cheesecake.
Strawberries, cherries, raspberries and blueberries are all great options to use for the topping. A mix of them would be great, too.
Variations and substitutions:
Instead of the Greek yogurt, you can use sour cream or crème fraîche. The addition of this ingredient adds smoothness to the mixture.
These are traditionally made with a graham cracker crust, but we love using vanilla wafer cookies, as they add a little extra vanilla and sweetness. You can substitute with graham crackers if you prefer, the ratio is the same.
You can use store bought whipped cream to save time, but we totally encourage you to make it from scratch. It only takes a couple extra minutes, and the texture is phenomenal.