These Easy Mini Lemon Cheesecakes are the perfect easy dessert for spring! Just a few simple ingredients, an easy cookie crust and a fluffy cheesecake filling that’s bursting with citrus!
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We’re more than halfway through April and I can’t even believe it!! Has 2020 just flown by for anyone else? Spring is here and summer’s coming fast, which means it’s time to pull out all those delicious summer desserts! These Easy Mini Lemon Cheesecakes are one of my favourite summer desserts – they’re easy to make (seriously, a no-fail recipe!), they’re so creamy and delicious, and they’re bursting with lemon flavour! You’re going to love ’em!
If you’re afraid of making cheesecake from scratch because of all the horror stories you’ve heard about dry, cracked cheesecake, have no fear. These Easy Mini Lemon Cheesecakes are SO creamy and smooth, and the filling is only 5 basic ingredients. It’s a very hard recipe to mess up, so it’s a great one for beginning bakers! Follow my tips below!
How to Make Mini Cheesecakes
- Start with room temperature ingredients! If you want creamy cheesecakes, starting with all your ingredients at room temperature is the key. It’ll help everything combine together really smoothly, making for a silky filling!
- Use paper liners! There’s no point in ruining your homemade mini cheesecakes because you can’t get them out of the tins, right?! Use paper muffin cups for next to no mess and easy removal!
- Let them cool, then chill! The key to creamy cheesecake is letting them cool to room temperature first, then chilling for several hours or overnight. This helps the filling to set and stay nice and creamy.
- Garnish! Add some delicious whipped cream, lemon zest, berries, or whatever you like!
CLICK HERE for all my cheesecake baking tips!
LOOKING FOR MORE EASY AND DELICIOUS CHEESECAKE RECIPES AND TIPS?
Get my Easy No-Bake Cheesecakes E-Cookbook!
Looking for more delicious cheesecake recipes? You’ll LOVE this Easy No Bake Key Lime Cheesecake, or this Easy Classic No Bake Cheesecake!
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I hope you love these mini cheesecakes as much as we do! Let me know in the comments below, what’s your favourite lemon dessert? I’d love to know!
KITCHEN TOOLS I RECOMMEND:
Looking for more delicious desserts? You’ll LOVE these:
-
Lemon Raspberry Meringue Nests
-
Easy No Bake White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
-
Classic Sour Cream Sugar Cookies
-
Best Ever Vanilla Bean Scones
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Easy No Bake Triple Chocolate Cheesecake
-
Pear Streusel Cake
LOOKING FOR MORE DELICIOUS SUMMER DESSERT IDEAS?
GET MY SUMMER DESSERTS E-COOKBOOK!
Recipe Video
Watch the video below to see exactly how I make this zingy dessert. You can find more delicious recipe videos on my YouTube channel
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Are you trying this recipe? Use the comment form below to share your take; now with support for image uploads and comment voting!
Mini Lemon Cheesecakes
Recipe: Equipment
- Food Processor (optional)
Recipe: Ingredients
- 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
- 4 tablespoons melted butter
- 16 ounces full fat cream cheese at room temperature
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 1/4 cup full fat sour cream at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- zest of 2 lemons
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- whipped cream and lemon zest for garnish (optional)
Recipe: Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.
- In a bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs and melted butter until the crumbs are moistened.
- Add a heaping tablespoon of the crumb mixture into the bottom of each paper liner and press down to pack the crumbs together to form a crust.
- Add the room temperature cream cheese to a large bowl and mix with a hand mixer on medium-high speed until creamy and smooth.
- Add the sugar and mix well for about 3 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition, scraping down the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated.
- Add the sour cream, vanilla, lemon juice and zest, and mix well on low speed until well blended.
- Divide the cream cheese mixture evenly between the 12 prepared cups and pour it in over the crusts.
- Tap the muffin tin on the counter to help any bubbles rise to the surface, and then bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20-23 minutes or until the edges of the cheesecakes are set and the middles have a slight jiggle.
- Let the cheesecakes cool at room temperature until cooled, and then chill them for at least 3 hours or overnight.
- Before serving, garnish with a swirl of whipped cream and some lemon zest or lemon slices. OR, use fresh berries and whipped cream, if desired.
Recipe: Notes
Storage Instructions
If it’s well covered and stored in a refrigerator, a cheesecake will stay fresh for 5 to 6 days.Freezer Instructions
If you wrap the cheesecake tightly in plastic wrap and freeze it, it should keep well for 3-4 months.Recipe: Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
These were the most delicious cheesecakes I’ve ever had. Loved the tips and hints and they came out perfect! They didn’t last long at all. Thanks for sharing the recipe. 😊
Thank you Julia! So happy to hear they turned out great!
I love lemon, so these look amazing! And as always, your photos are gorgeous. 🙂
hese came out perfect! I LOVE this recipe… The cheesecakes were very creamy and the lemon flavor was just perfect. I’m definitely making these again!! Thank you Chrissie!
You’re welcome Tatiana! Glad you liked the recipe so much!🙂
These are delicious and sooooo cute!!! I made them and three of us ate them all.
Yes, they disappeared very quickly here too!🙂
Mini desserts are my favorite. This lemon cheesecake doesn’t disappoint. Thanks for a smooth and creamy recipe.
Thank you Neli for your feedback!🙂
They’re about to become my new breakfast food!! Mmmmm……Thanks for sharing Chrissie!!
You’re welcome Mary! Thanks!🙂
Hi
I made these now. Cooling them on counter. I have to still refrigerate. But the cheesecakes were sunken in middle. I dont understand what went wrong. Plz address the issue.
It sounds like they were under-baked.
Blown away by these cheesecakes! The recipe is fool proof. Light, fluffy, beautiful balance of lemon and sweetness, melt in your mouth deliciousness. Thank you so much for sharing
You’re welcome Pamela!!
Hi. I’m planning to bake this. May I replace sour cream with yogurt? Will that work? Thanks.
No, unfortunately the fat and water content of sour cream and yogurt differ a lot so that substitution won’t work.
Do you use the zest iof 2 lemons in the cheesecake or do you save some for decoration??
You can use the zest of 2 lemons in the cheesecake and then use extra for decoration.
Can I freeze these after baking?
Yes!
Excellent Flavor. Recipe is a keeper 😉
Thanks Corinne!🙂
Absolutely blown away by these. Can I make this into one big cheesecake and if so what size tin would I use?
Thank you
I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed them! Unfortunately I have never tried making them into a big cheesecake so I wouldn’t know what to tell you, but you could try my No Bake Lemon Cheesecake https://thebusybaker.ca/easy-no-bake-lemon-cheesecake/
when you say mini do you cupcake size or smaller cause I have a mini pan and it looks smaller than the pan you used in the video. thanks
Could you use store bought lemon juice as a replacement? I don’t have any lemons on hand and would love to try this now.
Yes, you can. Fresh squeezed lemon juice would be best but store bought will definitely work as well. Let us know how it turns out!
These were very good. Mine caved in the center and was wondering if you would know why. I did bake a bit longer than the recipe. I added a dollop of lemon curd. Which was a nice addition.
They could have done that because of over mixing. The lemon curd sounds like a yummy addition!
Delicious and easy. Made 1/2 recipe and it was just right for our small dinner party..served with whipped cream and fresh macerated strawberries..
I’m so happy you enjoyed our recipe! Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback!
This is a wonderful recipe! The first time I made this I used Pepperidge Farm Bordeaux cookies for the crust, and they were amazing! I have a batch in the oven right now that I used the Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies that are a shortbread. YUMMMMM!!
We’re so happy you enjoyed them! Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback!
These mini lemon cheesecakes were outstanding! Actually made a few more than the dozen. And all were gone quickly! Easy to make and such a good lemon flavour!