Mini Cheesecakes with caramel sauce are completely delicious and easy to make since the cheesecake base is just 3 ingredients! If you love the classic taste and texture of a classic Cheesecake but want the simplicity of a No-Bake Cheesecake you will love this recipe!

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Best Mini Cheesecake Recipe
We have tested scores of mini cheesecake recipes and it’s easy to say, this is THE ONE! One of my readers, Marta, shared her 3-ingredient mini cheesecake recipe with me, and I instantly fell in love with the flavor, texture, and how completely easy they were. This recipe makes 24 cupcake-sized cheesecakes.
Here, we used Marta’s cheesecake recipe, added a super-simple graham cracker crust, and drizzled sweet caramel and whipped cream over each one.
We just love mini, individual-sized desserts like Creme Brulee or Chocolate Souffle, and these mini cheesecakes are so easy and delicious that they will become one of your go-to desserts.
Mini Cheesecakes Video
Watch Natasha whip up these simple mini cheesecakes while giving you her tips on how to make them easy to make and look great for a party. Make these baby cheesecakes once and you’ll make them over and over!
Ingredients for Mini Cheesecakes:
These mini cheesecakes come together quickly and can be easily doubled to treat a whole crowd.
- Cream Cheese – room temperature so it mixes evenly. We use regular cream cheese bricks for the best texture and taste. Light or whipped won’t create the same flavor.
- Eggs – room-temperature eggs are the secret to making the batter
- Sweetened Condensed Milk – the secret ingredient, making the cheesecake perfectly sweetened and creamy smooth
- Crust – graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and cinnamon combine to make the perfect cheesecake crust. For gluten-free mini cheesecakes, substitute GF graham crackers or omit the crust.
- Topping – we used our easy Caramel Sauce (you won’t want store-bought after trying it!), using just 4 ingredients. If you want some variety, you can also try the strawberry topping in our Mini Strawberry Cheesecake recipe.

How to Make Mini Crusts
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a 24-count standard-sized muffin tin with cupcake liners.
- Combine graham cracker crumbs, butter, and cinnamon in a bowl until evenly moistened.
- Spoon the mixture evenly into the lined muffin tins, and press the crumbs into the base and slightly up the sides.






How to Make Mini Cheesecakes
- Whisk the cream cheese and eggs (by hand or with a hand mixer) on high speed for 5 minutes, or until smooth, scraping down the bowl as needed. Add condensed milk and mix on LOW speed for 2 minutes to avoid adding air bubbles that can cause the cheesecakes to crack when baking.
- Divide the batter evenly over the 24 crusts, filling each one about 3/4 full (or with a level ice cream scoop), and bake at 350˚F for 15 minutes. The cheesecakes should be set but still have a very slight jiggle in the center. Do not overbake.
- Cool the cupcakes in the muffin tin to room temperature before spooning Caramel Sauce over each one. Refrigerate the cooled and topped cheesecakes for 2 hours. Then, dollop homemade whipped cream (see directions below) and dust with cinnamon, if desired.






Pro Tip
Avoid overbaking. Due to their small size, mini cheesecakes cook much faster than traditional Cheesecakes, so it’s easy to overbake. Take them out of the oven when the edges are set and the center may have a very slight wobble. Also, cracking is a sign of overbaking.
How to Make Whipped Cream Topping
- Combine 1 cup cold heavy cream, 1 Tbsp sugar, and 1/2 tsp of vanilla in a large mixing bowl (preferably a chilled bowl). Beat the ingredients together with an electric mixture or hand mixer on high speed for 2 minutes or until fluffy. Using a piping bag with a star tip, pipe the whipped cream over each cupcake.

Make-Ahead
You can completely assemble, decorate, cover, and refrigerate overnight. In fact, ours tasted and looked perfect the next day. We just love make-ahead desserts!
- To Refrigerate: Cover in an airtight container and refrigerate for 3 days
- Freezing: Before topping with sauce or whipped cream, flash-freeze cheesecakes by placing them on a sheet pan in the freezer. When frozen, store it in a covered container or ziptop bag in a single layer, being sure to get the air out of the container.
- To Serve: Thaw in the fridge overnight.

These mini cheesecakes are so easy to make and so incredibly creamy and delicious! Make them a day ahead to take one “to-do” off your list before hosting friends and family, because these cheesecake cupcakes are truly the perfect party dessert!
More Mini Dessert Recipes
Once you try this mini cheesecake recipe, we bet you’ll fall in love with bite-sized desserts, especially when hosting! Here are a few of our favorite mini desserts to serve at your next party.
- Pavlovas
- Mini Pumpkin Pies
- Baklava Cups
- Eton Mess
- Raspberry Mousse Cups
- Vanilla Cupcakes
- Coconut Balls
Mini Cheesecakes with Caramel Sauce

Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, from 12 whole crackers*
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
For the Mini Cheesecakes:
- 16 oz cream cheese, from two 8oz packages, softened
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
Topping Ingredients:
- 1 cup caramel sauce
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream, chilled
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon to garnish, optional
Instructions
How to Make the Crust:
- Prep: Preheat Oven to 350˚F. Line a 24-count muffin tin with standard cupcake liners.
- In a bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, 6 Tbsp melted butter, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Stir to evenly moisten crumbs.
- Divide crumbs between 24 cupcake liners (about 1 Tbsp in each). Push crumbs into the base and slightly up the sides using a small spoon or your fingers.
How to Make Mini Cheesecakes:
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together 16 oz cream cheese and 3 eggs with on high speed 5 minutes, until blended and smooth, scraping down bowl as needed. Add condensed milk and mix on low speed** until blended (2 min).
- Divide cheesecake mix evenly between cupcake liners – about 3/4 full (or a level ice cream scoop in each one) and bake at 350˚F for 15 min. They should be set with a very slight jiggle in the center. Don't over-bake. If you notice them starting to crack in the oven, they are over-baking.
- Cool to room temp in baking dish then spoon 1/2 to 1 Tbsp caramel sauce over each one. Refrigerate 2 hrs or until fully chilled then top with whipped cream using a piping bag with large star tip. Lightly dust with cinnamon if desired. Serve with or without liners.
How to Make Whipped Cream:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 cup cold heavy cream, 1 Tbsp sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla and beat together with an electric mixer on high speed for 2 minutes or until whipped and fluffy.
Notes
**Cooks Tip: Mixing the condensed milk on LOW speed helps knock out excess air bubbles which can cause the cheesecakes to crack.
Hi Natasha!
I have made this and several of your recipes and you have not steered me wrong! My family has enjoyed everything I’ve made, some multiple times. I was wondering if fat t free sweetened condensed milk can be substituted (unfortunately all I have at the moment)? Thank you for all the great recipes!
Hi JD, that’s awesome! Thank you for your kind words and great feedback. I honestly haven’t tried that yet but I imagine that will work too. If you do an experiment, please share with us how it goes.
How can I halve this recipe
Hi Shilpi, that should work fine to halve the recipe.
Hi I make this Recipe for my family and they absolutely love it but I would like to try and make the already delicious crust with pecans added to it. My question is what is the measurement of pecans I should add for this particular Recipe? I don’t want to take any ingredients out I just want to add pecans to the crust.
Hi Frances, I think that should work to add some chopped pecans to the crust but keep in mind the crust will be a little thicker and will take up more space in the muffin tin.
How to store the cheesecakes in the fridge
Hi Lekhya, yes, these need to be refrigerated. You can completely assemble, decorate, cover, and refrigerate overnight. Ours tasted and looked perfect the next day. We just love make-ahead desserts!
I made this cheesecake, but i dont know why… after 15 minutes my batter still wet …
Hi Lielie, They should be set with a very slight jiggle in the center. They will then set in the fridge. But, I would make sure your oven is calibrated and the process was followed with no adjustments or ingredient substitutions.
This is my 3rd time making your recipe and every time they have come out….. AMAZING. My whole family loves them. This last time I made half of the batter regular and the other half I put some Oreos and it was very good as well, the kids loved them. But I’m a sucker for old school non Oreo myself. Either way, thank you. This is the 5th recipe my wife and I have tried from your website and they’re all amazing. Can’t wait to try out more.
Hi Jaime, I’m glad you’re enjoying my recipes. Thank you for your great review and feedback! I hope you’ll love every recipe that you will try.
Hi Natasha. Thank you for your recepies. Can I make this cheesecake in a springform pan?
Thank you
Hi Maria, you’re welcome. I haven’t tried making this as a full-size cheesecake so I don’t know how it would rise. This is our go-to springform recipe for cheesecake.
hey natasha your mini caramel cheesecakes are amazing yum I was wondering if you have a recipe for a whole caramel cheesecake??? wanted to make one for my husband’s birthday;-)
Hi Lidia, this cheesecake here is the same recipe! Just swap the topping out for caramel sauce.
thank you for your fast response:-)
Can I keep them overnight and put whipped cream next day?
Hi Ania, you sure can! I hope you love this recipe!
Hi Natasha, these mini cheesecakes were awesome but just wanted to check and see if perhaps there was an error for the caramel sauce? Should it be 1 tsp of vanilla and not 1 tablespoons?
Hi Mo, that is correct. There is a generous amount of vanilla in the caramel sauce which gives it great concentrated flavor.
hay Natasha,
can we bake these in advance? and how do we store them for the next day?
Hi Sarah, you make them a couple of days in advance; just keep them in the refrigerator. But you are welcome to add the cream before serving also.
Hi Natasha,
I loved this recipe but when I took the cheesecakes out of the pan, the gram cracker crust just crumbled to pieces. Why did it happen and how can I prevent this from happening next time?
Hi Christina, make sure to use the right proportion of graham crackers to butter and also the liners help keep them together especially when removing them from the pan. Lastly, let them cool before removing the wrapper which gives them a chance to set and firm up.
Natasha I seriously love your recipes but get very annoyed at all the pop up advertisements when I am trying to review a recipe or do a screen shot. I realize this is an additional way for you to make revenue but it is very annoying. Is there some way to stop all the pop ups and advertisements?
Thank you for sharing your concerns and feedback, Gail. The only way we can continue providing free recipes is by having ads on our site, so we cannot remove those at this time. We find that most people would rather see the ads than pay to see the recipes. I appreciate your feedback, and I hope you love every recipe you try.
I’ll be making these tomorrow! But how do you make caramel sauce?
Hi Marie, we have the caramel sauce recipe linked in this recipe, but you can also find it here.
Can you use this same cheesecake to bake in a 9 inch cheesecake pan?
Hi Sandra, I would follow this recipe here for a big cheesecake. It’s the same exact recipe simply change the topping for caramel.
I need the caramel recipe, please
Hi Brunilda, sure! Here’s the caramel sauce recipe.
I made these cheesecakes for my family today ! Valentine’s Day ! These are so amazing and the recipe was nice and easy to go by!
Yay, fantastic! I’m so happy to hear that everyone enjoyed these mini cheesecakes. Thanks for sharing, Ashley!
Any idea where I went wrong? I followed the recipe exactly, by cheesecake developed big bubbles that sank when I took them out if the oven. And they were full of big air holes/bubbles. The texture was more eggy than creamy. My caramel sauce was extremely grainy and crunchy (sugar crystals). I’m stumped! Did I overmix the cheesecake mixture? Everything tasted good, but didn’t quite turn out like the photos.
Hi Stephanie, it’s hard to say without being there. It sounds like it may have been overmixed, or something was altered?
Hello Natasha, I simply would like to thank you for your wonderful recipes and also for your beautiful smile and so pleasant attitude. It is so refreshing to watch your videos, you truly crack me up at times.
I made your mini cheese cake twice already and your caramel sauce,,,,, OMGoodness, I cannot keep up, my brother Carl and twin sister Sharon are stopping over to get their rations🤣 a few times weekly now. I am off work due to COVID and truly am enjoying my time in the kitchen baking bread and some of your goodies.
I just finished a double batch of custard for the eclairs that I will be attempting tomorrow morning. The custard turned out PERFECT. I did keep the vanilla pod inside as I want a lovely deep vanilla taste.
I also am marinating my chicken breast with your recipe from your crispy chicken sandwich. I will let you know tomorrow how that turned out also.
Thank you again for your wonderful recipes and mostly for your time that you dedicate to all of us, your faithful followers. Your smile is contagious!
May God Bless you All and keep you All safe.
Karen Theriault
Bathurst New Brunswick, Canada (I call it God’s Country)🤗🤗🤗
Hi Karen, great to hear from you and thank you for sharing that with us. I’m glad that you’re enjoying my recipes. I hope you’ll love every recipe that you will try from my website. Stay safe!
I love your website and recipes.
Here is what I did to add my own touch to your recipe…
I swirled melted semi sweet chips after I put the cream cheese mixture in the paper cups and topped it with chopped pecans. After baking I drizzled a little more melted chocolate and some of your caramel over the top. Turtle cheesecakes and they were delicious ❤️
Yum! Thank you for sharing that with me, Nan!
I swirled melted semi sweet chips after I put the cream cheese mixture in the paper cups and topped it with chopped pecans. After baking I drizzled a little more melted chocolate and some of your caramel over the top. Turtle cheesecakes and they were delicious ❤️
Sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing, Nan. I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Really love all your recepies…mini cheesecakes are my favorite but I have a dilemma with the baking time when I pulled out of the oven still looks a little watering. That’s normal??
Hi Juanita, if they are still jiggly, then I would bake longer. I haven’t noticed them looking watery though after that amount of baking at that temp.