Mini Peppermint Candy Cane Cheesecake Recipe with Oreo Crust

Get ready to dazzle your taste buds and spread some holiday cheer with these scrumptious Mini Peppermint Candy Cane Cheesecakes! Nestled on a rich and crunchy Oreo crust, these little bites of heaven feature a creamy filling loaded with crushed candy canes and decadent chocolate chips.

Perfect for any holiday gathering, they not only look adorable but also pack a punch of creamy, minty, and chocolatey goodness that will have the whole family coming back for more!

Combining the classic charm of candy canes with the lusciousness of cheesecake, these mini oreo peppermint cheesecake bites are the ultimate holiday treat.

Why These Are The Best Mini Oreo Cheesecakes?!

No water bath is required! Unlike many cheesecake recipes, there’s no fiddly wrapping and worrying about leaks with these mini candy cane cheesecakes

Easy enough for kids and baking novices – whip up the simple cheesecake batter made from regular ingredients plus crushed candy canes and chocolate chips, spread onto the oreo crust then bake.

Perfect for your Christmas party table – full of festive flavor, easy to prep ahead, the perfect size to offer individual servings to a crowd and really look the part!

Making the Perfect Mini Peppermint Cheesecakes – Tips & Tricks

Use Room Temperature Ingredients: This helps achieve a smooth and lump-free batter.

Don’t Overmix The Batter: Mix until the ingredients are combined. Overmixing can incorporate too much air, leading to cracks in your mini cheesecakes.

Press the Crust Firmly: Use the back of a spoon or a small glass to press the Oreo crust firmly into the bottom of the muffin tins. This ensures the crust holds together well.

Avoid Overbaking: Mini cheesecakes are done when the edges are set, and the centers still have a slight jiggle. They will continue to set as they cool.

Cool Gradually: Allow the cheesecakes to cool slowly to prevent cracking. First, let them cool in the oven with the door slightly ajar, then at room temperature, and finally in the refrigerator.

Chill Completely: For the best texture, chill the mini cheesecakes in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight, before serving.

Add Toppings Just Before Serving: If you’re adding whipped cream or other toppings, do so just before serving to keep them fresh and help hold the shape.

Which Type of Cream Cheese is Best for Cheesecake?

The best type of cream cheese for cheesecake is block-style full-fat cream cheese. It has a much more robust flavor than reduced or fat-free versions or whipped cream cheese you can buy in tubs (which are normally reduced or zero-fat, softer and full of additives).

But most importantly, using full-fat cream cheese from a block ensures a smooth and consistently rich texture that is so essential for a dreamily creamy cheesecake!

Low-fat cream cheese options will leave your cheesecake with a slightly rubbery or grainy texture. This is due to the added stabilizers that attempt to provide the creaminess of the full-fat version.

Whipped cream cheeses can also introduce air into the batter, leading to inconsistent results in baked cheesecakes.

If you’re eating cheesecake, you gotta stop calorie counting and go all out with full-fat ingredients!

Mini Peppermint Candy Cane Cheesecake Ingredients

For the Oreo cookie crumb crust:

• Oreo Cookies – there’s no need to remove the cream for this mini peppermint cheesecake recipe
• Butter, preferably unsalted – soften by leaving out at room temperature or carefully heat on low in 30 second increments in the microwave

For the cream cheese filling:

• Cream cheese – full-fat brick style (see the reasons for using this type of cream cheese above)
• Granulated sugar
• Eggs – large
• Sour cream
• Candy canes – finely crushed using a pestle and mortar, coffee grinder or blender
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips – roughly chopped or crushed
• Cool whip
• Peppermint Candy Cane Hershey kisses

Oreo Peppermint Cheesecake Recipe Variations & Adaptations

For some quick and easy variations to these mini Oreo cheesecakes try the following:

• add 1-2 teaspoons of cocoa to the cream cheese mixture to taste
• experiment with different flavored Oreos – the mint ones would work well for sure
• once you’ve baked the mini cheesecakes and allowed them to cool top with:
  • a drizzle of chocolate ganache or store-bought sauce
  • chopped hazelnuts or almonds
  • holiday sprinkles
  • more crushed candy canes

How To Make The Oreo Cookie Crumb Crust

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F. Then line a muffin tin with paper cupcake liners. Now you’re ready to make the Oreo cookie crust as follows.

In a food processor, blitz the Oreo cookies to crumbs. There’s no need to remove the cream first – this peppermint Oreo cheesecake recipe accommodates the Oreo cream.

Add butter to a microwave-safe bowl and heat on medium for 30 second increments, until melted. Then add the melted butter to the Oreo cookie crumbs, and pulse to combine.

Add heaped spoonfuls of the Oreo crumb mixture to each cupcake liner. Press the crumbs into the liners and set aside.

How To Make The Creamy Candy Cane Cheesecake Filling

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. It’s possible by hand but far quicker with an electric mixer! (A couple of minutes on medium speed will do it.)

Add sugar, eggs, and sour cream, and mix until well combined. Then fold in the crushed candy canes and chocolate.

Add the cheesecake mixture to the cupcake liners, filling until almost full, leaving about ¼ inch at the top of each cupcake liner.

Baking & Cooling Your Mini Oreo Peppermint Cheesecakes

Bake for 18-20 minutes.

The mini candy cane cheesecakes are done when the edges are set, and the centers still have a little movement or jiggle! They will continue to set as they cool – you don’t want to bake them until they’re firm all the way through as they will become overbaked.

Then follow these steps carefully so that your mini Oreo cheesecakes don’t crack. However, if they do it’s not too big a problem as you will be covering the top with piped Cook Whip.

Once you’ve checked the cheesecake bites have reached this point, turn the oven off and leave them in the oven for 30-45 minutes.

Then remove from the oven and take the cheesecakes out of the muffin tin and allow to cool on a wire rack to room temperature.

Now you can chill them in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours.

I find it easiest to place them back into the muffin tin and put the full tray in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap. Alternatively, store in a plastic tupperware until you’re ready to decorate.

To serve, add the cool whip to a piping bag with a 1M star tip. Pipe the Cool Whip onto the mini peppermint cheesecakes.

Finish the mini peppermint cheesecake bites by topping with peppermint candy cane kisses.

The mini Oreo crust peppermint cheesecakes are done. Enjoy!

Storing The Mini Oreo Cheesecakes & Prepping Ahead

The baked peppermint cheesecakes with Oreo crust store well without the whipping topping, either in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. So they’re the perfect dessert to prep ahead.

When you’re ready to serve, simply pipe on the Cool Whip and top with the Hershey Kiss. If frozen, simply allow to defrost in the fridge overnight first.

If you have any leftover Oreo crust peppermint cheesecakes complete with topping, the piped Cool Whip topping may lose its shape, but will still taste delicious!