Mini Cheesecake Cookies
These easy mini cheesecake cookies have been a holiday staple in my family forever! Nilla wafers are topped with cheesecake batter and cherry pie filling. A perfect bite-size treat!
It’s Christmas cookie time!
I carved out just enough time after getting the boys to bed on Friday night to whip up one of my all-time favorite Christmas recipes – these easy mini cheesecakes! I am such a sucker for cheesecake, so it’s no surprise that this recipe – one of my mom’s oldest and most popular – had always been one of my favorites as a kid. I guess my cheesecake infatuation started from a young age!
Just picture little 8-year-old me going bananas over these little cheesecakes. I was insane about them then, and still am now. These little cheesecake bites were one of three cookies I looked for on every cookie tray (along with buckeyes and peanut butter blossoms), and I always, always ate precisely one more than I really should have (oops!).
These are one of the easiest cookies to throw together, which makes them perfect for someone who needs to squeeze in baking around naps and bedtimes.
All you need to do is grab your mini muffin pans, line them with some paper cups, drop a Nilla wafer in the bottom of each one, then mix together the cheesecake batter (which takes less than 2 minutes), fill the cups, and pop them in the oven!
(Then clean up and get to the couch in enough time to do a little Netflix binging before bed!)
Save This Recipe
Enter your email address, and we'll send it straight to your inbox!
Once the mini cheesecakes are cooled and chilled for a bit, pop open your favorite can of cherry pie filling (or grab a jar of homemade from your stash), and top each little cheesecake with a dollop of the pie filling.
Then take a bite… And another bite… And then another. Speaking from experience, obviously.
For a cheesecake lover like myself, these little cheesecake bites are the next best thing to a slice of regular ol’ cheesecake.
In my world, no holiday cookie tray is complete without a decent representation of these mini cheesecake cookies (but don’t leave those trays unattended, because I will eat them alllllll).
Q: What do you get most excited to see on a Christmas cookie tray?
Three years ago: Peanut Butter Swirl Chocolate Bark
Four years ago: Homemade Torrone
Mini Cheesecake Cookies
Ingredients
- 40 vanilla wafers
- 16 ounce (453.59 g) package cream cheese, at room temperature
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Cherry pie filling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line two miniature muffin pans with paper liners (you will only need 40, so leave 8 cups empty). Place one Nilla wafer in the bottom of each mini muffin well. Set aside.
- Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat together the cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix in the vanilla extract.
- Divide the batter evenly among each cup. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the edges and top appear set.
- Cool the cheesecakes completely in the pan, then transfer to an airtight container and chill for at least 2 hours. Top with a small amount of cherry pie filling. Refrigerate until ready to serve. The mini cheesecakes should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
This recipe was originally published on December 22, 2010.
These are just adorable. I don’t bake Christmas cookies, per se. I just make what I feel like making. This time it was a new chocolate chip cookie recipe, from Jessica Seinfeld’s new book. I also made a batch that I added Andes Candies Bits to. Yum. I normally make candy and caramel corn at this time of the year. I made 2 kinds of bark, 2 batches of caramel corn, some applesauce muffins, the cookies and a batch of brownies.
Cuteness! teeny leetle cheesecakes!
they are adorable and tasty!!! :D
like a couple of others said, this is an awesome “quick fix” for holiday cheesecake cravings! Theresa
My mom makes cookies like that at Christmas time but doesn’t add the fruit on top. Yours look super pretty and tasty!
For me nothing says Christmas like a plate of peanut clusters. My mother’s favorite, so she made SCADS of them every year for friends, family, and neighbors. In fact I found a plate of them in my car yesterday and new Mom had been there!
Merry Christmas everyone!
Amanda
oh those are absolutely darling! they look delish!
these look really yummy! so easy too
Ohh these are so pretty. Love them. My favorite are lussekatter “safron bread” and swedish pepparkakor “ginger snaps.” When it comes to Christmas i go back to my Swedish traditions, that is the only thing i will not ever give up.
These look fantastic! The perfect bite. The possibilities for fillings are endless- caramel, chocolate, strawberries. Perfection!
I used to make these for the holidays, years ago when I was a ‘stay at home’ mom!! They are always a hit!! I would top them with a variety of things…cherry pie filling, blueberry pie filling, whipped cream, strawberry slices….they look beautiful and decadent!!! YUM!!!
How do you think these would fare in the freezer? I am a lifelong cheesecake lover, but I never make it because, well, I don’t want to even attempt to eat a whole cheesecake before it goes bad. But little mini cheesecakes tucked away in the freezer would be so perfect.
These are perfect for the freezer! Just save the topping for when you’re ready to eat them!
These were always the go to dessert at my house too. I haven’t seen the recipe posted until now but these are super easy and delish. You can also top with peaches and blueberries and they are just as yummy as the cherry ones. :)
You just put the biggest smile on my face! My grandmother always used to make these. She would use cherry, blueberry, apple, and pineapple fillings so we’d have an assortment. My fave was always the apple. She will be 92 in January and hasn’t made these in forever. Thanks for the recipe…now I can make my own!!!!
I love mini cheesecakes!!
These are so cute! I love mini treats!
Pefect little cheesecake bites for the holidays. My family would go crazy for these! Now I have to go back to the store for some cherry pie filling as these are going out on our Christmas eve platters.
These are so pretty, perfect for the holidays!
Too funny!! I’m making these today ,it must be a Pittsburgh thing! I’ve been making these since the early 80’s , my husband loves them, one of his top 3 ,along with mini ladylocks and black bottom cupcakes! Hope you have a Very Merry Christmas!!!!
I’m not a big fan of cherry flavors, so a quick swap with strawberry will make these amazing for me!
For me, it’s buddy bars. A chocolate chip bar cookie with peanut butter and then more chocolate on top. How could you go wrong?
Great looking treat!!! will have to try, love the easy, peasy part!!!
Adorable! Little cheesecake cookies are excellent for the holidays.
This was the first year I did a tray of cookies for both work and family. I made two kinds of rum balls, lemon rosemary thumbprint cookies with strawberry preserves, pfeffernussen, coconut macaroons (plain and dipped in dark chocolate), and your fabulous salted double chocolate peanut butter cookies. I may even make more for the weekend..
Michelle – Have you seen these?
http://www.lottieanddoof.com/2010/12/not-nutter-butters/
David Lebovitz posted them on facebook, and they look amazing. I’m going to give them a go once I get to my in-laws’ this weekend!
i used to do this with an oreo in place of a nilla wafer, so easy and delicious
They seem easy to cook, and also very delicious, so I’ll save the recipe to try it :)
Thanks!
going to need heavy duty exercise of the treadmill kind after i finish baking all your great recipes…this holiday season its all about BEB for me!!
pecan tassies (super yum), coffee + espresso cheesecake (a staple in my repertoire= fab!), cranberry & pistachio bark, toffee pretzel bark (yippee for both), & cowboy cookies…up next your buckeyes!
i love all cookies with chocolate!
feel like picking one
So cute! Talk about a quick and easy way to get cheesecake. I’m in!
My favorite cookies to put on a tray are peanut butter blossoms. Their proper place is not in a jar, as the Hershey’s Kiss will get smooshed; their glory is to be displayed for all the world to see!
Sounds like just what I’m looking for…quick and easy. I just had surgery and this is ideal for me. Thanks Michelle! Thanks also for posting the info about the Kitchenaid 6qt mixer. Merry Christmas to me ; )