Salted Caramel Mini Cheesecake with Chocolate Almond Crust

This Salted Caramel Mini Cheesecake with Chocolate Almond Crust bakes in muffin tins for just 25 minutes. The creamy sweet filling is enhanced with lemon juice and drizzled with caramel sauce. It's made complete with a chocolate and almond crust sprinkled with sea salt to enhance the chocolate and caramel flavors.

This Salted Caramel Mini Cheesecake recipe is absolutely the easiest and best cheesecake I've ever made! It was so good that I made it twice in less than 12 hours. My intention was to make a crust-less mini cheesecake recipe, but I had a craving for salted caramel (thanks to the Cadbury caramel eggs we had left from Easter).

With no graham crackers but almonds in bulk, I thought using an almond-based crust would be a welcome and healthy change to this sweet and creamy treat. And it sure was!

The first batch I only filled the muffin cups up halfway with the batter. and once they had chilled, I didn't think there was enough cake in each. So for the second batch I filled the cups up nearly to the top and it made 14 mini cheesecakes in standard size muffin tins. They were the perfect size.

I love making mini cheesecake recipes for 3 reasons:

1. They cook much quicker than a standard size cheesecake
2. They are perfectly portioned so you don't over eat dessert (and let's be real, this salted caramel mini cheesecake recipe is so good that I could half in one sitting!)
3. You can easily customize them. Top each mini cheesecake with something different, whatever your family loves!

Why should you add this salted caramel mini cheesecake with chocolate almond crust to your next dessert table? Because the recipe is so simple, so creamy, and so delicious! Despite how elegant it sounds and how perfect it tastes, this mini cheesecake batter is extremely easy to prepare. There are only 10 minutes of active time in the kitchen for you. The rest is baking and resting time.

I will say, that it is important to read the recipe suggestions first and prepare your ingredients as recommended for the best outcome.

If you’re new to making mini cheesecake, this King Arthur recipe and blog has some really great tips and tricks for beginners. It took me a few tries to find the right technique and get the correct proportion of ingredients to perfect my cheesecakes, the first being this creamy fall pumpkin spice cheesecake. Just don’t give up and you’ll eventually get it too.

First, I'll share my recipe suggestions for making the perfect cheesecake.

Tips & Tricks for Making Perfect Mini Cheesecakes

Making this rich and creamy salted caramel mini cheesecake is not complicated, but it does require falling a few crucial suggestions.

• Make sure the cream cheese is very, very soft so it does not stay clumpy when mixed. If not soft enough, microwave it in 10 second increments.
• Beat the cream cheese first on it's own until it's completely smooth. I used to first mix it with the sugar but the batter becomes much more creamy and clump free if you beat the cream cheese first, separately.
• Use slightly warmed or room temperature eggs. I leave mine on the counter for hours prior to making the cheesecake or microwave them for about 20 seconds if I forget to do that. Adding cold eggs will cause the soft cream cheese to harden a bit and become clumpy.
• Add the eggs last and do not overly beat them or mix them in too quickly. Eggs hold air inside batter and over mixing them can contribute to a cracked cake.
• Lightly beat eggs before adding to the batter. This will help incorporate them quicker into the batter (refer to above tip!)
• Use a water bath. Put a pan of water on the rack underneath the cheesecake. Cheesecake loves humidity and the steam from the water helps make a crack-free cheesecake. 
• Use the convection setting on the oven if you have one. The convection setting circulates the air evenly around the oven. Cooking your cheesecake on the convection setting will help prevent cracking.
•  Spray the muffin liners with cooking oil. Spraying the liners will prevent the cheesecake from sticking to the wrapper. Mini cheesecake is different than a cupcake, and it can be finicky when removing from liners even if they are meant to be "stick free".
• Cool the mini cheesecakes in the oven. Once they are done baking, turn off the oven and open the door. Leave the cheesecakes inside for 30 minutes. Letting the cheesecakes come to room temperature slowly with an even heat distribution prevents the centers from dropping.

These recommendations are crucial to making a clump-free, perfectly risen, and smooth creamy mini cheesecake recipe!

What if my salted caramel mini cheesecake still has cracks? If your cheesecake still has cracks despite following these guidelines, no worries! You are going to top each mini cheesecake with caramel sauce anyway, so you can easily hide any cracks.

Can I make cheesecake without a crust?

Yes, you sure can make mini cheesecake without a crust. While this is pretty tricky to do with a regular sized cheesecake, as long as you use liners and spray them with cooking oil, you can make mini cheesecakes without a crust.

I do not recommend doing so for this recipe, as the chocolate almond crust takes this cheesecake to the next level.

However, if you have a nut allergy, replace the almonds with graham crackers and you are all set!

Ingredients in Salted Caramel Mini Cheesecake

To make the filling fort this salted caramel mini cheesecake you need:

1. softened cream cheese
2. white sugar
3. vanilla extract
4. eggs at room temperature (see above)
5. lemon juice
6. caramel sauce

Why use lemon juice in a cheesecake recipe?

Lemon juice is such as simple addition but it enhances the taste of your cheesecake like nothing else. This is the first cheesecake recipe I've used lemon juice in and it seriously makes it so amazing. So much that I'll probably adjust my current cheesecake recipes to include lemon juice. If you don't have lemon juice, you can leave it out without changing anything else.

To make the chocolate almond crust you need:

1. almonds
2. cocoa powder
3. white sugar
4. sea salt
5. melted butter

Some cheesecake recipes suggest using sour cream to prevent cracking and to give it an even smoother and creamy texture, but I do not do this. This filling recipe is extremely creamy and indulgent as is, but feel free to try it out and let me know what you think! For this recipe, about ¼ cup should be enough.

Directions for making Salted Caramel Mini Cheesecake

The first step to making a mini cheesecake is to preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line a muffin pan with liners. Spray them with cooking oil. Next, follow these steps:

1. Make the filling: In an electric or stand mixer, beat cream cheese on medium-high until very smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and beat until smooth, 2 minutes. Add lemon juice and vanilla extract and beat for 1 minute. Whisk eggs in a small bowl and add to batter. Beat on low, helping to incorporate with a spatula, just until they integrate into the batter, about 1 minute. Be careful not to over beat the eggs here.
2. Make the crust: In a blender or food processor, finely crush the almonds and cocoa powder. Remove to a bowl and add sugar, sea salt, and melted butter. Mix thoroughly.
3. Add one generous spoonful of chocolate almond crust to the muffin cups and press down to adhere. Fill almost to the top with batter.
4. Bake for 25 minutes. Turn off the oven and open. Let mini cheesecakes rest for 30 minutes (to prevent dropping centers). Chill before serving.
5. Drizzle with caramel sauce when ready to serve.

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Recipe

serving and storing salted caramel mini cheesecake

When serving the mini cheesecakes, drizzle with caramel sauce. You can also add whipped cream if you'd like. Mini cheesecake can be stored in the fridge for 1 week, but I bet these will not last anywhere near that long!

That’s all you need to know about this easy salted caramel mini cheesecake recipe with chocolate almond crust! If you’ve made it, let me know what you thought in the comments below.

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