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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.
Can these be frozen?
Definitely! Cheesecakes freeze great. I recommend flash freezing them first, then wrapping them in bundles of 2-3 in plastic wrap.
What can I use instead of eggs?
Hi Wendy! Eggs are a critical ingredients in cheesecake, I can’t offer a substitute.
Do you use water if using instant espresso powder? That’s where I’m confused. I have instant espresso powder that I’d like to use
Nope, no water! Add the instant espresso powder directly to the sugar and vanilla extract.
This is not a recipe I wil be trying again, it’s just not very good whatsoever
Hi Lianne! Can you provide more feedback?
Do you remove the filling from the oreos, or do you leave the filling?
Leave the filling in!
This is an amazing recipe! I have made these 3 times per requests since Christmas and just made them today! Use room temp cream cheese and eggs for sure. I feel you can do either the brewed coffee, I add a little bit of Instant International Coffee for more intense flavor or espresso and it turns out great either way. I also used a little of vanilla caramel instant coffee in the whipped topping and it was Delish! If you enjoy coffee flavor this is such an easy yummy dessert. Thank you for sharing.
This was my first time making cheesecake ever and man was I nervous! I followed the recipe exactly, but it didn’t specify to keep the cream in with the oreo cookies so I separated them and crushed them up that way. After mixing the cheesecake batter, I added the oreo cream filling to it and re-mixed because I didn’t want to waste. It still turned out really good! I also used 2 full ounces of espresso(I’m a barista so it was easily accessible) which is the perfect coffee flavor. I love these and will be making them in the future for sure!! I’m giving them to my coworkers on Monday so I hope they enjoy them as much as I did! Thank you!
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but it sounds 5 star. Rather than making mini cheesecakes, I’d like to make it in a 9×13. With the ingredient amounts as given, do you think there would be enough crust and filling, or should amounts be doubled?
I would definitely would double the recipe!
So tasty. I am going to take them to a potluck. What can I use as a topping that won’t melt in the Florida heat?
Everything melts in the Florida heat, haha! Chocolate ganache?
How long do they last in the fridge? I wanted to make a few days early for a potluck
Covered in an air tight container in the fridge, I’d say 2-3 days!