Mini Lemon Cheesecakes

photo by:kraft

With vanilla wafer crusts and lemony cream cheese fillings, these mini cheesecakes baked in muffin cups are delightful dessert treats.

time

prep:

30 min

total:

2 hr 30 min

servings

total:

12 servings, 1 cheesecake each

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What You Need

NILLA Wafers, finely crushed (about 1-2/3 cups crumbs)

1/4

cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, softened

tsp. grated lemon zest, divided

pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1/2

cup sugar

egg

Tbsp. lemon juice

Make It

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Mix wafer crumbs, butter and 2 tsp. of the lemon peel until well blended. Spoon about 2 Tbsp. of the crumb mixture into each of 12 greased or paper-lined medium muffin cups. Press crumb mixture firmly onto bottom and up side of each cup to form crust.

BEAT cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy. Gradually add sugar and remaining 1 tsp. lemon peel, beating after each addition until well blended. Add egg and lemon juice; beat just until blended. Spoon batter evenly into crusts.

BAKE 40 minutes or until lightly browned. Turn oven off. Let cheesecakes stand in oven for 20 minutes, leaving door slightly ajar. Remove to wire rack to cool. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

REMOVE from paper liners before serving. Store leftover cheesecakes in refrigerator.

Kraft Kitchens Tips

Substitute

Prepare as directed, using PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese.

Special Extra

Garnish with fresh strawberries and mint sprigs just before serving.

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jesseiler

posted:2/20/2013

TOO MUCH COOKIE! Oh my goodness, I felt like I didn't have any cheesecake with all that cookie crust. And I didn't even use all 40, was working on a leftover box and only had 28. Also baking times are OFF! Shaved at least 10 minutes on baking and then when I left it to sit in the oven with the door ajar it burned the back half of my cheesecakes! :( Really disappointed with all of that. However, the actual cheesecake flavor was pretty good though.

ljo211

posted:2/26/2012

I substituted gingersnaps for the nilla wafers and got rave reviews.

hlfspc

posted:5/8/2006

This receipe was defintely worth the time. They were so creamy. I will be making these again.

anitadee

posted:3/15/2006

I made these for A St Patrick's Day party at work.I changed the lemons for limes and sprinkled grated rind over the cool whip.They wre a hit with my co-workers!!

ChinaQueen1

posted:9/16/2005

This recipe was and is enjoyed by everyone in my family. As soon as all of the cheesecake was gone, I was urged to make more. This recipe is worth the time and effort!

rdheadtess

posted:3/27/2005

Unlike the other reviewer, I had more than enough crust recipe-I counted out 40 Nilla wafers and followed the recipe to the "t". What I found was that there was not adequate cheesecake filling-it ended up tasting like a cream cheese frosted lemon vanilla cookie rather than a creamy little cheesecake bite. I used standard muffin tins lined with muffin cups. I would not recommend this recipe.

purplekash

posted:3/25/2005

It tasted very good, but making the crust was time consuming. And I had to double the crust recipe to make 12.

jodykevin2001

posted:10/17/2002

These are great for keeping in a container in the freezer and popping them out when you need a quick desert.. I used a raspberry sauce to dress it up alittle...

dalbers

posted:2/27/2002

It tastes delicious, but I think that there should be more filling and less crumbs.