Hop into Easter with these individual mini egg cheesecakes. Made with Cadbury mini eggs, Philadelphia cream cheese and chocolate cookie base.
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These mini Easter cheesecakes are a fabulous addition to your Easter dessert menu. With buttery chocolate cookie base, covered with creamy vanilla cheesecake filling, topped with a delicious milk chocolate nest and those all-important mini eggs.
Why you'll love this recipe
- A great way to use Cadbury mini eggs.
- Perfect Easter dessert to feed a crowd.
- Easy make-ahead recipe with no baking needed.
Looking for more fabulous Easter recipes? Why not try making my Easter brownies, Easter rice krispie treats, cute bunny cookies or Peeps rice krispies treats. Delicious!
Ingredients
Mini eggs: I used Cadbury mini eggs, but you can use whatever brand you like. You could also use regular small solid chocolate eggs or try different flavors.
Cream cheese: full-fat cream cheese is best for this recipe for that classic creamy cheesecake taste. If you use light cream cheese it may not set properly.
Cream: I use thickened cream which has a fat content of about 34%. You could also use heavy cream or heavy whipping cream which is similar.
Vanilla extract: sometimes also called vanilla essence, depending on where you live. You can use either, or imitation vanilla essence, depending on your preference and budget.
Lemons: a dash of lemon juice helps balance the sweetness of the cream cheese frosting filling. Fresh is best, I don't recommend bottled lemon juice.
Granulated white sugar: white sugar is best in this recipe. You could use castor sugar if you prefer. I don't recommend using other types of sugar, they will be hard to dissolve and will compete with the flavors in this no-bake cheesecake.
Chocolate cookies: I used regular Oreos with the filling removed to add a delicious chocolate crust to these mini cheesecakes and because they are readily available. You could also use chocolate ripple biscuits in Australia or Bourbon biscuits in the UK.
Too much chocolate? Never! But if you do want to tone things down a bit you could use graham crackers or digestives instead for a more traditional base.
Unsalted Butter: because butter makes most things taste better. In this case it binds and sets the base.
How to make mini egg cheesecakes
See the full recipe card at the end of the post for ingredient amounts and instructions.
To make the cheesecake bases
If you are using Oreos twist them apart, scrap out and discard the filling. Break the cookies into smaller pieces and blitz them into crumbs in a food processor. Alternatively you can place them in a zip lock bag on a chopping bag, cover them with a tea towel and carefully break bash with a rolling pin to break them into crumbs.
Melt the butter in a small pot on the stove or in the microwave. Add the butter to the cookie crumbs and mix well. Divide the cookie mix between the silicon molds or lined muffin tins. Press down with a spoon or cup. Chill for at least thirty minutes or up to a day before filling. You need to press the filling down enough for the base to hold together but not too much or your bases will be too hard.
Hot tip: Make sure you to chill the bases before adding the cheesecake filling on top. If the bases are too hot when you add the filling they can cause the filling to weep and lead to soggy cheesecake bases. If you’re short on time on the day you can make the bases a day before.
To make the cheesecake filling
Beat the room-temperature cream cheese briefly to soften it. Add the lemon juice, sugar and vanilla and beat on low until well combined and the sugar has fully dissolved into the mix.
Hot tip: Make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature before mixing it in. Depending on where you live, this can take anywhere from thirty minutes to one hour. If your cream cheese is too cold, it won’t mix in properly and can cause lumpy or grainy cheesecake
In a separate bowl whip the cream until firm peaks form. Fold the whipped cream gently into the cream cheese mix. Spoon the cheesecake filling into the chilled bases and smooth down. The filing will be quite thick, try to smooth down the first spoonful to the edges and ensure there are no air bubbles before adding the next spoonful.
Chill the cheesecakes in the fridge for at least three hours, and up to overnight.
Once set gently run a thin knife or spatula around the edges of the molds to help release the cheesecakes. Gently push from the bottom of the molds to pop them out. You can smooth down the edges with a spatula or leave them a little rustic on the edges.
To decorate the cheesecakes
Hot tip: the sugar coating around the mini eggs will start to dissolve on the cheesecake topping. The chocolate nests on top can also sweat in the fridge. You can make the cheesecakes in advance, but its best to decorate them withing a few hours of serving, or the colour from the mini eggs can run.
Flip the chocolate over onto the smooth side. Chop the chocolate into reasonably thin, long slices. You want the chocolate to break apart into longish, thinnish, stick-like strands to construct your chocolate nests.
Place one to three eggs on top of each mini cheesecake. Use the chopped chocolate to build up a nest around each egg. Try to overlap the chocolate pieces, and have them sticking out from each other.
How to serve
To serve these delicious Easter no bake cheesecakes pop them onto a plate and enjoy!
How to store
I recommend holding off adding the mini eggs until just before serving, or the color can run. The undecorated these mini egg mini cheesecakes can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
Recipe tips and frequently asked questions
Can I make these with different Easter eggs?
Absolutely. I made these mini cheesecakes with classic Cadbury mini eggs but you can make them with whatever small candy Easter eggs you like, or even small solid chocolate eggs.
Can I make these with a different cookie base?
You sure can. I've given these mini cheesecakes a chocolatey Easter twist with Oreo cookie crumbs. But you could use other flavored cookies such as more traditional graham crackers or digestive biscuits or really any other type of cookie you use to make cheesecake crusts with.
Can I make the nests out of something else?
To mix things up you could make the chocolate nests out of white chocolate or dark chocolate. I tried making Easter nests several different ways for my Easter rice krispies. White chocolate, toasted or untoasted cocoanut or shredded wheat all looked great, but in my opinion chocolate gave the best flavor.
Can I make these in mini cheesecake in cups or glasses?
Absolutely. In fact this is an easy way to make mini Easter cheesecakes for a crowd for a party or get-together. You can use any small food-safe container. I personally like to use mini mason jars. They are super cute, you can pop the lid on to keep them in the fridge and then decorate them when you are ready to serve.
Have you made this recipe? Let me know how it went in the comments below and tag me on instagram so I can see your delicious creations! @keep_calm_and_eat_icecream
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📋 Recipe
Mini Egg Cheesecakes
Equipment
- 12 hole Silicon or muffin tins
- muffin cases (optional)
- Electric hand beaters or stand mixer
- Stick/immersion blender with chopping bowl attachment or food processor
Ingredients
For the chesecake bases
- 1 cup and 2 tablespoons (125gms) chocolate cookies such as Oreos, Bourbon or chocolate ripple.
- ½ stick (¼ cup/60gms) unsalted butter
For the cheesecake fillings
- 1 x 8 ounce tube (225gms) full fat cream cheese
- ¼ cup (55gms) white sugar
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- ½ cup (125mls) thickened cream
To decorate
- 1 packet (4oz/125 gms) mini eggs
- 1 block (6.35oz/180gms) milk chocolate
Instructions
To make the chesecake bases
- If using muffin tins line them with muffin cases/patty pans. If using silicon molds you don't need to line them.
- If using Oreos twist them apart. Scrap out and discard the filling. Break up the cookies and blitz briefly in a food processor into crumbs.
- Melt the butter by cubing, adding to a microwave proof bowl and microwave for a minute or two.
- Pour the melted butter into the biscuits crumbs and mix until it resembles fine bread crumbs.
- Pour into the molds and press down. Do not press too firmly or your base may become too hard.
- Chill in the fridge for at least thirty minutes and up to overnight.
To make the cheesecake fillings
- NB Make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature.
- Add the lemon juice, sugar and vanilla to the room temperature cream cheese to a bowl or stand mixer and beat on low until combined and the sugar has all dissolved.
- In a separate bowl whip the cream until firm peaks form.
- Gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mix until well combined. Spoon the cheesecake filling onto the prepared bases and smooth down.
- Chill in the fridge for at least three hours and up to overnight.
To decorate the cheesecakes
- NB the coating on the mini eggs will start to dissolve on the cheesecake filling and the color can run. You can make the cheesecake in advance but I reccomend decorating within a couple of hours of serving.
- If using silicon molds carefully run a small spatuar around the edge of the molds and push from the bottom to pop out.
- Turn the chocolate over onto the smooth side. Chop into long, thin pieces. Gently break them apart into stick like strands.
- Place three eggs on top of each cheesecake. Use the chopped chocolate 'sticks' to build nests around the eggs. Try to overlap the chocolate pieces and sticking out the edges.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate based on an online database. The nutritional content of ingredients may vary by brand. If you require accurate nutritional information, you should calculate this based on the specific brands and products you are using.
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