Mini Lemon Blueberry Cheesecakes

Looking for a fun and unique dessert to serve at your next party? Or perhaps you wanna make some cheesecake but don’t need a full one all to yourself? These mini lemon blueberry cheesecakes are the perfect simple but stunning dessert to serve at your next party or make for an at-home date night. 

With a classic graham cracker crust, lemon and blueberry liqueur flavored cheesecake, and blueberry preserves and lemon zest toppings, these little treats are just packed with flavor. Rich, creamy, and the perfect balance of sweet and tangy. 

Mini Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Ingredients

When making a cheesecake, there are three main components: the crust, the cheesecake, and the toppings. Naturally, these mini lemon and blueberry cheesecakes are made with Philadelphia cream cheese (the best kind!) and Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.

Here’s what you’ll need to make the cheesecake crust:

• Graham crackers
• Butter
• Sugar

For the cheesecake itself, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• Philadelphia cream cheese
• Fage Greek yogurt
• Granulated sugar
• Fresh lemon juice
• Blueberry liqueur
• Vanilla extract
• Egg

And finally, here’s what you’ll need for toppings:

• Blueberry preserves
• Lemon zest

You don’t actually have to use Philadelphia cream cheese, but it does have the best consistency which is why we call for a specific brand. In addition, we also call for Fage Greek yogurt because it is the closest in consistency to sour cream. If you would rather use sour cream, you can, but we like to opt for the healthier option with Greek yogurt.

If you can’t find blueberry liqueur, you can opt for a blueberry syrup instead. However, if you do decide to go the blueberry liqueur route, you’ll have plenty left over to use in other recipes. Try our fun twist on a classic cocktail, the blueberry lemon martinez, if you need more ideas for how to use it!

How To Make Lemon Blueberry Mini Cheesecakes

While making mini cheesecake at home may seem difficult, it doesn’t have to be. You don’t even have to be a baking expert to make these! All you need is a little bit of patience and the right tips and tricks to succeed.

Here we break down each step for you, as well as tell you what to watch out for so making these mini cheesecakes is as easy as possible.

This recipe is made to use a silicone 6-cup jumbo muffin pan. We use this one from Mrs. Anderson’s Baking and it works like a charm. The silicone works great to release the cheesecakes, and the straight walls give them the proper shape. However, if you don’t have this pan, you can use a regular muffin tin. Check out how to adapt this recipe for a muffin tin here. 

First, you’ll need to make sure that some of your ingredients warm up to room temperature:

1. Take the cream cheese, Greek yogurt, and egg out of the fridge. Cold ingredients make mixing much harder. Room temperature ingredients allow for easy mixing which will lead to a smoother, creamier consistency. Cold ingredients lead to a chunky filling and poor consistency. Let them warm up on the counter for about 30 minutes to an hour.

Next, you’ll need to make the crust:

2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
3. Crush up the graham crackers into a fine powder and put in a medium sized bowl. If needed, you can use a food processor to help crush the crackers. (We like to just put them in a Ziploc bag and smash them.)
4. Then, add the sugar and melted butter to the crushed graham crackers and mix until well combined.
5. Distribute the mixture evenly into the 6 molds of your silicone pan.
6. Next, using the back of a spoon, press the graham cracker mixture into the molds to form a compressed disc. This will be your crust, so you want to make sure they are packed well – otherwise, it will crumble beneath the cheesecake!
7. Finally, place the silicone tray on a cookie sheet and bake for 5 minutes. Keeping the tray on a cookie sheet can help make it easier to handle (the one downside of silicone trays is they like to flop around).

Now, it’s time to make the cheesecake! Here’s what to do:

8. Add your room temperature cream cheese, Greek yogurt, sugar, lemon juice, blueberry liqueur, and vanilla to the bowl of a stand mixer. 
9. Using the paddle attachment, mix on medium low until well combined and there are no chunks remaining. The room temperature ingredients will make this step much easier! Scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary to help the stand mixer. Note: you don’t need to worry about over mixing as long as you haven’t added the egg. So make sure to combine everything well at this stage before the egg is added.
10. Then, add in the egg and mix gently by hand until just combined. Be careful not to overmix or mix aggressively. Either one can add air to the mixture and cause your cheesecakes to crack.
11. Next, distribute the mixture evenly into the 6 molds, on top of the crust. 
12. Bake for about 23 to 27 minutes, or until the outer edges of the cheesecakes are visibly dried (about a half-inch thick rim) but the middle of each one is still slightly jiggly.
13. Let the cheesecakes cool on the counter for one and a half hours, until they are room temperature. Letting them cool to room temp before chilling them in the fridge will prevent cracking, so don’t skip this step!
14. Finally, cover the tray with plastic wrap or tin foil and move it to the fridge to cool for an additional 5+ hours. For best results, let them set overnight.

Once you’re ready to serve the mini cheesecakes, you’ll add the toppings:

15. Carefully remove each cheesecake from the mold. You can use a knife to loosen the sides of each mini cheesecake. Once they are loose, press up from the bottom of the mold to remove (this is why a silicone pan helps so much!). If needed, it can be helpful to turn the mold upside down while removing, using gravity to help you – just make sure to coax it out gently so you don’t mess it up.
16. Once all of your mini cheesecakes are safely out of the mold, top them each with a few spoonfuls of blueberry preserves and fresh lemon zest.
17. Enjoy! You deserve it.

How To Make Mini Lemon Blueberry Cheesecakes In A Muffin Tin

We highly recommend getting yourself a silicone jumbo muffin tray from Mrs. Anderson’s Baking. However, we know you will still want to make these delicious and creamy mini lemon blueberry cheesecakes while you wait for your new tray to arrive. So, here’s how to adapt the recipe and use a traditional muffin tin. 

Since the cups in the muffin tin are shorter than those in the silicone tray but have about the same bottom diameter, we’re going to actually make 9 mini cheesecakes instead of 6. To do this, we need to make 1.5 times the amount of crust, but the same amount of cheesecake batter.

So here are the new ingredient amounts for the crust, with the rest of the ingredients staying the same:

• 6 full graham crackers, crushed (about ¾ cup)
• 2 tablespoons + ¾ teaspoon sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted

Again, all of the ingredients for the cheesecake filling stay the same.

As for the directions, they are going to be very similar but with four exceptions:

1. You need to use muffin liners in the tray, otherwise your cheesecakes will be very hard to remove.
2. Since the muffin tin is rigid, it doesn’t need to be placed on a cookie sheet when baking.
3. Divide the ingredients into 9 of the muffin tin cups instead of 6.
4. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes, using the same visual cues (the edges should be dry, but the middles still jiggly). Since they are slightly smaller in this type of pan, they won’t take as long to bake.

And just like that, you can make these mini lemon blueberry cheesecakes in a muffin tin!

Storing Mini Cheesecake

Once your mini blueberry lemon cheesecakes have cooled past the 5 hour mark, you can safely take them out of the mold. If you don’t want to enjoy them right away, you can store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. For best results, we recommend waiting to add the toppings (blueberry preserves and lemon zest) until just before you’re about to serve them.

You can also store these mini cheesecakes in the freezer for up to 3 months in an airtight freezer safe container. To enjoy them at a later date, make sure to get them out of the freezer ahead of time so they can defrost in the fridge. A day or so should do the trick.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know if my mini cheesecakes are done?

When making mini cheesecakes, it can be hard to know when they are done! In order to know when your mini cheesecakes are done, look for the outer rim to be solid while the middle is still soft. If you give the tray a little shake, the middle of your mini cheesecakes should still have a little jiggle to them, sort of like pudding. If the outer rim (about half an inch) is solid, and the middle is still slightly jiggly, then they are done!

Why are my mini cheesecakes falling in?

Cheesecakes falling in is a funny thing, because sometimes it is actually desired! It is likely that your cheesecake is falling due to being cooked unevenly. However, a fallen cheesecake makes for a creamier, less dense texture. So if your cheesecake has sunk, don’t fret! If that’s not what you wanted, next time try to cook it a little longer.

Can you eat a sunken cheesecake?

Yes! You in fact can and should eat a sunken cheesecake! As mentioned in the above question “why are my mini cheesecakes falling in?” sometimes a sunken cheesecake is the goal. This gives the cheesecake a creamier texture and makes it less dense. Plus, our favorite part? The sunken middle leaves more room for the toppings! Just fill it right up with blueberry preserves for this recipe, or whipped cream for a regular cheesecake.

How do you get mini cheesecakes out of the tin?

If you are planning to use a muffin tin for mini cheesecake, make sure to use muffin liners. This will make removing the mini cheesecakes from the tin much easier. If you can’t grab the edges of the muffin liners, gently insert a knife down the side of the tin and carefully pry the cheesecake out – they should come out easily!

How long can mini cheesecakes sit out?

You should not let cheesecake sit out at room temperature for longer than two hours. While cheesecake does need to cool at room temperature after baking, it is important to put it in the fridge after 1 and a half hours to make sure it stays good. 

Can you replace sour cream with Greek yogurt in cheesecake?

Yes you can! And in fact, this mini cheesecake recipe actually calls for Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Since Greek yogurt has a very similar consistency as well as the distinct tang that comes from sour cream, it works as a great substitute. 

Next time you’re looking for a fun and unique dessert to share with friends and family, a special someone, or just yourself, give these mini lemon blueberry cheesecakes a try! They’re a perfect treat for spring holidays like Easter and Mother’s Day with the bright and zesty flavors of blueberry and lemon.

Let us know what other flavors of cheesecake you would like to see next in the comments below. And, don’t forget to rate and share!