These Strawberry Swirl Mini Cheesecakes feature a buttery graham cracker crust, creamy cheesecake filling, and a fresh strawberry sauce. This irrisistable treat is easily made in a muffin pan and makes for the most perfect on-the-go dessert!
Strawberry season is in full-swing once again here in the Pacific Northwest, so what better way to celebrate than with these Mini Strawberry Swirl Cheesecakes!
At this point, I have made quite a few strawberry desserts, including these Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes, Strawberry Oatmeal Bars, and Strawberry Fudge, but now it's time for another mini cheesecake recipe.
One of the reasons why I love to make mini cheesecakes over a regular sized cheesecake is because it's so much easier! No water bath is required, the bake time is way less, and because they're so small, you'll be able to enjoy these much faster once they're chilled.
The fresh strawberry sauce that is swirled into the cheesecake layer before baking truly is the star of this bite-size dessert. Plus, the sauce makes enough for you to top your chilled cheesecakes with even extra strawberries!
Why You'll Love This Strawberry Cheesecake Recipe:
- It requires only simple pantry ingredients.
- Can easily be made ahead of time.
- The creamy cheesecake layer sits on top of a buttery graham cracker crust.
- A fresh strawberry sauce is swirled right on top before baking.
- Its made in a muffin pan!
I love me a good graham cracker crust because you get hints of buttery flavor with a little bit of sweet and salty. Those flavors combined with the other components of the cheesecake makes for one exceptional bite!
Have you ever baked a cheesecake using a muffin pan? Well, I'm here to tell you that it's absolutely amazing and so easy!
I like to line my muffin pan with cupcake liners first before assembling each layer of the cheesecake, that way they're even easier to remove from the pan. I believe you can buy a specific pan for making mini cheesecakes, but why bother when a muffin pan works so nicely.
Baking Tips Before Starting:
- Muffin Pan: This mini cheesecake recipe can easily be made in a 12-count muffin pan. I recommend lining your pan with cupcake liners, but if you don’t have any, just use non-stick spray.
- Cream Cheese: Alway use the block-style cream cheese when making any cheesecake.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: You want your cream cheese, yogurt, and egg to be at room temperature before baking. This helps for all of the ingredients to combine more easily and for the filling to be very smooth. I recommend removing these items from your refrigerator 1 hour before you want to start baking.
- Completely Chill: It is super important that you allow the cheesecakes to cool at room temperature for 45 minutes before placing them into the refrigerator to chill for another 3 hours. The cheesecakes need time to set before serving.
- Storing Leftovers: With any leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Strawberries: If fresh strawberries aren't in season, you could use frozen instead. Just don't add the water to the sauce if using frozen strawberries, as they will not need it.
Ingredients Needed:
Most of these ingredients you probably already have at home, but I do note a couple of substitutions if you don't.
- Strawberries: Bright red strawberries are what we are looking for. You can use either fresh or frozen (see note under "Baking Tips Before Starting").
- Sugar: Adds sweetness to each component of the dish.
- Water: Used in the strawberry sauce.
- Lemon Juice: Adds a bit of tartness to the strawberries.
- Graham Crackers: The main component of the crust. Use a food processor to pulse into crumbs.
- Unsalted Butter: Used for flavor and binding the crust ingredients together.
- Salt: Enhances all of the other flavors.
- Cream Cheese: Brick-style, NOT the spreadable kind.
- Yogurt: Adds creaminess. You can use either vanilla or plain yogurt. You could also substitute this ingredient for sour cream if that's what you have at home.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds flavor.
- Large Egg: This helps to thicken the cheesecake filling when baking.
How To Make Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes:
- Strawberry Sauce: Combine the ingredients together in a small sauce pan and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once cooked, pour the sauce into a heat-safe bowl and place it into the refrigerator to chill.
- Graham Cracker Crust: Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. Evenly divide the crust up amongst the muffin pan cups and bake for 5 minutes.
- Cheesecake Filling: Cream together the cream cheese and sugar on medium-high speed until smooth. Then add the yogurt and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Add your egg, mixing on low speed, until just incorporated.
- Bake: Evenly distribute the cheesecake filling over the graham cracker crust (I used my 1.5 tbsp cookie scoop). Then place 1/2 tbsp of strawberry sauce over the cheesecake filling and use a toothpick to make swirls. Bake for 15-17 minutes until set and allow the cheesecakes to cool for 40 minutes at room temperature and then for 3 hours in the refrigerator.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Yes you can, just don't add the water for the sauce.
If you don't want to make your own strawberry sauce (which I highly encourage you do!) you could always buy a strawberry jam from the store to swirl on top of the cheesecakes before baking.
Yes, you can! This is a great recipe to make ahead of time. Simply serve them the next day with the extra strawberry sauce or any other topping you'd like.
The cheesecakes are done baking when they don’t jiggle when you move the pan.
If you made this recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below. I love hearing from you!
If you're interested in even more mini cheesecake recipes, check out the ones I've linked below.
Enjoy! 🙂
More Cheesecake Recipes To Try:
Strawberry Swirl Mini Cheesecakes
Equipment
- 12-count muffin pan
- Cupcake Liners
- Food Processor
- Sauce Pan
Ingredients:
Strawberry Sauce:
- 2 cups strawberries, diced (about 13 medium-sized strawberries)
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tbsp water
- 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
Graham Cracker Crust:
- 7 graham cracker sheets, crumbs (about 1 cup)
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
Cheesecake Filling:
- 12 ounces block-style cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup yogurt (plain or vanilla), room temperature
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg, room temperature
Instructions:
- Strawberry Sauce: Combine diced strawberries, sugar, water, and lemon juice in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to stir the strawberries as they cook. As the sauce starts to boil use your spatula to break up some of the strawberries into smaller chunks.
- Cook the sauce for 15 minutes and then remove the pan from the heat. Pour the sauce into a heat-safe bowl and place it into the refrigerator to chill as you make the other components of the cheesecake.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line a 12-count muffin pan with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- Graham Cracker Crust: Place the graham cracker sheets into a food processor or blender and pulse until fine crumbs. Pour the crumbs into a medium-sized mixing bowl and add the melted butter, sugar, and salt. Mix together.
- Evenly disperse the graham cracker crumbs into the cupcake liners, pressing down firmly (use your fingers or a 1/4 measuring cup). Bake for 5 minutes and set aside to cool while making the cheesecake filling.
- Cheesecake Filling: In the bowl of an electric stand mixer using the paddle attachment (or you can use a handheld mixer in a large mixing bowl), cream together the cream cheese and sugar on medium-high speed until smooth (about 1-2 minutes). Scrape the sides of the bowl a few times during this process.
- Add the yogurt and vanilla extract and mix on medium speed until combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl again. Add your egg, mixing on low speed, until just incorporated.
- Evenly distribute the cheesecake filling into the cupcake liners, covering the graham cracker crust (I used my 1.5 tbsp cookie scoop). Remove the strawberry sauce from the refrigerator and place 1/2 tbsp onto each cheesecake, using a toothpick to create the swirl pattern.
- Place the muffin pan into the oven and bake for 15-17 minutes, or until the tops of the cheesecakes are set (if the cheesecakes jiggle when shaken, they're not done yet).
- Allow the cheesecakes to cool for 45 minutes on the counter and then cover the entire muffin pan with saran wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for 3 hours. Serve your cheesecakes with the extra strawberry sauce (optional).
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