These mini strawberry cheesecakes are sublime and just the way I love cheesecake. A miniature cheesecake with creamy, sweet and tart flavour in one compact little dessert.
This recipe is adapted from my mini lime cheesecakes.
Why you’ll love it
Each of the three components in these mini strawberry cheesecakes is so easy and so flavourful.
- Buttery, cookie crust: buttery cookies – enough said.
- Easy creamy cheesecake filling: A simple no bake sweet cream cheese filling.
- Tangy, sweet strawberry filling: Hidden inside is a surprise strawberry filling loaded with strawberry flavour and so simple.
I used my strawberry topping recipe to create the surprise strawberry centre in these mini no bake cheesecakes. Strawberries are reduced right down so that the flavour is intense and sweet and, like every other part of this recipe, it’s so simple to make.
These individual portion sizes are perfect for cheesecake. I’m not a big fan of a big slice of rich cheesecake but I do like the flavour so, for me at least, this 4-5 bite size is perfect. If you’re a big cheesecake lover, feel free to go back for seconds.
Making mini cheesecakes takes all of 30 minutes and they’re perfect made ahead of time. These are great for parties, pot lucks and even picnics so long as you keep them cool. Easy to make in larger batches too.
Ingredients you’ll need
You only need a total of 7-8 ingredients in this recipe. The 8th will depend on whether you add the fresh strawberries on top or whether you use all fresh strawberries and no frozen ones.
Detailed quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.
- Strawberries: I use frozen strawberries for the filling – they’re convenient, I can have them any time of year and often sweeter than fresh. That being said, they don’t look pretty so I save frozen berries for purees and sauces mostly while I use fresh strawberries as the decoration on top.
- Sugar: I prefer caster sugar (aka superfine sugar) in these because it dissolves into the cream cheese mixture best but granulated sugar will work. Just make sure your cream cheese mixture is smooth and not grainy once mixed.
- Lemon: There is lemon juice in the strawberry filling and lemon zest in the cheesecake mixture. It adds tang and goes beautifully with both strawberries and cheesecake.
- Cookies / biscuits: Here in Aus, I use Arnotts Granita biscuits for these but any kind of plain sweet cookie will work. Malt o milks are great and Graham Crackers work perfectly too.
- Butter: Unsalted butter is used in the cookie base.
- Cream cheese: Use full fat cream cheese as the lighter options won’t set as well.
- Whipping cream: Not whipped cream but whipping cream – the liquid variety that you whip up yourself. Cream with a fat content of 35% or higher will whip, so whichever you choose – thickened, heavy, whipping – they’ll all be fine.
Optional: Feel free to add up to 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract too.
I love how simple this recipe is. No bake means no eggs, no water bath, no turning on the oven. There is also no gelatine with the cream cheese and whipping cream doing all the stabilising necessary for these to keep their shape.
Tools you’ll need
- Mixing bowls (x2)
- A small saucepan
- A 12 hole muffin pan
- Paper cupcake cases / paper liners
- Piping bag (not absolutely necessary but makes filling easier)
How to make miniature cheesecakes
These no bake mini strawberry cheesecakes are surprisingly easy to make.
Detailed quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.
- Make the strawberry filling: Make this first so it cools in time. Cook strawberries, lemon juice, water and sugar together in a saucepan until softened and most of the liquid has evaporated. Use a fork or electric blender to mash it up depending on how smooth you want it.
- Make the cookie base: Combine cookie crumbs and melted butter in a bowl and mix until well coated.
- Make the cheesecake filling: Beat together cream cheese and sugar until smooth with a hand mixer. Now add the cream and beat that for 2 minutes. Fold in the lemon zest. Transfer it to a piping bag for the easiest assembly and just cut off the tip so it’s a basic round hole.
- Assemble the mini cheesecakes: Press about 1 ½ tablespoons of cookie crumb mixture into the base of 12 cupcake cases in a muffin tin. Pipe a circle of cheesecake batter around the edge of each and fill the hole in the centre with a little strawberry filling. Now pipe a swirl over the top to cover the filling. Chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours to set.
- Neatening: If you prefer a flatter look or your piping skills are about as good as mine (aka not very good), you can use an offset spatula, warmed in some hot water, to smooth out the sides of the cheesecakes before or after they’re set.
- Serve: Remove the mini strawberry cheesecakes from their paper cases and serve.
Always keep these miniature cheesecakes chilled until serving.
Tips and variations
- Soften the cream cheese: Allow the cream cheese to come to room temperature / soften before using. This will make it easier to beat smoothly.
- Use caster sugar: Caster or superfine sugar is best so the cheesecakes remain smooth and not grainy.
- Don’t have a piping bag? No worries, you can either skip it all together and just spoon it into the cases, using a spoon to make the hole in the centre, or use a plastic bag with the corner cut off.
- Flavours: This recipe is extremely versatile. Swap the strawberries for other berries, like blueberries, raspberries or blackberries – there is a compote recipe for all of those fillings on this blog. Or use any curd you like in place of the strawberry filling, like lemon curd, blood orange curd or passionfruit curd. You can also use your favourite jam in place of the homemade filling.
Storing mini cheesecakes
Keep your mini strawberry cheesecakes in the fridge unless serving. They’ll last for 3-4 days in an airtight container.
More recipes you’ll love
- No bake strawberry cheesecake
- Strawberry swirl cheesecake
- No bake lemon meringue cheesecake
- No bake blueberry cheesecake parfait
- Coconut strawberry cheesecake cupcakes
IF YOU TRY THIS no bake mini strawberry cheesecakes recipe, please take a moment to leave a rating and comment below. I love hearing from you, and it helps other readers too!
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Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes
Ingredients
STRAWBERRY FILLING
- 1 cup hulled & quartered strawberries (frozen or fresh)
- 1 teaspoon water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (notes 1)
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
CHEESECAKES
- 200 g sweet biscuits / cookies (7oz) (notes 2)
- 85 g unsalted butter, melted (¾ stick / 3oz)
- 500 g full fat cream cheese, softened (1.1lb) (notes 3)
- ¾ cup caster sugar (150g / 5.3oz)
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ½ cup whipping cream, cold (125ml)
- 6 fresh strawberries for topping
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- Mixing bowls (x2)
- A small saucepan
- A 12 hole muffin pan
- Paper cupcake cases / paper liners
- Piping bag (not absolutely necessary but makes filling easier)
Instructions
- FOR THE STRAWBERRY FILLING: Place all ingredients in a heavy based saucepan over low heat. Heat gently, stirring occasionally, for around 5-6 minutes until the strawberries are soft and the juice is very thick.
- Mash with a fork or use an electric blender or an immersion blender, depending on the consistency you want.
- Allow to cool before adding to the cheesecakes.
- FOR THE CHEESECAKES: Use a food processor to process the cookies to crumbs. Add the melted butter and mix well.
- Press about 1 ½ tablespoons of the cookie crumb into the base of 12 cupcake liners. There will be a little leftover.
- In a clean large bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar just until smooth.
- Pour in the cream and beat for 2 minutes until the mixture feels lighter.
- Fold in the lemon zest with a spatula.
- Transfer the mixture to a piping bag (notes 4). Pipe a thin ring of cheesecake over the top of each base, leaving a hole in the middle.
- Fill the centre holes with about 1 teaspoon strawberry sauce each before piping a swirl of cheesecake over the top. The swirls can be neatened with a warmed offset spatula or knife if needed.
- Chill for at least 3 hours before serving. Top with leftover crumbs and sliced strawberries right before serving.
- Please take a moment to rate this recipe. I helps me to keep creating free recipes and helps other readers too.
Notes
- I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons)
- Cookies / Biscuits: I use Arnotts Granitas but Malt-o-milk or Graham crackers will also work perfectly.
- Cream cheese: If you’re in the US your cream cheese comes in 4 ounce blocks – 2 of those will be fine here.
- If you don’t have a piping bag, you can simply spoon the mixture in or use a plastic bag with the corner cut off.
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2 Comments on “Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes”
I would love to make this recipe but not sure how it would stay firm without any setting agent. I am in Brisbane QLD and we still have warm weather. Is it possible to add some Gelatin?
Thank you, Angela
Hi Angela. These are only small and the cream cheese (full fat) and whipped cream in them is enough for them to hold their shape as long as they’re chilled before serving. These were photographed on a 25C day and were sitting out for over half an hour with no evident sagging or melting. If you really want to add some gelatine, I’d suggest 2 teaspoons dissolved in 2 tablespoons boiling water (keep stirring until completely dissolved), then beat it in after the cream. Hope that helps.