Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes are delicious and perfect for a crowd. These are really easy, use simple ingredients, and can be made ahead of time - what's not to love about them? Not to mention that you get to eat your very own cheesecake (or two)!
Mini Strawberry Cheesecake Ingredients
There are several components to these mini cheesecakes: the graham cracker crust, the filling, strawberry compote, and the streusel topping. These are all very easy to put together, especially when broken down into individual parts. All of these are are outlined below!
Graham Cracker Crust
The graham cracker crust is made of crushed-up graham crackers, light brown sugar, a pinch of salt, and several tablespoons of melted unsalted butter. This is the perfect opportunity to break out your immersion blender to blitz the graham crackers into a fine powder. Check out my recommended immersion blender here! It makes quick and easy work of getting a really fine crumble for the crust. If you don't have an immersion blender (or a traditional blender), you can put the crackers in a zip-top bag and crush them with a rolling pin, tenderizer, or an empty wine bottle. As long as you end up with very finely ground graham crackers, the method you use isn't very important!
The Filling
The foundation of this recipe begins with the cream cheese. Using full-fat, high-quality cream cheese is paramount to achieving perfectly creamy cheesecakes. The fat content of the cream cheese adds flavor and moisture and will help prevent the tops from cracking. The rest of the filling ingredients are sour cream, sugar, vanilla extract, eggs, and just a pinch of sea salt.
The most important part of this recipe to ensure you end up with silky-smooth results is to make sure that all of your filling ingredients are at room temperature before you mix them. Room-temperature ingredients combine significantly more easily than cold ones do. If you have cold ingredients, you will need to mix them harder and/or for longer, and this can overmix the filling. Doing this can incorporate too much air into the batter, which then deflates after baking, causing your cheesecake to sink, fall flat, and/or crack. Be sure to use warm ingredients and mix everything slowly until just combined to achieve optimal results!
The last important part of the filling is to cool everything slowly. If you go directly from the oven to the fridge, the tops of the cheesecakes will condense and look "sweaty". Allow them to cool completely on the counter, then transfer to the fridge to finish chilling.
Strawberry Compote
Fresh strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, and a pinch of kosher salt are combined to make the strawberry compote (which may be used for more than just this dish!). Simply cook all of the ingredients on the stovetop until they obtain a sweet, tart, strawberry jam-like consistency. Allow it cool fully before topping your cheesecakes; otherwise, the tops may melt and the topping may seep into the cheesecakes. This is simple to make while your cheesecakes are baking or cooling.
Streusel Topping
Finish everything off with a simple Streusel or crumb topping. This is a basic mixture of butter, flour, and light brown sugar that's baked until it has set up and is crunchy. Sprinkle some of this on top to add a bit of texture!
Looking for a full-sized cheesecake? Get my recipe for Gingers Snap Vanilla Cheesecake here!
Cheesecake not your thing? Be sure to check out my other dessert recipes here to find something to satisfy your sweet tooth!
Did you make this recipe for Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes?
Let me know in the comments below how yours turned out, and don't forget to leave a rating!
Recipe
Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes
Equipment
- Blender/Immersion Blender Optional
- 2 Cupcake Pans
- Cupcake Liners
- Medium Sauce Pan
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Crusts
- 1 Cup Graham Cracker Crumbs Finely Ground
- ¼ Cup Light Brown Sugar Packed
- ½ Tablespoons Unsalted Butter Melted
- ⅛ Teaspoon Fine Sea Salt
Cheesecake Filling
- 16 oz. Full Fat Cream Cheese Two 8 oz. Packages - At Room Temperature
- ½ Cup Sour Cream At Room Temperature
- ¾ Cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 Large Eggs Beaten, At Room Temperature
- 1 Egg Yolk Beaten, At Room Temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ¼ teaspoon Fine Sea Salt
Strawberry Compote
- 1 ½ Cups Strawberries Quartered
- ⅓ Cup Sugar
- Juice From 1 Lemon About 2-3 Tbsp
- Pinch Kosher Salt
Streusel Topping
- 3 Tablespoons Light Brown Sugar
- ¼ Cup All Purpose Flour
- 2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
- 1 Pinch Fine Sea Salt
Instructions
Graham Cracker Crust
- Using an immersion blender or a zip top bag and rolling pin, crush graham crackers until a fine powder forms.
- Combine crushed graham crackers, melted butter, light brown sugar, and fine sea salt in a medium sized bowl.
- Line 18 cupcakes (on two pans) with paper cups and place a tablespoon of the crust mixture into each cup. Compress the crust with the bottom of a glass cup or a measuring cup. Set aside.
Mini Cheesecake Filling
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the room temperature cream cheese, sour cream and sugar. Beat on low speed until combined and smooth.
- In a separate bowl, beat eggs, egg yolk, vanilla extract and fine sea salt.
- Add the egg mixture to the stand mixer bowl, and stir on low speed until completely incorporated and smooth. Take care not to overmix the filling.
- Portion ¼ cup of filling into the prepared muffin tins. Bake for 15-minutes. The internal temperature of the cheesecakes should read 150℉ on an instant read thermometer.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature, about 1 hour. Cover and refrigerate until completely chilled, approximately 3-hours.
Strawberry Compote
- While cheesecakes are cooking or cooling, add the strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, and kosher salt to a medium sauce pan. Heat over medium-high heat until boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 25 to 30-minutes until thick and jam-like.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
Streusel Topping
- Preheat Oven to 350°F. (If not already pre-heated from baking cheesecakes)
- While cheesecakes are cooking or cooling, In a medium bowl, mix sugar, flour, butter and salt with a fork or your fingers until incorporated and varying sized clumps form.
- Spread evenly over a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for 8-minutes, stirring half way through.
- Remove and allow to cool completely. Break any larger sized pieces into smaller ones if they are too big.
Mini Strawberry Cheesecake Assembly
- Remove cheesecakes from the fridge and uncover.
- Place a teaspoon of Strawberry Compote over the chilled cheesecakes.
- Garnish with a small sprinkle of Streusel Topping.
Stacy says
These little cheesecakes are so yummy and cute! Easy for grab and go at parties!