Lemon White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes

These Lemon White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes have a creamy lightness & bright lemon tang for a fun & special dessert. Gluten-free option! These Lemon White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes have a creamy lightness & bright lemon tang for a fun & special dessert. Gluten-free option!

This post is sponsored in conjunction with #SpringSweetsWeek. I received product samples from sponsor companies to help in the creation of the #SpringSweetsWeek recipes. All opinions are mine alone.   

I love mini-desserts! With servings that are (more or less) bite-sized, you can eat more variety! Plus, they are totally cute!  

And with spring celebrations coming up, these Lemon White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes are perfect for holiday brunches like Easter or Mother’s Day.  Or garden parties or a light dessert anytime. Yes, we all hope entertaining will return as more Covid vaccinations roll out!  These Lemon White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes have a creamy lightness & bright lemon tang for a fun & special dessert. Gluten-free option!

But did you know that, even with a small gathering, you can still splurge on desserts? Last Thanksgiving, I wanted all the pie even with my family broken into separate gatherings. In the end, I made a half dozen pies, cut them into slices and left variety boxes at my brother and sister’s houses! Hmm, I may do this with mini-desserts at Easter! Nairn Oat Grahams

These Lemon White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes are based on my Mocha Mini Cheesecakes and are especially nice because you can easily make them gluten free. I just used Nairn’s gluten free graham crackers (lower sugar too!) which deliver all of the flavor of regular. And with so many people having dietary restrictions today, I may just keep these around the house! These Lemon White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes have a creamy lightness & bright lemon tang for a fun & special dessert. Gluten-free option!

How To Make Lemon White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes

Despite their elegant appearance these Lemon White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes are easy to make. 

You start by crushing your graham crackers, then mixing with the other crust ingredients.  Spray cheesecake pan wells with non-stick spray, place a spoonful of crust mixture in each and press in tightly.  Bake. 

make crust

Mix the filling ingredients.

make cheesecake filling

Chop, then melt white chocolate and stir this in.

Chop white chocolate

Fill the pan wells almost to the top. 

Fill cheesecake pan

Bake.  Cheesecakes will rise, then fall.

Bake cheesecake

Cool completely in refrigerator, then remove from pan

Remove cheesecakes from pan

Top with lemon curd & whipped cream

Top cheesecakes with lemon curd

Serve and enjoy!

These Lemon White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes have a creamy lightness & bright lemon tang for a fun & special dessert. Gluten-free option!

Notes and Tips

AS AN AMAZON ASSOCIATE AND MEMBER OF OTHER AFFILIATE PROGRAMS, I EARN FROM QUALIFYING PURCHASES AT NO EXTRA COST TO YOU–SO THANKS!

The white chocolate flavor in these is subtle so if you are serving white chocolate avoiders, they will probably still like this. But in addition to adding a little creamy nuance to the flavor, the white chocolate adds a little structure to help the mini-cheesecakes stand up well on their own.

I use a special mini-cheesecake pan with removable push-up bottoms (affiliate link), which I think makes for a lovely presentation. But if you don’t want to indulge (or want to see how much you’d use it first), a mini-muffin pan with liners should work as well (mini muffin pan may make more than 12.)

Mini-cheesecake pan with cheesecakes

When you are making the filling, It is important not to whip too much air in to avoid a sunken well in the finished cheesecakes (because they over-puff, then fall). So don’t use the whisk attachment on your mixture or blend too long.These Lemon White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes have a creamy lightness & bright lemon tang for a fun & special dessert. Gluten-free option!

Lemon White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes

These Lemon White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes have a creamy lightness & bright lemon tang for a fun special dessert. Gluten-free option!
Author: Inger
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 20 mins
Cook Time 35 mins
Additional Time 4 hrs
Total Time 4 hrs 55 mins
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12
Calories 269 kcal

Ingredients
  

Crust:

  • 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
  • 2 Tablespoons butter
  • 1 Tablespoon sugar

Filling:

  • 3 ounces white chocolate finely chopped
  • 16 ounces cream cheese
  • 4 Tablespoons sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 lemon Juice & zest

Topping:

  • 3 Tablespoons Lemon curd or a bit more, prepared or homemade
  • 3 Tablespoons Whipped cream or a bit more
  • 3 thin lemon slices cut into quarters

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350*F. Spray the inside of each cheesecake well with non-stick cooking spray. (Or line a mini-muffin pan with paper liners.)
  • To prepare the crust, melt the butter, then crush the graham crackers in food processor or plastic bag. Combine graham crumbs with melted butter and mix well. Add about 1 tablespoon of the crust mixture into each of the 12 mini cheesecake wells. Pack down the crumbs using a shot glass or similar item. Bake crust for 10 minutes in preheated oven.
  • Reduce the oven temperature to 250 F and begin making the filling. Using an electric mixer with beater, not whisk blade, blend cream cheese until very smooth. Add sugar and continue to blend until fully incorporated. Add egg and vanilla, and continue to beat on low, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
  • Melt finely chopped white chocolate in microwave in 10 second bursts, stirring in between. Blend into cheese mixture by hand. Fold in lemon juice and zest by hand.
  • Fill each well of the cheesecake pan until almost full. Place cheesecake pan in the oven and bake cheesecakes until the filling is set, 22-25 minutes. Place the pan on a wire cooling rack and allow to cool to room temperature, then place entire pan in the refrigerator about 4 hours before removing cheesecakes from the pan.
  • Once cool, carefully remove the cheesecakes from the pan by pressing up on the removable bottom of each well. Keep the cheesecakes in the fridge until ready to serve, then top with a layer of lemon curd, a small dollop of whipped cream and a thinly sliced lemon wedge.

Nutrition

Calories: 269kcalCarbohydrates: 21gProtein: 4gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 11gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 73mgSodium: 211mgPotassium: 108mgFiber: 1gSugar: 15gVitamin A: 617IUVitamin C: 5mgCalcium: 65mgIron: 1mg
I am not a health professional and nutrition data is calculated programatically. Accuracy may vary with product selection, calculator accuracy, etc. Consult a professional for the best information.
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32 thoughts on “Lemon White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes

  1. Sam

    Can I leave make this the day before and leave them in the pan overnight, then unmold and serve?

    1. Inger Post author

      Yes you can do that Sam. Just keep them refrigerated. They even freeze well. I made dozens for my daughters wedding, unmolded them and froze in a covered shallow contaainer and they were beautiful a couple weeks later when thawed.

  2. Theo

    I would love to try it. do you have the recipe in gramms also, that would be very helpful. or how much gramm is one cup graham cracker?

  3. Wendy Klik

    I have never seen one of these mini cheesecake pans with the removable bottom. I love serving mini cheesecakes. I may need to find one of these pans.

    1. Inger Post author

      I love mine. Planning to make a bunch of these and freeze for a big summer party!

    1. Inger Post author

      The secret is in the pan–though not all recipes come out equally well. They need a certain solidity.

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