Ingredients
Equipment
Method
Preheat and form graham crust
- Preheat the oven to 325F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners. Set up for baking the crusts in the lined cups.
- Combine graham cracker crumbs, melted unsalted butter, and sugar, then press firmly into each liner. The crust should look compact and slightly damp around the edges.
- Bake the crusts for 5 minutes. Look for a lightly set, fragrant crust before removing to cool.
Cook apples
- Cook the diced apples with butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon for 5 minutes until softened. Stir until the pieces turn glossy and tender, then cool.
Make cheesecake filling
- Beat cream cheese and granulated sugar until smooth. The mixture should look creamy with no visible lumps.
- Add eggs, sour cream, vanilla, and cinnamon, then mix until just combined. Stop when smooth and uniform, with a thick pourable texture.
Assemble and bake
- Fill each crust with the cheesecake mixture and top with the cooked apples. Add apples evenly so each mini has a visible topping layer.
- Make the oat crumble by mixing oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cold butter until crumbly. Scatter the crumble over each cheesecake so the tops look crowned.
- Bake at 325F for 20-22 minutes until just set. The centers should be slightly jiggly and not wet-looking around the edges.
Chill
- Refrigerate the mini cheesecakes for 3 hours to firm up. They should feel fully set when lifted from the pan.
Notes
Pro tip: cool the baked crusts and apples before mixing and topping so the cheesecake batter doesn’t thin or weep. Store covered in the refrigerator up to 4 days; freezing is yes—freeze unfrosted in an airtight container up to 2 months and thaw overnight in the fridge. For a lighter option, use reduced-fat cream cheese for a slightly softer, lower-calorie filling while keeping the bake time the same.