Small Batch Mini Cheesecake

 August 2025

This is currently my favourite cheesecake recipe as it is a small portion serve (8-10 mini) which is perfect just for the two of us. Plus it is much easier than slicing up a pie. It would be easy to double the recipe.

I just had a thought, make a bunch of these and prepare various toppings for a brunch or dinner party.

 I had ordered a bunch of gluten-free graham crust pie. They got crushed so I am using them up.

I usually use blueberries as the topping and sometimes ice cream or whipping cream.

There are many other topping ideas.

55 Cheesecake Options

How about mango-lime? Chocolate, Oreo cookie, pumpkin...

Ingredients

For the Graham Cracker Crust - gluten free
⅔ cup Graham Cracker Crumbs
2 tablespoons Butter, melted. Salted or unsalted.
1 tablespoon White Granulated Sugar

Cheesecake Batter

1 8oz block full-fat Cream Cheese, room temperature
¼ cup White Granulated Sugar
¼ cup full-fat Sour Cream, room temperature
½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
1 egg, room temperature

Instructions

Make the Graham Cracker Crust - Preheat the oven 350F.  Line a muffin pan with paper liners - you'll use 8-10 of the cups. Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar in a medium bowl. The mixture will have the texture of wet sand that can be pressed together. Press the crust mixture into the muffin pan - you'll use about 1.5 tablespoons of crust per muffin cup. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 5 minutes.

Make the Cheesecake Filling - Beat the cream cheese and granulated sugar with a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle or whisk attachment. Mix until smooth and creamy then add the sour cream, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. Beat again until combined and smooth. Finally add the egg and mix until just combined. The batter will be smooth, creamy, and thick. Divide the batter among the pre-bake crusts. You'll use about 3-4 tablespoons of batter per cup.

Bake the Mini Cheesecakes - Bake the mini cheesecakes in the preheated oven until the centers are just set. You can give the pan a jiggle to test. It should take 19 to 21 minutes.

Cool and Serve - Allow the cheesecakes to cool in the pan to room temperature for about 30 minutes then chill in the fridge for an hour or two until fully chilled and set. Top the chilled cheesecakes with fresh berries and serve.

Store leftover mini cheesecakes, covered, in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1 Mini Cheesecake Calories: 190 Sugar: 9.9 g Sodium: 119 mg Fat: 14.8 g  Carbohydrates: 12.1 g Fiber: 0.2 g Protein: 2.9 g Cholesterol: 63.8 mg

My Recipe Box - Blueberry Crisp

 My recipe is straight from my old Betty Crocker cookbook. It works with any other fruits as well.

My Recipe Box - Granita

 

Why have I never made granita before? It is so easy and quick, plus a great way to use up fruit that may not get used?

Sicilian-born granitas fall smack between sorbet and shaved ice. Ingredient-wise, they contain not much more than fruit, sugar, and water — though they can certainly be made with cocoa, coffee, or nuts instead of fruit. Unlike sorbet, granitas are not churned in an ice cream maker, so they're not as dense and don't hold a scooped shape. Rather, they're scraped for a lighter, flakier texture; in Sicily, the coarseness of the ice varies by region. 

So easy, there isn't really a recipe!

Before you get started, clear a space in your freezer for your baking dish to sit flat and level. Your dish needs to have at least a 2-quart capacity, because the granita will double in volume as it freezes and as you fluff up the ice crystals.

Liquids

Water and sugar
Juice and sugar

Cream

Alcohol

Honey

Maple syrup

Flavours

Pineapple - canned ginger and lime
Frozen fruit

Basil and gin 

Coffee and Bailey's or Kahlua

Strawberries and cream

Raspberries and beets

Apples and cinnamon

Use a fork to scrape the ice crystals that are forming around the edge of the mixture back into the center of the dish. Return the dish to the freezer and continue to scrape and stir it with a fork every 1 1/2 hours for the next 8-10 hours. As it freezes and you continue to break up the ice crystals with a fork, the granita will go from liquidy to slushy to light, fluffy and sparkly.

Once the granita is fluffy, you can spoon it into chilled glasses and serve it right away, or leave it in the freezer to serve the next day.

And the ideas!!!

Once the coffee is cold, combine the coffee and cream in your dish. Cover with the lid and freeze for 1 hour.

IDEAS

LIMONCELLO GRANITA

Made August 2025 - delicious!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Lemon Simple Syrup, recipe follows

1 cup (8 ounces) mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup limoncello liqueur
Pinch fine sea salt

Lemon Simple Syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cups water
1 lemon, zested and juiced

Directions

Place the simple syrup, mascarpone cheese, limoncello, and salt in a food processor. Process until the mixture is smooth. Pour the mixture into an 8-by-8-inch glass baking dish. Freeze for at least 4 hours or until the mixture is firm.

Using the tines of a fork, scrape the mixture into small serving bowls or glasses. Serve immediately.

Lemon Simple Syrup

Yield: 1 3/4 cups

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, water, lemon zest, and lemon juice over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the syrup to cool, about 20 minutes.

 You can substitute mascarpone with a combination of cream cheese and heavy cream. Alternatively, Greek yogurt(1:1) or a smooth, high-fat cottage cheese can also be used. The goal is to achieve a creamy, smooth texture similar to mascarpone, while potentially adjusting sweetness due to the different flavours.

COFFEE AND KAHLUA GRANITA
Ingredients
 
4 cups (32 oz) double strength brewed coffee, either regular or decaf
¼ – ¾ cup granulated sugar (use 1/4 cup if you like your coffee barely sweetened, and up to 3/4 cup if you prefer sweet coffee)
2 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup heavy whipping cream (or your favorite non-dairy cream)

Instructions
 
Brew the coffee (or use prepared cold-brew coffee). I like to make my own, though, so I can make it double strength. Stir in the sugar and vanilla, then refrigerate the coffee until well chilled.
Once the coffee is cold, combine the coffee and cream in your dish. Cover with the lid and freeze for 1 hour.
Use a fork to scrape the ice crystals that are forming around the edge of the coffee mixture back into the center of the dish. Return the dish to the freezer and continue to scrape and stir it with a fork every 1 1/2 hours for the next 8-10 hours. As it freezes and you continue to break up the ice crystals with a fork, the granita will go from liquidy to slushy to light, fluffy and sparkly.
Once the granita is fluffy, you can spoon it into chilled glasses and serve it right away, or leave it in the freezer to serve the next day. You can also stop when the granita is slushy, pour it into tall glasses and serve with straws, to drink like a frappuccino or iced coffee.

STRAWBERRY MARGARITA GRANITA

Made August 2025

Ingredients

▢1 lb strawberries stems removed

▢1 cup water

▢¾ cup sugar

▢4 oz silver tequila

▢1.5 oz triple sec

▢3 oz lime juice (fresh squeezed is best but not required)

Instructions

In a large blender, pulse your strawberries until they are pureed. Set aside (you will need the blender again)

1 lb strawberries

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, dissolve the sugar into the water, stirring constantly.

¾ cup sugar,1 cup water

Remove from heat and add the tequila, triple sec, and lime juice.

4 oz silver tequila,1.5 oz triple sec,3 oz lime juice

Pour your tequila mix into your strawberries in the blender, and pulse until well-combined.

Pour the mixture into a 13x9 glass dish, cover, and freeze for 1 hour.

Remove at the 1 hour mark and use a fork to stir up the slushied contents of the granita.

Return to freezer and freeze at least 2 more hours, stirring/scraping again with a fork every 30 minutes.

Use a fork to break up the granita again before serving.

*If desired, run a lime around the rim of a glass and dip in sugar (I used turbinado sugar) before serving.

LEMONY RASPBERRY GRANITA

Ingredients includes HALF PORTION

1 Cup water OR 1/2

2/3 Cup sugar OR 6 tbsp

1/3 Cup lemon juice 

2 Packages Driscoll's Raspberries (6 ounces each) OR 6 oz

 Directions

Bring water, sugar and lemon juice to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat and let cool completely.

Place raspberries and cooled lemon syrup in a blender and puree. Strain raspberry mixture through fine-mesh sieve to remove seeds. Discard seeds.

Pour strained mixture into 13 x 9-inch glass or metal baking pan. Place in freezer and chill about 1 hour or until edges begin to freeze. Using a fork, scrape mixture towards center of pan. Repeat every 30 minutes until mixture is frozen and flaky, about 1 1/2 hours longer. Cover and keep frozen until ready to serve. Granita can be made up to 2 days ahead.

My Recipe Box - Crème Brûlée

July 2025 - Toronto ON

Photo Barcelona Spain 

We both love crème brûlée ! We order it anytime it is on a menu.

I used this recipe the first time and only time (why???) in February 2024.  Solved that, also made it July 11.

Perfect for two servings. 

Loved the addition of lemon.

I liked that it didn't heat the cream first. 

It only used egg yolks.

It said use glass dish and very hot water.

Lemon Crème Brûlée

Two ramekins of creme brulee.

Prep Time - 5 minutes Cook Time - 40 minutes Total Time - 45 minutes

Ingredients

3 large egg yolks
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar, plus 2 teaspoons
zest from 1 small lemon

Instructions

In a glass bowl, whisk together egg yolks, cream, 1/4 cup sugar and lemon zest.

Pour into the ramekins. Place the ramekins in a 8 or 9" square glass baking dish. Make a water bath for them to cook in by pouring 2 cups of very hot water into the dish, or enough to come up about 1/2" on the sides of the ramekins.

Bake at 300° for 40-50 minutes. The custards are done when only the middle is slightly jiggly.

Cool the custards in the water bath, then cover them with plastic wrap before moving them to the fridge for at least 8 hours.

When ready to caramelize the sugar with a kitchen torch, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of sugar over each custard. Melt the sugar with the torch until it is browned and hard. Serve immediately.

Don't have a torch?? No worries!

When ready to serve, remove the creme brulee from the refrigerator, discard the plastic wrap, and place on the center of a sheet pan. Let thaw slightly while you preheat the oven.

Position a rack as close to the broiler as possible (preferably, on the top rack of your oven, at least 4 to 6 inches away from the broiler) and preheat on high for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle the sugar evenly on top of the creme brulee. Broil for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the sugar melts completely and most of it caramelizes, rotating the pan occasionally to even the browning. Cool on a wire rack for 1 minute to allow the sugar to harden, then serve immediately.

My Recipe Box - Lemon Curd

Absolutely outstanding!

Lemon Curd

Prep 10 m Cook 10 m  Ready In 4 h 20 m



Ingredients

3 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoons lemon zest

Directions

Whisk eggs, sugar, and lemon juice in a double boiler over simmering water until mixed well, then continue to stir until thick, 7 to 10 minutes.
Drain through a mesh sieve to get rid of lumps. Fold in butter until well incorporated. Mix in lemon zest. Cover curd and chill in the refrigerator until it has thickened, about 4 hours.

Friday Finds

1. Starts with Z
2. Week's Favorite
3. DESSERT

The first two will be the same, except we’ll work our way through the alphabet. The second can be a favorite image or activity from the week. The third will be different each time.
Friday Finds ABC Wednesday A-Z Guidebook

Letter Z  For this alphabet I attempted to find cities/towns we've visited. I excluded Canada and the US from this round.

There is a running list at the bottom of the Friday post.

Finally we have reached the most dreaded letter! I have spent more time than I should have looking for this letter!!!

The only place I could find that we had been in was Zapopan, and it is stretching it, as it was the town we stopped at before reaching Guadalajara Mexico in 2016.
As evidence I have the schedule posted as we waited for the bus. Now if John had only moved his head an inch we could see three Z place names.

Or we have this sign I snapped on the drive from Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta also in 2016.

Or this sign in Bucerias Mexico 2016.

Week's Faourite - at my cousin's wedding shower, making a wedding dress out of toilet paper.

DESSERT we visited Castle Kilbride on the weekend and serendipitously this plate was on a table.

 

ALPHABET AROUND THE WORLD

1. Alice Springs, Australia
2. Bratislava, Slovakia
3. Cartagena Columbia
4. Delft The Netherlands
5. Edinburgh Scotland
6. Florence Italy
7. Giverny France
8. Hong Kong China
9. Istanbul Turkey
10. Jamaica
11. Kalambaka Greece
12. Lagos Portugal
13. Melbourne Australia
14. Normandy France
15. Old Head Kinsale Ireland
16. Prague Czech Republic
17. Queenstown New Zealand
18. Rudesheim Germany
19. Singapore
20. Tlaquepaque Mexico
21. Ulrich Russia
22. Vienna Austria
23. Windsor England
24. Yulara Australia

My Recipe Box - Sticky Date Pudding

I have become addicted to Gusto TV and found this recipe by Annabel Langbien.

The cake turned out beautifully but the toffee sauce did not work out. It never thickened. My guess is the type of cream I bought, 10% instead of 35%.

Prep time:15 mins

Cook time:35-40 mins

Serves:8

1 cup pitted dates
1¼ cups water
1 tsp baking soda
60g butter, chopped
1 packed cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1½ cups self-raising flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground ginger
2 pears, cored and cut into thin slices

To serve:

Wicked Toffee Sauce


Preheat oven to 180˚C. Grease the sides of a 25cm cake tin and line the base with baking paper.

Place dates, water and baking soda in a pot large enough to hold the entire mixture and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and mash with a potato masher to break up the dates.

Stir in chopped butter and mix until butter is melted. Mix in sugar and eggs then fold in flour, vanilla and ginger.

Arrange pear slices in a concentric circle around the base of the tin, placing a few slices in the centre. Pour batter over the top and smooth evenly to fully cover the pears.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Stand for at least 10 minutes before turning upside down onto a serving platter and removing the baking paper. Serve with warm Wicked Toffee Sauce.

This dessert keeps well for a day or two and can be frozen. Thaw and serve warm – heat it in the oven for 10 minutes or microwave it for 2-3 minutes.

Wicked Toffee Sauce

Place ½ cup water in a saucepan. Add 2 cups caster sugar and place over a medium heat until the sugar dissolves and comes to the boil, swirling the pot now and then. Boil without stirring until mixture turns a golden caramel colour – approximately 8-10 minutes. (Do not be tempted to stir the mixture as this could cause it to crystallise. To prevent it from crystallising, you can run a wet brush around the sides of the pot, allowing the excess water to run into the sugar mixture.) Remove from heat, add 2 cups cream and 2 tsp vanilla extract and stir until smooth. Leftover sauce can be stored in the fridge and reheated. Makes 3 cups.

Recipes To Try

Photo from our recent trip to NYC

From this week's blog hopping I discovered the following recipes:

Truly tender spaghetti and meatballs I have many recipes for meatballs but still like to check out others.

Amazing stuffed chicken breasts these look so good!!

Chicken tikka masala Yum Indian and we have some naan bread in the freezer.

Honey ginger balsamic glazed beets

A quick fall meal from CBC.
Turkey meatball soup
Spinach radicchio and radish salad
Green onion quick bread
Quick ravioli bake

Caramel apple cupcakes

This looks like a fantastic old-fashioned carrot cake. I have one I've used for years but this sounds much better!!

Friday Favorite Finds - Recipes To Try

Please link up to a post containing your list of recipes to try -- do not link up individual recipes please, save those for other linkys.  Be sure to leave a link back here to Finding Joy in my Kitchen.

Photo and recipe from a blogger friend, Katy. Oatmeal Scotchies in a pan.

Red velvet cream cheesecake from Fake Ginger. Photo source.

Creamy chicken and spinach pasta - recipe and photo from CBC's TV show Best Recipes.

Beef Pho - recipe and photo from CBC's TV show Best Recipes.

 White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies - from Hot Polka Dot



Cookies and cream cheesecake shooters Poor Girl Eats Well.


Cabbage and sausage stew from Miz Helen's Country Kitchen.

My Recipe Box - Sour Cream Maple Banana Cake

Recipe Source

Prep Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
Serves: approx. 8

Ingredients: 

• 100g butter + extra for form, softened
• 10 tablespoons maple syrup
• 4 ripe bananas
• 200g muscovado sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 vanilla pods, seeds scrapped
• 200g all-purpose flour gluten free
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 100g almonds, ground
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 200g sour cream

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees C and butter a square (20cm x 20cm) form and line the base with baking paper.


2. Pour 5 tablespoons maple syrup and swirl the form to coat the bottom. Cut 3 bananas in half lengthways and lay them, cut-side down, in the form.


3. In a mixing bowl beat together the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla seeds, and the last banana with an electric whisk. Fold in the flour, baking powder, ground almonds and bicarbonate soda with a spatula, then stir in the sour cream.


4. Carefully spoon into the form without displacing the bananas. Bake for approx. 45 – 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.


5. Take cake out and poke the top all over with a skewer, about halfway into the cake. Pour the remaining maple syrup over the top and allow to soak for a few minutes.


6. Carefully turn out of the form upside-down, drizzling the banana-studded top with more syrup. Slice cake and serve warm.

My Recipe Box - Crema di Latte

I took a cooking class at the LCBO (their website has amazing recipes). This recipe was the dessert and I have made it often in the summer when berries are in season.

My Recipe Box - Dirt Pie

This is always a hit with little kids.

Recipes To Try

Photo taken in Istanbul

Easy baked buffalo wings I love anything that doesn't need frying.

Shrimp appetizers little bites

Cheddar cheese beer soup with pumpernickel croutons

Buffalo chicken meatballs

Almond pear French toast casserole looks delicious.

Cheesy beer bread does that not look delicious?

Cranberry orange pecan butter would be so good on scones!

Apple butter stuffed buttermilk biscuits

Caesar salad dressing

Grilled chicken breasts with herbed butter, almonds and Gruyere

Recipes To Try

Photo taken on Mackinac Island (with typo)

Some random recipes I found wandering around everyone's blogs.

Pumpkin cranberry granola bars

Pumpkin bread with cream cheese filling

Cinnamon apple coffee cake

Cranberry pork skewers look like a fabulous appetizer.

Chicken livers

Cajun chicken made with vegetable juice

Recipes - Hummingbird Cake

I was in Atlanta on business a couple of years ago and tried this cake in a restaurant. It was the best. Since then I've made it several times using this recipe.

Hummingbird Cake


Cake

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, undrained
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 2 cups chopped bananas
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 (16 ounce) package powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine first five ingredients in a large bowl; add eggs, and oil, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened.

(Do not beat) Stir in vanilla, pineapple, 1 cup pecans, and bananas.

Pour batter into 3 greased and floured 9" round cakepans.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

Spread Cream Cheese Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake; sprinkle 1/2 cup chopped pecans on top.

Store in refrigerator.

Some New Recipes To Try

Kadhi Pakora Fritters I love Indian food.


Brenda over at Brenda's Canadian Kitchen "Lime in the Coconut" cheesecake bars, these look soooo good!


This Chinese Sizzling Steak from Katy's blog looks really good too!

Hot and Sour chicken noodles

Recipes to Try - Red Velvet Cake Truffles

This is definitely going to be made if I can find Duncan Hines Red Velvet Cake mix!!!

Sunday Baking

Finally! A whole day to myself to play!

Had too many bananas in the freezer so went looking for a really easy banana bread and this couldn't have been easier. I doubled it and it worked out perfectly. You don't even have to use a mixer on it.
I forgot to get a picture until I had cut it and frozen most of it. This half is for the next day or so.

But my main GOAL today was pumpkin cheesecake bars.  These were super easy to make, the only thing I didn't do quite right was to keep only 1/3 of the plain cream cheese batter, resulting in less than a colourful top. I had too much white to mix through the pumpkin layer.

Recipes - Chocolate Cheesecake with Sour Cream Icing

I was reading some blogs yesterday and came across this recipes for Chocolate Cheesecake. I quickly checked that I had all the ingredients on hand (everything is closed as it is Labour Day).

I keep my cocoa in the Bailey's jar.

I hopped up and began making it. Using my handy iPad to follow the recipe which is now all set up on the island and even has 233 songs so far loaded on it as of yesterday!

As the site states this is the easiest cheesecake ever to make. I would suggest using a slightly larger pie plate as this ended up being almost filled to overflowing, plus the crust could have been spread a little thinner.
I also never quite use all the sugar they recommend.

Ready for the oven.

Out of the oven and iced - now to set in the fridge

Oh my! Can you spell delicious??? Even before we started dinner DH said can we just skip to dessert?/

Recipes To Try - Desserts

Newest additions at top.

Apple Cranberry Chrisp

Mini molten chocolate cakes

Apple and Sultana Cake
Southern Comfort Caramel Apple Pie

Maple Syrup and Walnut Cake

Another Guinness cake but with peanut butter icing

Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies

Leom Buttermilk Pound Cake served with Raspberry Coulis which I had just been wondering how to make.

chocolate-cheesecake-brownies

Guinness Cake
Oreo cookies and cream cheesecake bars

Key lime bars

Goat cheese cheesecake passion fruit curd



Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread UPDATE I made this on April 18 - it was  very good. I reduced the amount of sugar and still found I could have reduced more. Also I didn't have 2 9X5 pans so I used 2 8 inch square pans so when I cut them in half I ended up with 4 loaves. I also didn't half my recipe accurately enough so ran out of the cake batter when adding on top of the cheese layer, so I just swirled it about like a marble cake and it worked out fine.

Guinness beer cupcakes


Raspberry cream cheese breakfast buns  UPDATE Made these on Feb 28 - good but not overly exciting.

Black and white cream pie

Orange walnut cake with greek yogurt

Katie's cheesecake brownies

Molten chocolate cake

Heart shaped cinnamon rolls

Mini triffles

Spiced pumpkin and carrot cake with ornage cream cheese frosting

Lemon blueberry bread Made this earlier this year. Is a keeper and it freezes very well.

Banana blueberry bread Also a keeper and freezes well.

Black forest chocolate cookies

Apple pudding with hot whiskey sauce

Cranberry Cheesecake






The Barefoot Contessa’s Big Honking Raisin Pecan Oatmeal Cookies over at Ezra Pound Cake.

Marble Cake

Head over to Noble Pig and and check out Cathy's cherry tassies.

Cherry Cream Danish - looks quick and easy using puff pastry.