Mini Creme Brûlée Cheesecakes are the best of two dessert worlds. They have a homemade graham cracker crust, a vanilla cheesecake filling, and a crunchy burnt sugar topping.

How to make creamy cheesecake:

I think that cheesecake is best when it is extra creamy and there are a few steps that you can take to ensure you get the creamiest cheesecake possible.

• Beat at a low speed. Beating your cheesecake filling at a low speed will prevent air bubbles from forming. It takes a bit longer, but it is worth it in the end.
• Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature. If all of your ingredients are at room temperature they will combine a lot easier and it will prevent lumps from forming.
• Scrape down the bowl. I scrape down the bowl often while making the cheesecake filling. This ensures that everything is getting well combined.
• Don’t over-bake. A lot of times we think cheesecake isn’t done baking because it is still jiggly, but this is when we want to stop the baking process. If you let the cheesecakes cool in the oven and then in the fridge they will set up and be a perfect consistency.

Ingredients for Mini Creme Brûlée Cheesecakes:

Ingredients for homemade graham cracker crust:

• Graham Crackers. They need to be finely crushed. I always use a food processor to do this.
• Salt. Salt is a must in baked goods. It will help to balance out the sweetness and improve the overall flavor.
• Granulated Sugar. We’ll use a small amount of sugar to sweeten up the graham cracker pie crust.
• Unsalted Butter. I always make sure to use unsalted butter when baking because there is no “standard” for the amount of salt they can add to butter. So if you add salt to a recipe and then use salted butter you could end up with a very salty end product.

Ingredients for cheesecake filling:

• Cream Cheese. The cream cheese needs to be at room temperature to prevent lumps in your cheesecake.
• Granulated Sugar. This will add flavor and sweetness to the cheesecake bars.
• Eggs. It will be easier to incorporate the eggs into the batter if they are at room temperature.
• Heavy Cream. Heavy cream will help make the cheesecake extra creamy.
• Vanilla Extract. Vanilla is a must in baked goods just like salt. Real vanilla adds a better flavor than imitation vanilla.

Ingredients for creme brûlée topping:

• Granulated Sugar. We will use a kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar on top of each mini cheesecake.

How to make Mini Creme Brûlée Cheesecakes:

HOMEMADE GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST

STEP 1: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees (F). Line a 12 cavity cupcake tin with cupcake liners and set it aside.

STEP 2: In a medium bowl mix the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, salt, and sugar until well combined. The mixture should be the texture of wet sand.

STEP 3: Use the bottom of a clean cup to firmly press about 1-1 ½ tablespoons of the crumb mixture into each liner.

STEP 4: Bake the crusts for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool completely.

CHEESECAKE FILLING

STEP 1: Turn the oven down to 300 degrees (F).

STEP 2: In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar together on low speed until fully combined and smooth. Don’t overmix or you’ll add too much air into the mixture.

STEP 3: Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping down the sides of the bowl between each addition.

STEP 4: Add the heavy cream and vanilla. Mix until fully combined.

STEP 5: Fill each liner up almost to the top. The cheesecakes won’t rise much, so you can fill them up most of the way.

STEP 6: Bake the cheesecakes for 15 minutes. Turn the oven off and allow the cheesecakes to sit in the oven for 30 minutes. Crack the oven door open and allow to sit until cooled to room temperature.

STEP 7: Transfer cheesecakes to the fridge until ready to serve.

Creme Brûlée Topping

STEP 1: Remove the mini cheesecakes from the fridge and top each with 1 teaspoon of sugar.

STEP 2: Using a handheld torch melt the sugar until it turns a caramel color with some darker spots. Allow the cheesecake to sit for a few moments and the sugar will harden.

STEP 3: If you don't have a torch you can place the cheesecakes under the broiler until the sugar is melted.

Can I make mini cheesecakes ahead of time?

Absolutely! BUT I would freeze or refrigerate the Mini Creme Brûlée Cheesecakes before you add the sugar topping as the topping with get sticky and no longer be crunchy. You can remove the mini cheesecakes from the freezer about an hour before you are ready to serve and you can toast the tops when you are ready to serve.

More Mini Cheesecake Recipes

• Mini Cinnamon Roll Cheesecakes- These mini cheesecakes are topped with a cinnamon-sugar swirl.
• Mini Lemon Cheesecakes- Mini lemon cheesecakes swirled with lemon curd.
• S'mores Mini Cheesecakes- Chocolate cheesecakes topped with a toasted marshmallow.
• Mini Salted Caramel Cheesecakes- Mini cheesecakes topped with salted caramel.

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