These Mini Cheesecake Cups with a graham cracker crust are the perfect single-serve dessert that can be customized for the entire family! Grab some ramekins to bake them in, cool, and top with your favorite toppings. You'll absolutely love having a treat like this on the go!
Using ramekins makes baking cheesecake (and other mini desserts) a breeze. This mini cheesecake recipe is a fun activity that the entire family can get involved in... but they'll disappear so fast, you may want to make extras!
Ingredients
- Softened Cream Cheese - Set your cream cheese blocks on the counter and let them soften to room temperature. This ensures you can easily whisk everything together for a silky smooth batter.
- Granulated Sugar - This recipe actually has a really small amount of sugar, so the cheesecakes aren't overly sweet!
- Eggs - A couple of eggs (tip: also bring these to room temp before baking) helps create a smooth batter & a really light & fluffy final product when baked.
- Vanilla Extract - Just a teaspoon or so of vanilla is all you need; it shines in these simple desserts!
- Graham Crackers - A cheesecake isn't complete without a graham cracker crust. This recipe is actually a great way to use up leftover graham crackers that may have gone a little stale.
- Coconut Oil - We're cutting down on calories and fat by using coconut oil to bring the crust together instead of butter.
How to Bake Mini Cheesecakes in a Ramekin Cup
There's recipes out there for the bite-sized kind, but I really think baking mini cheesecakes in ramekins is the way to go.
Baking cheesecake traditionally is very finicky - they can fall, overbake, crack on the surface… it's a pain! But using smaller baking dishes eliminates pretty much all of the fuss. And aren't they just so cute?
Baking individual cheesecake cups instead of the entire pan also allows you to get creative with personalizing your toppings, so this works great for families with different preferences.
My cheesecake recipe has the perfect amount of sweetness: you can eat it plain if you prefer, but adding toppings won't send you into a sugar rush.
Each ramekin also equals approximately a slice of cheesecake, so hello portion control. Try it with a strawberry reduction, caramel & nuts, or a mountain of whipped cream!
Let me show you how simple it is to make individual cheesecake servings:
- Start by creating your crust. It's a two-ingredient graham cracker crust, so we only need the cookies + coconut oil.
- Add your crust mix to the ramekins and pack them in with the back of a spoon. Partially bake them in the oven for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add your filling ingredients (cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and vanilla) and mix until super smooth.
- Top the par-baked crusts with the cheesecake filling.
- Place your ramekins on a casserole dish and add an inch or so of water - this helps avoid the cheesecakes cracking by creating steam in the oven.
- That's it! Bake for about 25 minutes, until they are lightly golden brown.
Go crazy with the toppings - I love a good fruit topping on cheesecake, so I normally like to add strawberry or blueberry coulis. You can also go with chopped candy, nut, drizzled chocolate... the possibilities are endless!
More Tasty Desserts:
No-Churn Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Skillet
Mini Cheesecake Cups
Ingredients
- 4 ct. graham cracker sheets crushed
- 3 - 4 tsp. coconut oil
- 16 oz. cream cheese 2 blocks
- ¼ cup granulated white sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 ct. eggs
Instructions
- Set out your cream cheese and eggs on the counter until they are room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a small bowl, mix the crushed graham crackers and coconut oil until combined. It will look like wet sand when you are done.
- Get your ramekins out and divide the graham cracker mix into 4 portions.
- Spoon the mix into the bottom of your ramekins and use the back of a spoon to pack tightly.
- Parbake the crusts for 5 minutes, then remove from the oven.
- While those are cooking - In a large bowl, add your softened cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, and eggs. Whisk until silky smooth.
- Pour the cheesecake mixture into ramekins, filling to about ¾ of the way. Depending on the size, you may be able to stretch out your mixture. My sized ramekins gave me 4 good portions.
- Place the filled ramekins on a baking tray with a lip and pour about 2 cups of water on the bottom of the tray.This creates steam in the oven to reduce the chance of your cheesecakes cracking!
- Bake for about 25 minutes. Cheesecakes will be lightly golden-brown on the top.
- Let the cheesecakes cool for about 10 minutes. Top with your favorite toppings (fruit, caramel, nuts, and/or whipped cream) and enjoy!
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The Coined Breakdown
- Total Cost per ramekin (equals 1 slice): $0.88
- Total Cost (4 servings): $3.51
- Those Other Guys: $9.95 per slice
Did you make this recipe? Let me know what you think!