Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes
These Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes are a decadent dessert with an Oreo crust and topped with a ganache and strawberry. Cheesecake does not have to be intimidating! These cheesecakes could not be any easier.
MINI CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKES
Nothing says Valentine’s Day like chocolate. My husband and I are usually good about celebrating Valentine’s Day with a day date or celebrating another day of the week. I’m not about fighting the crowds to go out on the actual day.
I remember when we waited tables at Outback the restaurant would have up to a 3 1/2 hour wait for a table. Who actually waits that long? Not me.
I’ll be totally honest that Valentine’s Day completely crept up on us this year and as of now we have absolutely nothing planned. Which is fine. Low key this year is fine by me.
For some reason an entire chocolate cheesecake is completely intimidating but mini chocolate cheesecakes are totally doable. I made these a couple of times to get the crust and the consistency just right.
The secret to moist cheesecake in my opinion is a little sour cream in the batter. It gives it a light and fluffy texture. I tried the crust with chocolate wafers, with just a whole Oreo as the crust, but the winner was a mixture of crushed Oreos and butter.
HOW TO MAKE A CHEESECAKE SUCCESSFULLY
- Don’t overmix the batter. When you overmix the batter it creates air pockets in the batter so that when you bake it will rise and then fall having cracks or a sunken middle.
- Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature. In order for the ingredients to blend together it helps if the ingredients like the cream cheese and eggs are at room temperature.
CAN YOU FREEZE CHEESECAKE?
I am not usually a fan of freezing anything, but cheesecake is the one exception. Cheesecake freezes beautifully. Wrap these in saran wrap and then in a ziploc bag and freeze for up to two months.
CAN I USE CHOCOLATE CHIPS INSTEAD OF A CHOCOLATE BAR?
I do not recommend using chocolate chips for this recipe. The chocolate baking bars melt so much better and result in a creamier cheesecake.
VARIATIONS FOR THIS CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE
These Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes can be customized in SO many ways. The possibilities are endless.
- Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake: Fold in chopped peanut butter cups into the batter or add some on top of the chocolate ganache.
- Mint Chocolate Cheesecake: Add some chopped Andes mints to the ganache for a minty version.
- Peanut Butter Cheesecake: Add 2 teaspoons of peanut butter to the chocolate ganache.
- Oreo Cheesecake: We already have an Oreo crust. Fold some chopped Oreos into the batter.
- Strawberry Cheesecake: The version pictured has a strawberry on top of the ganache which makes it taste like a chocolate dipped strawberry! So good.
OTHER CHEESECAKE RECIPES
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake
- Caramel Apple Cheesecake
- Sopapilla Cheesecake
- Carrot Cake Cheesecake
- Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes
- Turtle Cheesecake
- Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake
Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes
Ingredients
- 20 Oreo cookies
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, I like Baker's chocolate bars
- 2 8 ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- Chocolate Ganache:
- 2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, like Baker's chocolate bars
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- optional halved strawberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners.
- In a food processor, pulse the Oreos into fine crumbs and mix together crumbs and melted butter. Press a heaping tablespoon of crumbs into the bottom of each muffin tin. You can easily do this with the bottom of the tablespoon or measuring cup.
- Break 6 ounces of the chocolate into pieces and place in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second intervals until melted.
- In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, melted chocolate, and sugar until fluffy. Mix in the sour cream and vanilla. Mix in the eggs one at a time at a low speed until combined. Do not overmix.
- Using a cupcake scoop (or spoon), scoop into all the paper lined cupcake tins.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until tops are not glossy. Cool completely and chill in the fridge.
- For the ganache, melt the 2 ounces of chocolate and cream in a microwave safe bowl stirring together until smooth. Place a dollop on top of each cheesecake. Top with half a strawberry if desired or other topping. Chill until ganache is firm and keep cheesecakes chilled until serving.
These sunk in while they were cooling and I was very disappointed given that they tasted great. I am confused on why that happened because I barely mixed the batter even though it still had a few lumps.Â
Sounds like you may need to bake them longer.
I had a ton of cheesecake filling left over (I even filled the muffin tins to the brim). Wonder if this was meant for 24 servings?Â
Muffin tins vary in size so that could be why.
Is it possible to substitute cocoa powder instead of using the chocolate bar?
Thanks!
I haven’t tried it but I’m sure you could.
Are these ok to bake without a water bath?
Yep! Not necessary in my opinon.
Do you know the baking time if I used a mini muffin tin?
I don’t. Usually it’s around 10 minutes depending on the pan.
These were so decadent and delicious. We loved them, me especially! I ate 2 at a time because they were just too good. Thank you for the recipe and tips!
Yay!!!
Is this the standard Muffin tin or the mini ones?
This is a standard muffin tin.