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This is a crowd favorite mini coffee cheesecake recipe that you’ll use over and over! The whole recipe is only 7 ingredients and you make it in a regular size muffin pan! Plus, you can do an oreo crust or graham cracker crust for these mini espresso cheesecakes.
Here’s the truth, I love the taste and smell of coffee, but my body can’t handle caffeine. Booooo. Even decaf can effect me. So I usually get my coffee fix from coffee flavored foods – ice cream, brownies and cheesecake.
I took our favorite espresso cheesecake and scaled them down into mini cheesecakes by using a regular sized muffin pan.
Tools to Make Mini Cheesecakes in a Cupcake Pan
-standard size muffin pan
-paper muffin / cupcake liners
Making individual cheesecakes in a muffin pan is a great way to scale down a regular cheesecake recipe. Mini cheesecakes don’t require a water bath or any special tools, plus they bake faster than regular cheesecake.
Ingredients
Our coffee flavored cheesecake recipe only calls for 5 ingredients!
- cream cheese: use two 8 oz packages. Be sure to use full fat, not low fat, cream cheese for best results.
- sugar: helps to balance the tanginess of the cream cheese.
- vanilla extract: just a teaspoon, but it enhances the classic cheesecake flavor.
- espresso or coffee: this is where that bold coffee flavor comes from! Easy Tip: Make instant espresso by combining hot water and instant espresso powder.
- eggs: eggs are the last ingredient that get mixed into the cheesecake batter. Be sure to mix them in, one at a time, just until the yolk breaks. Over beating the eggs is the number one cause of air bubbles and cracking.
How to Make Mini Coffee Cheesecakes in a Muffin Pan
- Line the muffin pan with paper liners.
- Place about 2 tbsp of the crust in the bottom of each liner. Use the bottom of a measuring cup to pack the crust down.
- Pre-bake the crust for 5 minutes.
- Mix the cheesecake batter ingredients together.
- Divide the cheesecake batter evenly among the muffin liners.
- Bake until the center of the cheesecake only slightly jiggles when you shake the muffin pan.
Total Time Required
- 5 minutes to prep the crust
- 5 minutes to pre-bake the crust
- 5 minutes to prep the cheesecake
- 20 ish minutes to bake cheesecake
- at least 4 hours to refrigerate the cheesecake before serving. I prefer to refrigerate mine overnight. Waiting is the hardest part, right?!
How to Tell When Mini Cheesecakes are Done Baking?
The best way to tell when the mini cheesecakes are done is the jiggle test. The center of the cheesecake should jiggle slightly when you shake the pan and the edges of the cheesecake will be slightly more puffy or airy.
How to Cool Mini Coffee Cheesecakes
Once the cheesecakes are done baking, remove the pan from the oven and place it on the counter until the cheesecakes have cooled to room temperature. Then loosely cover the muffin pan with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight to chill.
Why Did my Mini Cheesecakes Sink?
Over beating the eggs is the number one cause of air bubbles in cheesecake. Air bubbles cause the cheesecakes to sink in the middle as they cool. Be sure to mix the eggs in, one at a time, just until the yolk breaks. Once all the eggs have been added to the cheesecake batter, beat for only 30-60 seconds, until the eggs are fully incorporated.
Tips for Making Easy Coffee Cheesecakes
- Allow the cream cheese to come to room temperature before beating it. Room temperature cream cheese is easier to whip.
- The eggs are the last ingredient that get mixed into the cheesecake batter. Be sure to mix them in, one at a time, just until the yolk breaks. Over beating the eggs is the number one cause of air bubbles and cracking
- Thoroughly chill the mini cheesecakes in the fridge before serving.
How to Freeze Mini Cheesecakes
- Cool the cheesecakes completely before freezing.
- Place the mini cheesecakes, without any garnishes, on a baking sheet, uncovered, and place in the freezer until frozen.
- Once frozen, wrap each cheesecake in aluminum foil and place them inside a ziplock bag in the freezer. They can be frozen for 4 months. To thaw, place them in the refrigerator overnight.
- Before serving add your desired toppings.
I topped these coffee flavored cheesecakes with coffee whipped cream and chocolate covered espresso beans. You can also top the cheesecakes with chocolate ganache.
More Cheesecake Recipes
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Mini Coffee Cheesecakes
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 ½ cups oreo crumbs
- 2 tbsp melted butter
Cheesecake
- 2 packages full fat cream cheese, room temperature, 8 oz each
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp brewed espresso *see note*
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350º F.
- Line a regular sized muffin pan with 12 muffin liners.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the oreo crumbs and melted butter until it resembles coarse sand.
- Put 1-2 tbsp of oreo crumbs in each muffin cup.
- Use a 1/3 cup (or similar) to press the oreo crumbs down firmly into the pan.
- Bake the crust for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and allow it to cool while prepping the cheesecake.
Cheesecake
- In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth, 2-3 minutes.
- Beat in the sugar, vanilla extract, and brewed espresso until smooth.
- Beat in the eggs.
- Place a little more than 2 tbsp of cheesecake batter in each muffin cup.
- Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the center of the cheesecake is only slightly jiggly.
- Allow the cheesecakes to cool to room temperature then place them in the fridge for at least 2 hours to chill before serving. If refrigerating overnight, loosely cover the cheesecakes in plastic wrap.
- Top with coffee whipped cream and chocolate covered espresso bean.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
Great flavor, everyone loved them! However it may need a bit of tweaking. I would try adding some cornstarch to prevent the cracking and expresso powder or instant vs liquid espresso in the filling, as it was a bit too runny which I think led to the sinking when cooled.