Mini No-Bake Cheesecakes

Due to "Cattapalooza" this past weekend, my entries for this week are a little late. On the bright side, I baked a lot, so I’ve got two recipes to share!

First up are these mini no-bake cheesecakes. I looked at a lot of recipes online before I decided on this one. It’s basically Martha Stewart’s recipe with the amounts adjusted to fill mini muffin tins versus a springform pan.

The good news about this cheesecake recipe is that it tastes great and contains no eggs. That bad news is that, like many other no-bake recipes, it didn’t get really firm, so it really needs to stay refrigerated until you’re ready to serve it.

No-Bake Mini Cheesecakes

Ingredients for crust:
1 package (10 sheets) graham crackers
5 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon sugar

Ingredients for filling:
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put the graham crackers in a resealable plastic bag. Crush them with a rolling pin until the crumbs are very fine. (When I got near the end, I used a sifter to help me find the larger crumbs that needed some more smashing.)

Pour the crumbs into a bowl. Stir in the sugar and melted butter. Press the crumbs into mini muffin cups. I used the end of a shot glass to help me press the crumbs down.

Chill the crust in the freezer for at least 10 minutes.

To make the filling, beat the cream cheese at a medium-high speed until smooth. Slowly beat in the condensed milk, scraping the bowl as necessary. Then beat in the lemon juice and vanilla.

Scoop the filling into the muffin tins and refrigerate at least 2 ½ to 3 hours.

Yields: about 40 mini cheesecakes

A few extra hints:
*Instead of using spoons or a cookie scooper to get the filling into the mini muffin tins, I put the filling in a decorating bag and just squeezed it right in.
*In the picture, you’ll notice that some of the mini cheesecakes have a pink topping. I added a Cherry Cool Whip topping just before the party. It was simply the “Strawberry Mousse Filling” with the cherry cake and pastry filling instead of strawberry.