When you're craving a cool, citrusy dessert, these mini key lime cheesecakes are the absolute perfect treat that hit the spot. They deliver that ideal balance of sweet and tart in a fun, bite-sized package. Absolutely guaranteed to be the star of your next spring gathering, summer barbecue, or family dinner!
If you're a fan of classic key lime pie, you're going to love this mini dessert with an incredibly creamy cheesecake twist. Each individual treat features a rich, tangy filling baked right into a buttery, sweet graham cracker crust. It's all the vibrant flavor you crave without any of the messy slicing that comes with a traditional pie.
Best of all, these darling little desserts are a total breeze to whip up for a hungry crowd. Relying on simple ingredients keeps your prep time to an absolute minimum. Plus, everyone gets their very own perfect portion, making serving completely effortless!
This mini cheesecake recipe was the inspiration for Easy Cranberry Mini Pies--a tasty winter treat! If you're looking for an easy no bake key lime pie recipe, click HERE.
Jump to:
- 🥘Just 8 Ingredients Needed
- 🔪How To Make Mini Key Lime Cheesecakes
- 📖Easy Recipe Variations
- 🍽Essential Equipment Needed
- 🍶Storing Your Mini Key Lime Cheesecakes
- ✅Betty's Top Tips
- ❓Mini Key Lime Cheesecakes FAQ
- 🍰More Cheesecake Recipes
- 🍴Easy Weeknight Dinners To Enjoy Before The Dessert
- 📋Recipe With Step-By-Step Instructions
- 💬 Comments
🥘Just 8 Ingredients Needed
- Mini graham cracker pie crusts (6 single-serving size): Using these store-bought crusts saves you a ton of prep time while still delivering that classic, sweet crunch.
- Sugar: A touch of sugar perfectly balances out the naturally sharp, tangy bite of the citrus.
- Cornstarch: A little bit of cornstarch acts as a reliable thickener to ensure your creamy filling sets up beautifully in the oven.
- Cream cheese: This provides that undeniably rich, velvety base, and I always reach for the Philadelphia brand for the most reliable consistency.
- Egg: An egg acts as the essential binder that gives your filling its classic, dense cheesecake texture.
- Key Limes: Fresh juice and zest, which are the non-negotiable secrets to achieving that bright, vibrant flavor. (If you can't find key limes, use regular limes.)
- Sour cream: Blending sour cream into your topping adds a deliciously tangy finish that complements the sweet filling perfectly.
🔪How To Make Mini Key Lime Cheesecakes
Step 1: Beat the softened cream cheese until smooth. Then mix in sugar, cornstarch, lime juice, and zest. Add egg and mix on low until just combined.
Step 2: Reserve some of the cheesecake mixture for the sour cream topping.
Step 3: Pour remaining cheesecake mixture into crusts; bake until almost set.
Step 4: Stir sour cream into the reserved cheesecake mixture; then top almost set cheesecakes with the mixture. Return to oven and bake until done.
For step-by-step instructions, see the printable recipe card below.
Hint: To save a dish, I mix the sour cream topping directly in my small spouted measuring cup, since I use it to pour the topping over the almost-baked mini key lime cheesecakes!
📖Easy Recipe Variations
- Mini Coconut Lime Cheesecakes: Stir a couple of tablespoons of sweetened shredded coconut into the sour cream topping before baking for a deliciously tropical twist.
- Mini Orange Cheesecakes: Swap out the lime juice and zest for fresh orange to create a sweet, nostalgic creamsicle flavor that kids absolutely love.
- Berry-Topped Lime Cheesecakes: Keep the classic filling, but finish each chilled cheesecake with a dollop of whipped cream and fresh raspberries or sliced strawberries right before serving.
For another easy cheesecake recipe, see Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake Bars!
In more of a no-bake dessert mood? See this delicious Lime Fluff Salad!
🍽Essential Equipment Needed
- rimmed baking sheet
- citrus zester and juicer
- hand mixer
- large mixing bowl
- medium mixing bowl
- scraping/rubber spatula
- mixing spoons
- two spouted measuring cups (at least one of these should have a 2 cup capacity)
- measuring spoons
- wire cooling rack
🍶Storing Your Mini Key Lime Cheesecakes
In the Fridge: Store your baked cheesecakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Keeping them covered ensures they don't absorb any other flavors from the fridge.
Freezing isn't recommended because of the sour cream topping.
✅Betty's Top Tips
Start with room temperature, full-fat cream cheese: For the absolute best, melt-in-your-mouth texture, use a high-quality, full-fat cream cheese and make sure it has come completely to room temperature. Whip the cream cheese with the mixer all by itself first until it's perfectly smooth to guarantee a beautiful, clump-free filling!
Don't overbeat the egg: Once you add the egg to your cheesecake mixture, mix it on the lowest speed just until it's incorporated. Overmixing adds too much air to the batter, which can cause your beautiful mini key lime cheesecakes to crack while baking.
❓Mini Key Lime Cheesecakes FAQ
Yes, you absolutely can! While key limes have a slightly more tart and floral profile, regular limes are a perfect substitute if that is what you have on hand. Your mini cheesecakes will still have that wonderfully bright and tangy citrus flavor!
I highly recommend sticking to freshly squeezed juice for the absolute best taste. Bottled juice can sometimes have a slightly bitter or flat flavor compared to fresh citrus. Plus, zesting fresh limes releases essential oils that make the flavor pop!
Not at all, which makes this recipe completely fuss-free! Because we are baking these in individual, single-serving graham cracker crusts, they are much less prone to cracking than a large, traditional cheesecake. Just pop them straight into the oven on a rimmed baking sheet.
🍰More Cheesecake Recipes
Looking for other delicious recipes like this? Try these, or head over to our from-scratch desserts page!
🍴Easy Weeknight Dinners To Enjoy Before The Dessert
These are my favorite easy dishes to serve with Mini Key Lime Cheesecakes:
📋Recipe With Step-By-Step Instructions
Easy Mini Key Lime Cheesecakes
Equipment
- rimmed baking sheet
- citrus juicer
- spouted measuring cups (at least one of these should have a 2 cup capacity)
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Ingredients
- 1 package mini graham cracker pie crusts (6 single-serving size)
- 8 oz. cream cheese softened to room temperature
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ⅓ cup fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime zest
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- ⅓ cup sour cream may substitute with plain whole milk Greek yogurt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Place mini crusts on rimmed baking sheet.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened cream cheese on low speed until smooth. Then add the sugar and cornstarch; blend on medium speed until smooth.
- Next add the lime juice and zest; blend on medium speed until smooth. Finally, add the egg; beat on low until just combined.
- Reserve ⅓ cup of this mixture in a small spouted measuring cup; set aside. Transfer the remaining mixture to a separate, large spouted cup; then pour the mixture from the large cup into the pie crust shells.
- Bake the mini cheesecakes for 20 minutes or until puffed and almost set (they should be wiggly when the tray they're on is slightly shaken).
- Add the sour cream to the reserved cheesecake mixture in the small spouted cup. Whisk until well blended.
- Then evenly distribute the topping over the almost set/baked cheesecakes. Return the tray to the oven and bake for an additional 10-12 minutes or until topping is set (only slightly jiggles when pan is lightly shaken).
- Allow to cool on a wire rack. Then refrigerate for a minimum of 3 hours to fully set before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that nutritional information is provided by a third party service and is intended for guidance purposes only. KitchenReadyBetty.com makes no claims to its accuracy
Janet C. says
We really enjoyed the sour cream topping, which makes this lime cheesecake recipe so very tasty!
Kitchen Ready Betty says
Thank you. Yes, most lime cheesecake recipes don't have that special sour cream topping, which does make this recipe extra special.