Easy Mini No Bake Cheesecakes

Name: Easy Mini No Bake Cheesecakes
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 8 oz cream cheese (block, softened); 1 oz cheesecake instant pudding mix (zero sugar); 1/4 cup half and half; 1/4 cup whipped cream; 1 tsp vanilla; 12 vanilla wafers; Toppings of your choice

Jump to Recipe

Fun for the whole family, these EASY MINI NO BAKE CHEESECAKES are simple to make and even more yummy to eat! We use 5 simple ingredients to make a big splash with these bite size cheesecakes. Perfect for making with the special kids in your life and sharing with others!

A plate with two cupcakes topped with candy and an Oreo cookie, one partially unwrapped and bitten. In the background, a muffin tin holds more cupcakes with various toppings.

These easy mini no bake cheesecakes will get your whole family excited to be in the kitchen. They are delicious and the sky is the limit on the toppings. We use strawberries, blueberries, M&M candies and crumbled cookies for ours but feel free to get creative!

I love getting my grandkids in the kitchen with me. We make fun recipes like our BEARS IN A BLANKET and APPLE BISCUITS. This not only teaches them a fun new skill but also the value of time spent making food for the ones you love. And tons of memories to boot. Who knows, you will end up giving them a legacy from a memory!

Why You’ll Love These Mini No Bake Cheesecakes

It is so hard to just limit this to just a few reasons because there are a ton! Here are our TOP reasons why you will love them:

Taste and Texture – is that of a real cheesecake but without baking, cracking or a complicated recipe.
Simple Ingredients: ingredients like cheesecake flavored pudding mix make this easy without missing the flavor of real cheesecake.
Kid-Friendly: easy to get them to help make, decorate AND a short chill/set time so they can enjoy them not long after making!
Truly No Bake – we use cookies for the crust or base of the cheesecakes so no baking AT ALL!

Ingredients

Five, count them, 5 ingredients. Now, we are not counting the toppings or the cookie base, for that you can use whatever you like. Our recipe recommends a few!

A muffin tin with batter in paper liners is topped with blueberries, strawberries, and colorful candy pieces. Bowls of strawberries, blueberries, chocolate sandwich cookies, and mini candy-coated chocolates are in the background.

What You’ll Need

Cream Cheese- 8 oz BLOCK, this is our cheese cake base.
Instant Cheesecake flavored pudding, zero sugar. The 1 oz box.
Half and Half – a bit of cream for our cheesecake to help with the pudding.
Whipped cream. We like the ready made for this to keep it easy.
Vanilla extract. Just a bit to add that flavor you expect in a vanilla cheesecake.
Toppings of your choice and Vanilla Wafers.

See recipe card for full ingredient list and quantities.

Instructions for these Quick and Easy Mini No Bake Cheesecakes

You’ve heard the saying, “so easy a kid could do it”? Yep, tis true here. You may just have to help a bit with the hand mixer but it truly is a recipe for kids of all ages!

A hand holds a block of cream cheese over a white plate on a wooden cutting board. Nearby are a bowl of whipped topping, a jug of milk, vanilla extract, vanilla wafer cookies, and a box of Jello pudding mix.

In a large mixing bowl, add an 8 oz block of softened cream cheese.

A person pours milk from a glass measuring cup into a white bowl with cream cheese. Other ingredients, including a vanilla extract bottle, whipped topping, instant pudding mix, and eggs, are on a wooden cutting board.

Add in 1/4 cup of half and half.

A person holds a box of Jell-O cheesecake instant pudding mix above a mixing bowl on a wooden countertop. Nearby are a small bowl of whipped topping, a bottle of vanilla, and a bowl of eggs next to a stovetop.

A 1oz box of cheesecake flavored instant pudding mix.

A person holds a spatula and a small bowl of cream cheese over a mixing bowl on a wooden cutting board, with vanilla extract, eggs, a mixer, and a box of Jell-O visible nearby on a stovetop.

And 1/4 cup whipped cream.

A person adds vanilla extract from a small bottle into a white mixing bowl with sugar on a wooden cutting board, with eggs and Jif peanut butter nearby on a kitchen counter.

Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and blend with a hand mixer until smooth and creamy.

A person places sliced sausages into a muffin tin lined with paper cups. A bowl with a white spatula and a box of JELL-O are on a wooden cutting board nearby. The person wears a smartwatch and bracelets.

Place cupcake liners in a muffin tin. Add one or two vanilla wafers in the bottom of each for the base.

A person is filling cupcake liners in a muffin tray with a creamy mixture using a spoon. The tray is on a wooden cutting board, and a white mixing bowl and a Jell-O box are nearby on a stovetop.

Spoon cheesecake mixture on top. Filling each one 2/3 to all the way to the top. (for fewer, fill all the way to the top, for more, fill less)

An adult and a child are decorating cupcakes in a muffin tin on a wooden cutting board. Bowls of chopped strawberries, blueberries, and crushed cookies surround them. A box of Jell-O is on the counter near the stove.

Top with your favorite toppings, pressing a bit into the cheesecake so they won’t fall out.

A hand places toppings onto rice-filled muffin cups in a muffin tray. Each cup is decorated with different items such as blueberries, strawberries, candy pieces, and cookie halves.

Have fun choosing toppings for each cheesecake!

A young boy in a red shirt stands in a kitchen placing fruit into a muffin tin filled with batter. Several small bowls with toppings are on the counter next to him.

Getting the kids involved is super fun!

Serve and enjoy!

Two mini cheesecakes on a blue and white patterned plate, each topped with colorful M&M candies; one also has a piece of chocolate cookie. The cheesecakes are in yellow paper liners, with a baking tray in the background.

Chill to set 30 minutes to an hour. Serve and enjoy!

Why Brooke loves this recipe!

Recipes are like antiques. They are meant to be handed down from one generation to another. Each one holding a special memory or nostalgic memory. Here is why we love this one!

Getting my kids and grandkids in the kitchen is something so important to me. I learned to love cooking by being included in the kitchen by my Mother, Nannie and Aunt Peggy. Letting them take part in cooking is not only fun but shows them the value of their work in the kitchen. Lots of life lessons come from cooking with and for others plus, you are making memories!

Variations and Substitutions

We have a ton of other things you can use to make this recipe your own!

Want to save this recipe?

We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!

Toppings – we love using fresh fruit but sometimes, the kids want a little fun so crumbled cookies and chocolate candies are a win for us. Nuts, pie fillings or your favorite dessert toppings are also good for these.
Vanilla Wafers – this recipe is meant to be easy using the cookies. Feel free to make a traditional graham cracker crust or just use crumbled graham crackers or even store bought ones that come in a tin.
Make it a dip! -Spread the cheesecake mixture in a pie plate and serve with your toppings and vanilla wafers or graham crackers for a delicious and fun dip.
Other pudding flavors – this would be great with chocolate pudding mix or even vanilla, maybe banana cream, my goodness, all of the flavors would make a beautiful cheesecake!!

A muffin tin with six cheesecake cupcakes topped with fruit and candy sits beside a blue and white plate holding two more decorated cheesecake cupcakes on a wooden surface.

Equipment

🔧 I love to share recipes that are no special equipment required but here are a few things that would definitely make this recipe easier!

Mixing Bowls: One or two for mixing ingredients.
Hand Mixer: To achieve a light, fluffy cheesecake mixture.
Measuring Cups and Spoons: For precise ingredient measurements.
Cookie Scoop or Spoon: For cleaner scoops of the cheesecake (optional but helpful).

A muffin tin with partially prepared dessert cups topped with fruit and candy sits on a wooden surface. Two finished dessert cups with similar toppings are on a blue patterned plate in the foreground.

How to Serve and Store these Mini Cheesecakes

We serve these as soon as the chill time is done! They will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a week.

Before topping, they can be frozen for up to a month in a freezer safe container. Thaw at room temp to top and serve.

A child’s hand places a strawberry piece onto muffin batter in a muffin tin. Other muffin cups are topped with blueberries, mini chocolate candies, and cookie pieces. A bowl of blueberries is nearby on a wooden counter.

⭐ LOVE THIS RECIPE? It would mean so very much to me if you would take a moment to rate this recipe and leave me a sweet comment in the recipe card below! ❤️❤️We hope you love all of the Southern and healthy recipes we share here at The Buttered Home and would love to see you back here often!

**DON’T MISS OUR TIPS AND TRICKS BELOW THE RECIPE CARD!

A muffin tin holds unbaked cupcake batter topped with strawberries, blueberries, Oreo pieces, and M&M candies. In the foreground, a single cupcake in a yellow wrapper is decorated with M&Ms and an Oreo piece.

Easy Mini No Bake Cheesecakes

Get your kids of any age into the kitchen having a ton of fun making our easy mini no bake cheesecake recipe! Top with your favorite things and enjoy a true no bake cheesecake. We use cookies for the base or crust so no baking at all! Made with 5 easy ingredients, you will love them!

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 30

Total Time 35

Serving Size

Ingredients

8 oz cream cheese block, softened
1 oz cheesecake instant pudding mix zero sugar
1/4 cup half and half
1/4 cup whipped cream
1 tsp vanilla
12 vanilla wafers
Toppings of your choice

Instructions

Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. 6 to 12. Add one or two vanilla wafers to each one for the base of the cheesecakes.
12 vanilla wafers
In a large mixing bowl, combine softened cream cheese, cheesecake flavored pudding mix, half and half, whipped cream and vanilla. Mix with a hand mixer until creamy and smooth.
8 oz cream cheese, 1 oz cheesecake instant pudding mix, 1/4 cup half and half, 1/4 cup whipped cream, 1 tsp vanilla
Scoop cheesecake mixture into each prepared cupcake liner. This recipe will make 6 FULL or 12 with half filling in each. Top with toppings of your choice and chill for 30 minutes to one hour. Serve and enjoy!
Toppings of your choice

See How To Make It!

Notes

*Pro Tip*

For a more traditional crust, use broken graham crackers for the base or even a store bought premade mini graham cracker crust.

A muffin tin with six cupcake liners filled with unbaked batter, topped with strawberries, blueberries, and chocolate candies sits on a wooden surface. Two decorated cupcakes rest on a blue and white plate nearby.

🍴 PRO TIP!

Want a traditional graham cracker crust? Easy, just crush some and put them in the bottom of the muffin liner. The cheesecakes will hold them together just fine and you get a bite of that expected crust flavor without the fuss of baking.

🗹 RECIPE FAQ’S

Can I make these mini cheesecakes ahead of time?

Yes! They will store well in an airtight container for up to a week. I would not top them until ready to serve to prevent bleeding of candy or sogginess of fruit.

Why didn’t my cheesecakes set?

Make sure you are using the block of cream cheese. Whipped cream cheese in a container is not created equally. You need the weight and volume of the full 8 ounce block of it for the cheesecakes to set properly and quickly.

Can I make this into one large cheesecake?

You could certainly double the recipe to make a full one, but on its own, it may work in an 8×8 pan. Then you can cut to individual servings.

What if I don’t have vanilla wafers?

Feel free to use any kind of cookie here. An oreo would be great or even graham crackers broken to smaller pieces would work. Any flavorful cookie that would provide a good base is an option!

If you make this recipe, be sure and post it to Facebook or Instagram and tag us. We love pictures of food.

Also, if you pin this recipe, we would appreciate that when you make it, you use the Made It function in Pinterest too.

And don’t forget to subscribe to our YOUTUBE channel for some great tutorial videos!