Mini cheesecake bites get an extra bit of flavor with the addition of a strawberry topping. Cut the strawberry into a heart for a fun Valentine's Day treat!
Need another sweet Valentine's treat?
You have to try these adorable little teeny-tiny cheesecakes I made with my little guys the other day!
My four year old is a SERIOUS strawberry fan-like he eats a package almost every day. And don't get me started on his cheese consumption! So these little cheesecakes were the perfect dessert to make for him after some hard work with his speech pathologist yesterday. (This post was updated in 2021 and that 4 year old is now 12, hard to believe!)
For some other Valentine's (or anytime!) treat ideas check out my Strawberry Heart Cheesecake Cookies, Triple Chip Chocolate Chip Cookies and Valentine's Cookie Mix in a Jar along with my very favorite dessert: dirt cake!
Ingredients
- graham crackers
- sugar
- unsalted butter
- cream cheese
- sour cream
- egg
- vanilla extract
- lemon juice
Step by step
- In a large bowl or stand mixer (affiliate link) cream together sugar and cream cheese.
- Add sour cream, vanilla extract, lemon juice, and egg and mix until just blended.
- Put graham crackers in a plastic bag and crush into fine crumbs.
- Pour into a bowl and add sugar. Mix.
- Add butter and mix.
- Press graham cracker mixture into the bottom of a lined mini muffin tin.
- Top with filling mixture.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until edges are set and middle is still soft.
- Cut strawberries in half and then notch the top to create the heart shape.
- Remove muffins from the oven and immediately press strawberries into the top.
- Allow to cool 30 minutes then transfer to the refrigerator at least 2 hours.
FAQs
You can freeze the cheesecakes themselves but I don't recommend freezing them with the strawberry. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
You can prep the filling up to 2 days ahead of time and store in the refrigerator until ready to bake. I recommend making the crust just before you are ready to bake.
Strawberry Heart Mini Cheesecake Bites
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 30 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Mini cheesecake bites get an extra bit of flavor with the addition of a strawberry topping. Cut the strawberry into a heart for a fun Valentine's Day treat!
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 4-5 graham crackers
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon sugar
For the filling:
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup sour cream, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 egg
- strawberries (approximately 30)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Line mini-muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- In a mixer cream together cream cheese and sugar.
- Add lemon juice, vanilla, sour cream, and egg.
- Mix until just blended.
- In a sandwich bag, crush graham crackers. Pour into a small bowl.
- Add sugar and mix.
- Add butter in small increments until mixture is sticky.
- Spoon 2 teaspoons of graham cracker mixture into the bottom of each muffin liner.
- Top with filling mixture.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Cheesecakes are done with the edges are set and the center still slightly soft.
- While cheesecakes are baking slice strawberries in half and cut a "v" in the top to create heart shape.
- Immediately after removing cheesecakes from oven press strawberry hearts into the top of each cake.
- Allow to cook 30 minutes on a wire rack then refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.
Notes
- if refrigerating more than 2 hours, loosely cover with plastic wrap.
- to make in a standard muffin tin, increase crust to 1 tablespoon and cook 16-20 minutes until edges are set and middle is still slightly soft
Keywords: mini cheesecake
Jonnie Johnson says
Can these be made with reduced fat cream cheese and reduced fat sour cream?
Melissa Riker says
I have made them with reduced fat cream cheese and it was fine but not with reduced fat sour cream so I can't say for that one.
Judy says
Can you freeze and ship this recipe?
Melissa Riker says
No, I wouldn't recommend freezing it Judy.
Pooja Ravichandran says
Can they be made without egg? Will they taste and turn out to be the same?
Melissa Riker says
I'm sorry Pooja, I have never tried to omit the egg, I think it would definitely affect the end result.
Sarah says
Thanks for the recipe and idea. These are adorable!
Melissa Riker says
Thanks Sarah!!
Shannah @ Just Us Four says
Such a perfect idea for Valentines day!
Melissa Riker says
Thanks Shannah, they're tasty too!
Mia says
How much is one packet of cream cheese.
Melissa Riker says
Sorry Mia! It's 8 oz. I'll update the post to reflect that!
Allyson says
Mmmmmm, found these on Sand and Sisal's roundup today! These look soooo good! I am pinning for future consumption!
Myrto says
Hi Melissa, what an amazidng idea and what a delicious recipe! Thanks for sharing. Just one question: what is the weight of the crackers you used?
★★★★★
Melissa says
I'm not sure what the weight was, I just used a few crushed up enough to cover the bottom of the cupcake tin to act as the crust (sorry!!)
Myrto says
ok, that will do, I get the idea. Thanks a lot!
kate says
hey, i want to make it but what is the weight of package of cream cheese?
★★★★
Melissa says
I believe it's 8oz.
Karen Chaplin says
I've got these in the oven now yummy yummy although I didn't read you needed a mini muffin pan so I used a regular one and wondered why I needed to double the crust amount and I only got 9 muffins out of it - thought I was going crazy until I re-read the recipe ha ha
Any way this make 8 to 9 lovely standard sized cakes (as I have just by accident discovered) I used the same amount of mix but did more crumb.
I am eagerly waiting for them to cook
Thank you for a great recipe
Melissa says
Great to know-thanks for sharing, I'd had a few questions about making them full-sized!
amy says
Quick Question.... what size cream cheese and do you think they would work fine reg. muffin size...just adjusting cook time?
Melissa says
Hey Amy! I believe it was the 8oz standard size of cream cheese and for full size muffins I'd cook them longer and keep an eye on them. They aren't temperamental so if they stay in. A few extra minutes they'll still taste great!
Marty Walden says
You did a great job on the post and the photography! Congrats!
Marty@Marty's Musings
Melissa says
Thanks so much Marty- you're too sweet!
Nada says
This might be a dumb question but is the butter added to the graham crackers or to the mixture with the cream cheese and everything else?
Thanks!
Melissa says
No dumb questions! The butter is just for moistening the crushed graham crackers to make the crust!
Janet says
These are so cute and a perfect little Valentine's treat!
Melissa says
Thanks Janet! They were pretty tasty! 😉
katie goldsworthy says
Those are adorable! Thanks for sharing!