MINIATURE CINNAMON ROLL CHEESECAKES RECIPE

Miniature-sized cheesecakes with a cinnamon-sugar swirl and a cream cheese topping. These mini desserts taste just like a cinnamon roll in a cheesecake form.

These cheesecakes are super simple. No water bath is needed and they only bake for about 20-22 minutes. The only hard part is waiting for them to cool. 1 hour at room temperature + 2 hours in the fridge. But it will all be worth it!

You’ll want to start with a homemade graham cracker crust. And this recipe calls for a thick crust which I personally think is a requirement for cheesecakes.

Next, the actual cheesecake. The cheesecake is pretty standard. The usual ingredients: lots of cream cheese, plenty of white sugar, a tad bit of flour, a few drops of vanilla extract, and one large egg.


Ingredients
Crust:

• 4 full sheets of graham crackers
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter (unsalted or salted) melted

Cheesecake:

• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese at room temperature
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons white flour
• 1 large egg at room temperature

Cinnamon-sugar swirl

• 1/4 cup butter (unsalted or salted) softened, not melted
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon white flour

Cream cheese topping

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
• 1 - 1 and 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream or whole milk, only if needed

Instructions
Crust

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a regular sized muffin tin with 9 liners and fill up half of the other empty spaces with water. This ensures even baking. Spray the liners with non-stick spray. (Cinnamon sugar mixture gets sticky!)
2. 
   
3. In a food processor, pulse the graham crackers to crumbs. Stir in the sugar and melted butter. Press an even amount of graham cracker crust into the bottom of each muffin liner.
4. Press down the crust with a milk cap or the backside of a tablespoon measuring spoon and set aside.

Cheesecake

1. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the room temperature cream cheese and white sugar. Beat gently only on low speed until smooth and creamy. Do not vigorously mix at all (this beats in the air and will cause the cheesecakes to rise and fall a lot) Add in the vanilla extract, flour, and a lightly beaten egg. Beat until just combined (again very gently mixing as little as possible).

Cinnamon-Sugar Swirl

1. In a small bowl, combine the softened (do not melt) butter, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Stir until completely combined to a thick paste.
2. 
   
3. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the cheesecake filling into each of the prepared 9 cups. Then place 1/2 teaspoon of the cinnamon sugar swirl on top. Swirl the cinnamon sugar into the cheesecake with a toothpick.
4. 
   
5. Top the rest of the cheesecake filling on top (about 1 more tablespoon per cheesecake) and then disperse the remaining cinnamon sugar (about 1/2 teaspoon) swirl evenly among the 9 cheesecakes.
6. 
   
7. Swirl the cinnamon sugar (again) on top of the cheesecake with a toothpick and bake for 20-22 minutes. The centers will still jiggle a little bit, but the edges should be a very light brown.
8. 
   
9. Remove from the oven and let cool at room temperature for 1 hour and then transfer to the fridge and let cool for at least 2 hours.
10. The cheesecakes will have risen in the oven and will deflate quite a bit while cooling.

Cream cheese topping

1. Cream together the powdered sugar, butter, vanilla extract and cream cheese. Slowly add in the heavy cream (if needed for a thinner frosting) until desired consistency is reached.
2. 
   
3. Spoon over the cooled cheesecakes and drizzle extra cream cheese frosting on top.

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