I just love little desserts! Not only do you have portion control, you get to eat it all to yourself! These Mini Cherry Cheesecakes (with Oreo crust) are individual cheesecakes, baked in muffin tins, quick and easy to make, with cherry pie filling and an easy Oreo cookie crust.

a mini cherry cheesecake on a damask print muffin wrapper, with a red speckled muffin tin ofmini cherry cheesecakes in the background

They are a great party food because they are a fun dessert and the perfect size, making them the ideal individual dessert and finger food dessert for bake sales, baby showers, game day, potlucks, Canada Day, Mother's day, New Year's eve or any special occasion!

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🍽 Equipment
🥘 Ingredients
📖 Variations
🔪 Instructions
⏲️ Baking time
👪 Serving size
🌡️Storing
🍰More Mini Desserts!
⭐ Reviews
📋 Mini Cherry Cheesecakes recipe
📋 More Cheesecake Recipes!

🍽 Equipment

I first time I had these mini cherry cheesecakes was when my Auntie Sue brought them to my niece's baby shower. They are the ideal baby shower food, especially if you're looking for something easy, that everyone will love! That was about 15 years ago and I finally got around to asking her for the recipe! We also enjoyed them as part of our finger food New Year's eve buffet this year. The great thing about this mini dessert is that it's not only easy to make, you can dress it up for a baby shower by using fancier paper liners, like these pretty Damask Cupcake/Muffin liners (affiliate link) I used in the photos, or simply use a regular liner or foil tart liner. You can even bake it in a plain muffin liner, then move it to nicer paper cupcake liners after it's cooked.

You will also need an electric mixer or a stand mixer and muffin pans (affiliate links) for baking these.

8 mini cherry cheesecakes in black and white damask print muffin liners on a light turquoise cake stand

🥘 Ingredients

For these mini cherry cheesecakes, you'll need:

Oreo baking crumbs
butter
cream cheese
white sugar
lemon juice
lemon zest
vanilla extract
canned cherry pie filling

*see recipe card for quantities

📖 Variations

Topping: You can even mix it up and use any pie topping or filling you so desire. One of my personal favorites is my Saskatoon berry pie filling. However, I did see canned Saskatoon berry pie filling at my local Co op, so if I was in a hurry, I'd just buy it. I simply use the cherry pie filling because it's quicker and easier to find (and oh so delicious!) You could also use a homemade cherry pie filling.

Crust: You can make these mini cheesecakes with a classic graham cracker crust, but I prefer to use an Oreo graham crust. You can crush up chocolate graham crackers or simply buy Oreo cookie baking crumbs. Chocolate and cherry are simply a match made in heaven, especially when you add cheesecake to the mix! And chocolate just makes everything better...

A mini cherry cheesecake with a bit taken out of it, on an open black and white damask muffin liner, sitting on a white (lattice edged) plate.

When it comes to potlucks and any kind of party food, I really appreciate anything that is served in individual portions. And that's why I love individual cheesecake recipes! I'm not a big fan of communal foods, for obvious reasons. And I created my Easy Individual Cheesy Party Pull Aparts after having a traumatic communal food experience. You can read more about that in the post, if you're interested!

🔪 Instructions

Heat oven to 375 F/190 C. Line muffin tin with paper cupcake/muffin cups or foil tart liners. Mix Oreo baking crumbs with melted butter in a bowl (you do not need a food processor). Place mixture in the bottom of each paper liner, patting down, dividing evenly between all 18.
Beat the rest of the ingredients together with an electric hand mixer ( EXCEPT cherry pie filling) until fluffy. Spoon cream cheese mixture into paper muffin/cupcake liners on top of base/crust to ⅔ full (dividing between all 18.)

collage of 2 photos showing how to make mini cherry cheesecakes

⏲️ Baking time

Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 15 minutes.
Cool for about 10 minutes.
When cool, top with cherry filling.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.

👪 Serving size

This cherry cheesecake cupcakes recipe makes 18 little cheesecakes. You can half, double or triple the recipe by simply clicking on the blue servings number in the recipe card and selecting the number of servings you'd like. The ingredient amounts will then adjust accordingly.

🌡️Storing

Fridge: These cheesecakes can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the fridge.
Freezer: This recipe freezes well for up to 3 months in a sealed container. But don't put the topping on the individual cheesecakes until they are completely defrosted, and just prior to serving.

For some reason, miniature cheesecake just feels more FUN than regular cheesecake. It's partly because finger food is way more fun than regular food! And that's probably because we're more likely to eat finger food at parties and celebrations. The best part of finger food desserts is that you can forego the fuss with plates and forks and just dig in!

mini cherry cheesecakes in a red speckled muffin tin, with 1 cheesecake sitting on top

If you are looking for mini baked cheesecakes, or mini cheesecake recipes, this recipe is ideal because they are baked in a muffin tin with muffin liners. You don't need to purchase anything special to make them. So whether you're going to a baby shower, a Super Bowl party, celebrating New Year's, Valentine's day or going to a backyard BBQ, if you're looking for a quick and easy dessert, these Mini Cherry Cheesecakes are the perfect dessert!