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Super Easy Mini Cherry Cheesecakes

I made these cute little treats for my grandfather’s 84th birthday. He has a little bit of a sweet tooth. So I thought he’d love these.

Mini Cherry Cheesecakes

Super Easy Mini Cherry Cheesecakes
Yield: Makes about 4 dozen

Super Easy Mini Cherry Cheesecakes

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Additional Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 35 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 (8oz.) packgages of cream cheese, softened to room temperature
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • ------
  • vanilla wafers
  • 2" aluminum mini baking cups
  • Cherry Pie Filling

Instructions

  1. Mix cream cheese, sugar, eggs, vanilla and lemon juice together until completely combined.
  2. Place a vanilla wafer in each mini baking cup.
  3. Spoon approximately 3 Tbsp of cream cheese mixture over each wafer.
  4. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Let cool and top with cherry pie filling. Refrigerate. Oh yeah … and enjoy!
UPDATE: HI GUYS! – This recipe must be getting pinned often because I see a lot of recent questions with people having trouble. I made this about five years ago and at the time these little mini foil baking cups were pretty easy to find. Reynolds made them and on the box, they were labeled 2 inch. Smaller than a muffin liner and larger than a miniature baking cup. The top of the liner measures 2 inches wide and if you opened them up and flattened them out, they are 3.5 inches in diameter. The liners were sturdy enough so you didn’t need a mini pan to place them in. They can go straight onto a baking sheet. The cheesecakes are small – the size of a vanilla wafer base. And maybe a hair smaller because the wafers didn’t lay 100% flat. I put the round side down and they fit great. If you are baking in regular muffin size cups, then they will be bigger and need adjustments to the time. It could also be why the wafers are floating to the top.  Try mixing the two (2) room temperature 8 oz blocks of cream cheese and sugar together first. Then add room temp eggs, vanilla and lemon juice to help it from being lumpy. The mixture was thin but not runny if you look at the pic above. I should probably revisit this recipe and update it. I wrote this back when I was the only one reading my site, so the directions could be better. I hope this helps some in the meantime : ).

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313 comments on “Super Easy Mini Cherry Cheesecakes”

  1. My results did not match the recipe.  I did have the 2”  foil liners and there is no way they can hold 3 T of cream cheese mixture.  I added 2 T to each and ended u with exactly 25 mini cheesecakes, not 48.  The vanilla wafers DID float to the top which was a real disappointment.  I pushed them down right before putting them in the oven but they floated right back up.  Will not use this recipe again.

  2. Too many eggs you only need one or two if you use three makes it too runny

  3. They are delicious!

  4. Super easy and perfect for a potluck! I could not find the medium size cupcake liners so I used regular sized aluminum cupcake liners and used 2 eggs instead of 3. The wafers did not float to the top since the batter was a thicker.

  5. Can these be made a few days ahead and kept in the regrigerator putting the cherries on when ready to serve?

  6. These are the best! I make them in regular sized cupcake/muffin cups with normal Nilla wafers. They’re slightly smaller than the bottom but they work out just fine. 
    Everyone loves them. I top them with a variety of things (cherry, blueberry, fresh strawberry, mini chocolate chips.) 

  7. I found the 2 inch Reynolds baking cups at Wegmans.

  8. This recipe is wrong!! I just wasted all my ingredients

  9. Thank you for the update note on the bottom. In the original recipe it didn’t have the directions. Now for the lumpyness it started out lumpy but I didn’t have time to get the eggs and lemon juice to room temp and like I said, it started out lumpy but I turned up the mixer and the lumpyness went away. You should update the recipe with a set of directions under the ingredients. I have mine in the oven and tasted the wet batter and they taste wonderful so far. If they don’t I will update my comment. Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

  10. How do you make the cherry filling?

  11. I froze the regular muffin size cheesecakes for a week and they turned out very good.

  12. Could you make these in the mini cupcake papers (in mini pans) but use graham wafer crumb base? I like the taste of the graham wafers with the cheesecake.
    I often freeze these and put topping on only when they are thawed andt ready to be servfed

  13. can u make these the night b4 u serve them and if yes do I make them then put in fridge or freezer ty

  14. This looks amazing! I think this is the end of my diet :) Thank you for sharing this brilliant recipe.

  15. No problem finding the Reynolds 2″ foil mini-cups. No problem with the vanilla wafer fitting perfectly. BUT there was no way 3 Tbsp. of cream cheese mixture would ever fit in. 3 tsp. yes but not 3 Tbsp.! Hope that wasn’t a mistake on the vanilla and lemon juice, too. Seems like a lot. Timer is buzzing…hoping for the best.

  16. can I use paper cups.

  17. Can I line the muffin tins with parchment paper that has aluminum in the opposite side?

  18. Do you have to use the lemon…I’m planning on making them for thanks giving but my family isn’t a huge fan of lemon

  19. Hi, where do you get the vanilla wafers??

  20. I have been looking for this recipt for ages paula mdeeen made this on her show.lost receipt ,thanks alot

  21. Hi! It looks so delicious! But how do you make the cream cheese and wafer without buying?

  22. Hiiii! How do u make the cream cheese and vanilla wafer??

  23. It’s a great recipe for any time

  24. This looks amazing! i looove Cherry Cheesecakes!! My mom made your cherry pie a couple weeks ago, now we’ll have to try this next! I had featured u in the post of Top 7 Sweet and Alluring Cherries Recipes on AllFreshRecipes, looking forward to ur renewly posts!

  25. My favorite cream cheese filling mixture is similar to yours, but I’ve never had it fail – it’s a family favorite!

    3 packages cream cheese
    3/4 cup sugar
    2 Tablespoons lemon juice
    1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
    3 eggs, lightly beaten

  26. I made these cheesecakes and the kids loved it. Check it out on my blog http://chengand3kids.blogspot.com/2013/05/mini-cherry-cheesecakes.html

  27. Loved them!!

  28. I couldn’t find the 2″ baking cups, so I went ahead and just purchased the only ones they sold at the stores. I used a paring knife and skimmed along the outside of each cookie, basically scraping it down to size. It’s a bit tedious, but it worked and the “crust” of the cheesecakes were perfect. It was a big hit, and I’ll be sure to make these again for another gathering. Yum!

  29. I actually got this reciepe from my mom. She use to make them every Christmas and I remember helping her break the cookies ends to fit into the mini cupcake liners. Im almost 50 now and now do the same thing.

  30. Hi…read all comments & was so inspired tat I m going to bake them today…I m fr Singapore…txs for all comments…I m learning fr all of you…txs a zillion:-)

  31. I make them with Oreos. I split the Oreo in half and take the icing off. I place 1/2 the Oreo in a regular cupcake pan and it fits perfect. I do vanilla Oreos with cherries and chocolate Oreos with raspberries. They are a hit!!

  32. Hi,
    I have been baking these since 1970. My recipe is the same except it calls for 2 eggs instead of 3 and 1 tsp of vanilla. Years ago we use to have to shave the. Vanilla wafer to fit the pan but now they have mini wafers that work perfect,they don’t have to be exact anyway. You can put all the ingredients in a blender and mix and pour into the cups. Mine always made about 60.
    I always use pineapple filling because I don’t like cherry but have used many different toppings. They are always a hit. Also you can find metallic mini cupcake liners at World Market if you néed to pass on where to get the liners and we also put the flat side down. Hope this helps

  33. I have a Valentine dinner this weekend. This is so on time.

    Thanks,

    Destiny

  34. sugar or powdered (icing) sugar

  35. Hi, Just wanted to thank you for the great recipe, it was a huge hit at my family Xmas! (35+ of us) I did find that here in Ontario (Canada) I could not find 2″ cups but did find 2&1/4″ at Metro. I altered the recipe a bit to compensate for the size to have enough cheesecake mixture for the cups. (added another block of cream cheese, another 1/4 cup of sugar and actually reduced the amount of lemon juice a bit) I also used 4 different toppings for choices of the 35 family members; cherry, blueberry, lemon and chocolate. OMG everyone love love loved them as did I! Thanks again

  36. just made. I changed a couple things- topped with strawberry preserves(works gr8) used neufchatel cheese and used vanilla cookies. Thx 4 the awsum recipe:-)

  37. Hi!!!
    I want to make these soooo badly! I was wondering if I can pre make the batter for tomorrow? what do you think?

    Thanks! So excited!

  38. Thinking of giving this a try for New Year’s…not sure yet. Looking for quick easy things I can make up cheaply for a possible small party. Considering swapping the cherry filling with strawberry. Wonder if a chocolate pudding would work also? Hmmmm…

  39. i gave these out to some of my friends and thay all loved them,thank you so much for sharing this recipe :)theyre so tasty

  40. I made these for Thanksgiving, and encountered the same problem with the wafers. I think… I think it was because I got normal sized Nilla Wafers, not mini ones. I just crushed them up and made a crust the same way you would with graham crackers. A little sugar, a little melted butter and boom! Took longer, wasn’t as easy but they still tasted great. My step dad even requested a repeat of them for his birthday, so I must have done something right! Just another idea!

  41. I don’t cook r bake BUT I love these simple recipes and I do bake stuff like these for my friends at work n they are so amazed when I show up with these cheesecakes. They constantly laugh at me! I do love this recipe!

  42. I made these cheesecakes once before with a different recipe I tried this one and every single wafer floated to the top, I think three eggs is way too many, all other recipes I found have only two. These were runny and made the wafer float. I was dissappointed.

  43. Will it work the same if I use the 1/3 fat cream cheese?
    Oh and on a side note I found the small reynolds baking cups on amazon.

  44. I bought the mini wafers and they fit perfectly in the mini liners

  45. This was so easy and delicious and it makes so many , thank you.

  46. do you use mini vanilla wafers because i dont remember regular nilla wafers being that small oh and i absolutely love your website :) i got hooked when you made those ghost cakepops but mine looked kinda funny and i couldnt find a gourmet pen and the cake kept falling off so i had to messily put warm chocolate on them with my fingers:) i mustve looked hilairious becuz i was trying to do it with a sprained wrist :)

  47. I use mini nilla wafers. Also can not find foil liners alone so I have to buy the ones that are foil and paper then pull the paper out. I use the paper liners later for cupcakes.

  48. I made these last year and LOVED them so easy! and Delicious. I didnt have a problem at all and plan on making them again.

  49. You had me drawn in first glance at the picture..and then so easy.. How can I not make these “sweet little” treats!! I have to bring desert for x-mas and since it makes such a generous portion, I plan on sharing as a Christmas treat with my neighbors! Thanks.. Great Blog..

  50. What’s the texture supposed to be of these? I’ve made them twice and everyone has love them both times but the texture isn’t smooth like a regular cheesecake. Is it supposed to be a bit cakey? Or an I doing something wrong?

  51. If this helps, we always crush our nilla wafers and put 1 teaspoon of crumbs in each cup. The crumbs hold together with the cheesecake and it turns out perfect every time. Then you don’t have to worry about finding and exact size of a tart cup. Any small one will do as long as you have the mini tart pan.

  52. Can these be made ahead and frozen?

  53. I don’t know if this works for the cheesecake recipe-but when I make individual pumpkin pies with ginersnap cookies, I smoosh the cookie down and hold it there for a few seconds until it stays. I think you just need to get the cookie saturated with the filling so it won’t be lighter.

  54. Made these for a Thanksgiving brunch today and they were a hit! I DO think putting 3 Tbsp in each cup is inaccurate. I put 2 Tbsp in one of them and knew immediately that 3 would not work. I think it was supposed to say 3 tsp, which would be 1 Tbsp. I put 1 Tbsp in each cup and I got 46 cups, so pretty close! Some of mine were pretty full tablespoons. Thank you so much, these were delicious!

  55. I made them with regular sized foil cups and of course the cookie was too small so, I crushed the cookies and added a couple tablespoons of butter. I then added about a tablespoon of crumbs to the bottom of each cup and baked as recommended. They came out pretty good!

  56. This recipe is awful. find one elsewhere. ive tried it on 3 different occasion, all different ways, and have had to throw away every time. waste of time and money. Im sure there are better ones out there.

  57. These were delicious and so easy to make! Thanks for sharing.

    I featured these over on my Blog at: http://rememberingtosway.blogspot.com/2012/11/mini-cheesecakes-crazily-easy.html#

  58. I use this recipe all the time it’s amazing. they don’t sell the 2 inch papers here (TN) but they have one a size smaller.. the MINI Nilla wafers fit perfect. and adjusting the time a little leads to even more mini cheesecakes i normally have 2 dozen :D

  59. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE UPDATE THIS RECIPE WITH BETTER INSTRUCTIONS

  60. UPDATE: HI GUYS! – This recipe must be getting pinned often because I see a lot of recent questions with people having trouble. I made this about five years ago and at the time these little mini foil baking cups were pretty easy to find. Reynolds made them and on the box, they were labeled 2 inch. Smaller than a muffin liner and larger than a miniature baking cup. The top of the liner measures 2 inches wide and if you opened them up and flattened them out, they are 3.5 inches in diameter. The liners were sturdy enough so you didn’t need a mini pan to place them in. They can go straight onto a baking sheet. The cheesecakes are small – the size of a vanilla wafer base. And maybe a hair smaller because the wafers didn’t lay 100% flat. I put the round side down and they fit great. If you are baking in regular muffin size cups, then they will be bigger and need adjustments to the time. It could also be why the wafers are floating to the top. Try mixing the two (2) room temperature 8 oz blocks of cream cheese and sugar together first. Then add room temp eggs, vanilla and lemon juice to help it from being lumpy. The mixture was thin but not runny if you look at the pic above. I should probably revisit this recipe and update it. I wrote this back when I was the only one reading my site, so the directions could be better. I hope this helps some in the meantime : ).

  61. Did anybody else have a problem with the nilla wafers getting soggy..the taste is good but the wafers are just soo soggy in mine..not sure what I did wrong?

  62. this looks really good, but the vanilla wafers are floating to the top did i do this wrong?

  63. mini aluminum tins are only available in winter :)

  64. The first batch of these I tried turned out horrible; the cream cheese was lumpy and the wafers floated to the top and got soggy. My problem I think was not letting the cream cheese soften enough so the mixture was too liquid (I’m sure it still tastes fine but I can’t let myself present them like they are!)

    Next time, I microwaved the cream cheese until it was smooth and used 2 eggs instead of 3. I also added ingredients one at a time to keep it smooth throughout–these turned out absolutely perfect.

    However, I am only getting 20 or so out of the recipe (using 2 8oz packages of cream cheese) so just be careful halving it.

  65. So the picture on Pinterest had mini vanilla wafers and you never specified size… I ended up buying minis and they started floating in the cheesecake batter :( as I am using regular size cupcake cups (that wasn’t specified either…) this doesn’t work. I’m buying regular sized now to start over… Maybe specify for future users?

  66. Geez. I think I failed these miserably :( and I thought I was a semi decent baker! Well, my mixture never mixed fully, I still had little cream cheese chunks throughout. I left everything sitting out for two hours, at least. Maybe it was the order that I mixed them together..? Idk. I decided to bake them anyways and see how they turn out…well, I must not have baked them fully, even though they were in there for 20 minutes. They seem curduled, I guess? Plus my wafers floated up also. So I pushed them down but some came out super hard, I’m guessing they soaked in the mixture fully and baked solid. Gross. How did I fail such a simple recipe so???

  67. I just made these cupcakes for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. first time making them. Found on pinterest. I put all the ingredients together and mixed. Then baked. The vanilla wafers
    floated to the top. but still taste good. So i mixed batter more till cake batter consistency. after i did this they came out perfect…LOL
    I know my family will enjoy them.

  68. I’m am looking for the 2 inch aluminum cups and I can’t seem to find them anywhere..I’ve been to target , Walmart and publix . Any more suggestions ?

  69. Don’t try store brand vanilla wafers! they are just a tad bit too small! It will still work, but the brand Nilla Wafers are much better :) can’t wait to try the finished product. Thanks for the recipe!!

  70. I was only able to fit 2 TBL filling into each 2 inch foil baking cup. I only got 32 mini cheesecakes from the recipe.

  71. I went out bought me mini cupcake pan, liners and all the ingredients for this recipe. Followed everything as instructed and these were absolutely awesome. I had to make two batches sent one to a women and children’s battered shelter for their Thanksgiving meal and made some for our friends that came over this weekend. Everyone loved them now gonna make some more for our friends and family that we will be visiting this Thanksgiving.

    THANK YOU

  72. Going to attempt this but am substituting glazed strawberries instead…not a cherry fan. Anyone try that yet? Did it turn out?

  73. Am I the only one who had floating wafers? When I added the mixture, the vanilla wafers floated to the top.

  74. I am baking these right now and I am using regular size cupcake foils. Since they are bigger….how much longer will they need to bake?

  75. Do you think that you could add pumpkin to this? Any idea how? thank you!!!

  76. Hello Bakerella, these were a super big hit at my daughter’s bridal shower. However I had trouble keeping my wafers from floating to the top. I would push them back down and some would stay, some would not. I made the recipe as you have it written. Is there a tip for keeping the wafers at the bottom of the cup?

  77. I made these, but unfortunately mine turned out terribly. The it was a real watery mixture and the cream cheese would not mix well at all. It looks more like curdled milk. I’m not much of a cook/baker, so it was definitely an error on my part. Any tips for next time?

  78. Is it ok I can make my own crust instead?

  79. I tried these for the first time and my husband and laughed our heads off when the wafers floated to the top. The cream cheese with the lemon juice did NO mix well. It was a baking disaster. The Recipe is flawed. 1 Tbsp of Lemon & Vanilla was too much. All other mini cheese recipes required 1 teaspoon on ONLY vanilla. Thank you anyway. If you simply change this up a little and delete the lemon juice and only use 1 tsp. of vanilla it should be good to go.

  80. will the wafer still be the proper consistency if I make these three days in advance of service date and they’ve been refrigerated the whole time?

  81. I’ve tried these before at a baby shower and thought they we’re delicious! We do have Jell-o instant cheesecake mix and I was wondering, could you use those instead of acctually making the mixture with cream cheese? I’d rather not take a trip to the grocery store if I don’t have to!

  82. this recipe is completely flawed

  83. Can you use fresh lemon juice

  84. I had the 2 !/2 ” cups on hand, so I put one ‘nilla wafer on bottom, then crushed extras with a nut chopper and filled in along edges. I baked them for 20minutes since they were larger and they turned out PERFECT! I am a train wreck at cooking and baking…….So if I can make these perfect, they are a GREAT recipe for ANYONE!

  85. These turned out great. I used the 2 inch foil liners. I did really beat it for a long time. I was able to fill 48 liners. I used a heaping tablesoon in each one! Also don’t push the liners down in hard into the tart pan. I just set them in gently and it didn’t scrunch up the liners. Your just using the pan for a bit of support.

  86. hey bakerella,
    this is pooja from bangalore, india.
    you have a amazing blog here! i am a bak-o-holic. but the sad part is we don’t get most of the things mentioned in your recipes here. but i don’t give up so easily, i try to give my best with whatever i have. you are a great lady, hats off to you!

    regards,

  87. …these are AWESOME!

  88. Thank you for the recipe!
    I modified to incorporate leftovers- a cream cheese tail, mascarpone bottom, some crushed pineapple, and (used for the crust) a noninteger number of horrible old macaroons.
    Also I added coconut extract instead of lemon.

    Just took my 24 golden lil cakes out of oven, they smell so yummy my husband’s headed downstairs.

    :-)

  89. Oh my these look tasty. My grandma made Nilla Cherry Cheesecakes and they were always gone instantly. I made bigger ones mostly due to the fact i couldnt find the minis. I was able to make 23 (probably could have made 24 if i didnt keep sampling the batter), im working on the bake timing as they are larger, ill start with 20min and go from there. Not sure if the middles are gonna be jiggly like a full sized cake. I baked them for 20 and the tops of some were cracking so i took them out-not jiggly I think they could be frozen (without topping) since i purchase a ready made cheesecake frozen and let thaw in the fridge and you would never know any different. Thanks for the nostalgia!

  90. Bakerella!! Your blog is so great!! xxx Stephanie from South Africa

  91. Bakerella you are the most inspirational baker I have ever come across! I love all your desserts!! I have one questions when you let the cheesecake cool do you let it cool in the oven or do you sit it out on a cooling rack. Then transfer it to the fridge?

  92. My mom used to make these in mini muffin pans with the mini muffin liners. I was lucky enough to inherit her old mini tins when she died so I will use those with the paper liners. I had lost the recipe somewhere along the way, so I can’t wait to try these. I’m going to put them out on our dessert table at our wedding.

  93. i would just use a wonton cup instead of a bakiing cup n just eat the whole thing::rolls off scale::you would need the mini baking pan thou…..

  94. I made this yesterday and they turned out AMAZING.

    I tweaked it a little bit and added my own graham cracker crust, and topped it with diced strawberries/strawberry glaze instead of the cherries.

    I had a little problem with the mini-cheesecakes sticking to the liners but it didn’t bother me too much. It certainly didn’t prevent myself, my boyfriend, my Grandma, and my Dad from eating them either. Thanks Bakerella!

  95. Anyone knows where I could find 2″ baking cups in Philadelphia?

  96. I was wondering if I can use a ground up graham cracker crust on the bottom of this instead of the wafer? :)

  97. Thank you for the recipe, love it!

  98. Thank you Bakerella for posting the recipe for your mini cheesecakes! I just made a batch but miniaturized the recipe even more since the baking pans were for a smaller size. But it tasted awesome!

  99. Where did you find the reynolds baking cups? What store I do not know if the stores here in my town cary them.

  100. I tried this right before Valentine’s Day, and it came out all lumpy. I tried it a second time last night, and it worked like a charm! The vanilla wafers were too small so I crushed them into smaller pieces and mixed with butter to make the crust. I also used blackberry filling. Stuck them in the refrigerator and tried it this morning – a little piece of heaven! Thanks Bakerella for turning me onto baking!

  101. Love you website! I live in Caracas, Venezuela, and I can’t find Cherry Pie Filling here. What can I use as a substitute? Thank you!

  102. Bad recipe. It was a flop! I followed the recipe and put all ingredients together to mix and it was thin and lumpy. I should have followed my instinct and mixed sugar with cream cheese first, at least it wouldn’t have been lumpy. It was also way too thin, and too lemony. I found another recipe that leaves out the lemon, only 2 eggs and 1 tsp. of vanilla. I will try that one next time. What a waste of ingredients and cups….

  103. If the baking cup is to big I just crush nilla wafers and put it on top of the wafer to fill to the edge and it works wonderful !!

  104. I was wondering.. why do you use flour in the big cheesecakes and not in the mini cakes? And is the lemon juice required? i was just curious as to why differnt ingredients were added when baking a full sizedd cheesecake, and if it’s the size that determines what ingredients to use.. does it change the taste as well?

  105. Does it matter if i use lime or lemon juice.

  106. This were awsome cuteness thanks for sharing

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