Delicious and creamy chocolate cheesecake made lighter than traditional cheesecake with just FIVE ingredients, so easy! These are SO good you won’t be able to have just one… but since they are mini, two are totally acceptable!
Five-Ingredient Chocolate Cheesecake Cups
Five-Ingredient Chocolate Cheesecake CupsIf you are making these for friends, I highly recommend doubling the recipe because these will be a huge hit. Other cheesecake recipes I love are Flourless No Bake Cheesecake Brownies, Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake, and Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake.
I’m so excited to share this recipe with you all! These are ever so slightly adapted from my friend Phi’s cookbook Fast & Easy Five Ingredient Recipes. I got an advance copy of her brilliant book loaded with recipes from breakfast to dessert using only 5 ingredients! If you are making these for friends, I highly recommend doubling the recipe because these will be a huge hit.
Phi also has a food blog called Sweet Phi where she shares Five Ingredient Fridays, the inspiration for her new cookbook which is available for pre-order!
Phi notes in her recipe, her bake time is longer than traditional recipes as she cooks these at a low temp to prevent them from cracking – worked like a charm!
Madison patiently waited for me to photograph these before having one herself. 🙂
Five-Ingredient Chocolate Cheesecake Cups
Ingredients
- 1 oz 1 square semisweet baking chocolate, plus 1/8 oz shavings (Bakers)
- 4 oz Philly 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened room temperature
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup light sour cream
- 1 large egg, room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oen to 225F. Line a mini muffin pan with mini cups or mini muffin liners.
- Melt 1 oz chocolate in the microwave in 30 seconds increments, stirring in between until chocolate has melted, about 1 1/2 minutes total.
- In a bowl, using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar, then add the sour cream and beat until smooth.
- With a spoon, fold in egg (always folding under) and the melted chocolate and stir until smooth.
- Spoon 2 tbsp in each cup. Bake 50 minutes, then turn the oven off and let the cheesecakes sit in the oven 30 minutes longer. Remove from oven and let cool completely before serving (2 hours or overnight in the fridge).
- Shave the remaining chocolate and sprinkle over the top before serving.
Could peppermint be added somewhere to make these a bit more “holiday” themed?
How do I modify the recipe to make them in regular muffin tin. I don’t have a mini muffin tin. Thanks.
These little cheesecake were so good !!! This recipe is a keeper !!!
Can you use chocolate chips to make this vs. the Bakers baking chocolate?
I ounce of chocolate is not enough to make this recipe turn chocolate! Even a recipe on the Baker’s package calls for 2 packages! These were gifts for my neighbors today. Thank goodness they tasted great.!
Does this recipe fold in an entire egg, or just the egg white?
These were not sweet enough for me.. In my mini cupcake pan I couldn’t fit 2 tbs as well, so came out absurdly teeny as well. Was disappointed 😕
Could you substitute Splenda instead of sugar? And could I use fat-free sour cream?
I made these and they are fantastic! I used a blend of dark chocolate and sea salt caramel chips and added cinnamon. It was difficult to wait for them to bake and chill. I did use my Minnesota porch to quick chill them and that was quite effective. Similar to Laura’s comment, my mini papers were wet once they cooled.
I am sure that is because I quick chilled them in a below freezing temperature.
Yum!
Hi. Made them yesterday. I am definitely not a baker. The paper was wet. Condensation? How can I prevent this from happening?
Also, why fold in the egg? Why not just stir it in?
Thanks.
Laura – I am a baker. About folding the egg — I don’t think Gina beat the egg before adding to the mixture, but I did. You fold in the egg to keep the air and volume, which makes a cheesecake lighter and not like a dense rock.
My muffin paper was also wet, but I took mine right out of the oven, while still warm after sitting for 30 minutes, and put in a below zero F Minnesota porch. I did have condensation and it did not have any impact to the flavor or the texture. It did leave a bit more chocolatey loveliness on the paper, but nothing that could not be solved with a little effort. 🙂
I made these as minis and doubled the recipe. It made 30 minis. I baked them at 250 F for 26 min and they were perfect. I made them as the full fat version since those were the ingredients I had on hand. Next time I would add a bit more chocolate to the batter. I used pacthement paper liners, but they still stuck to the paper. Not sure what else I could do to not have them stick,
I loved these! I used nonfat Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and bittersweet chocolate instead of semi sweet, since I happened to have both of those on hand. I read that a number of people had issues with the cheesecake sticking to the wrappers whe they were done, so I sprayed them with nonstick spray and had no issues. I will definitely be making these again!
I made these today and I couldn’t decide if I liked them or not, I felt Luke I either needed more sugar or more chocolate but they were cute abs super easy to make
My mini muffin pan makes muffins about the size of a quarter, is that the right size? I cant see putting 2T in each cup.
I forgot to leave in oven for the additional 30 minutes…was this to prevent cracking or for more cooking time? I am worried they are not done….spongy in middle and cracked on top…Not sure if I should re-make.
It should cook it more.
Hi! Can you tell me the purpose of leaving them in oven for 30 min longer? I forgot this step 🙁 and want to make sure they are ok/done:) thanks !
If it looks and tastes good then no problem
These are amazing. Kudos to anyone that can only eat one!
Could you sub sour cream with greek yogurt?
I did and they turned out fine!
I haven’t tried these yet, but might have a solution to the speckled chocolate. Chocolate, when melted “curdles” if water gets in It. Maybe there was some water on your whisk or spoon when u mixed it in.
Rich. Creamy. Easy. Chocolatey. Absolutely delicious. I just wish there was another way to make these less points (I follow WW) because the servings are kind of small. All in all, another great recipe from SkinnyTaste!
Could I too these with fat free chocolate pudding or would that make it soggy??
Have not tried!
Have mine in oven now for 50 mins, they still look very watery,and my batter look like white Mia with brown specs, not completely brown… didn’t happen until I added melted chocolate… what did I do wrong?
Just made these and as soon as I put the chocolate in it hardened. Will they still turn out just fine? It looks like vanilla with chocolate specks.
Mine tasted delicious and I did everything according to the recipe. However, they do not come out of the cupcake liners. I was expecting them to pop right out but instead are too soft and I have to use a spoon to eat them. Wasn’t sure if that happened to anyone else.
I just made these and mine are th exact same way. I did go from oven to fridge right away so I thought this might have been the problem from condensation
These were absolutely delicious! Just a word of warning to anyone on Weight Watchers… although they’re only 3SP, they’re tiny and there’s no way you can eat only one!
Delicious! I made these in six regular muffin tins as I don’t have mini muffin liners. Baked them for the same amount of time and they turned out perfectly. Thank you for this recipe!
The chocolate got chunky the moment it hit the cream cheese mixture. I hope it turns out ok.
Hmm, not sure why. Was it warm?
Mine did the same. It’s chocolate speckled
Interesting, was the chocolate warm? Perhaps the cream cheese and egg should be room temp, I think that would solve the issue.
Did anyone else have their chocolate get hard because the eggs cold?! Did I miss something in the steps or is this recipe garbage?
Whenever baking, your ingredients should always be room temperature (the eggs, sour cream, cream cheese, etc should NOT be cold). The temperature of those ingredients probably cooled down your chocolate, making it “chunky.” It’s not a “garbage” recipe, it’s baker-error.
just made these to serve as desserts for new years and i’m really confused why it has to sit for 50 min in the oven. They’re completely, utterly burned. very disappointed
The oven should be off. I tested these from her book and they came out perfect.
I could not make enough of these. Very easy and delicious.
🙂
if i wanted to double the size of these to be normal muffin size, how would i adjust the baking time?
Since I haven’t tested, I don’t want to guess.
Instead of chocolate, I added a little bit of pumpkin purée, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and vanilla extract. They turned out great! Mini pumpkin pie cheesecakes
Sounds good!
Can this be baked in mason jars also?
Very easy, but like others my chocolate flecked the batter instead of mixing in…I guess I needed to melt it just a bit more. I’m actually wondering if it would be better to beat into the cream cheese and then add the sour cream to prevent?
My cheesecakes did indeed cracked and fell a bit even at the lower cook temp.
I think all your ingredients need to be at room temperature not cold! Also, melt the chocolate til just melted do not get it hot. If it is hot let it cool til it is warm but still pourable.
Can you use trivia instead of sugar, 1/8 cup
Sure
These are bomb! I used my tiny molds which gave me 24 at 1TBS each. Counting that as 4 for 6 SP’s and totally worth it. Will def make again!!
I have this Greek yogurt cream cheese blend from Costco. Would that work for the cream cheese?
Could I sub the chocolate for cocoa powder? I have the remaining ingredients in the kitchen!
New to cooking and baking, how does one “fold” an egg!? Lol
Gently mix in with a spatula.
Fabulous recipe!
First batch I made was good. However, The batter I made today had little white lumps as if the cream cheese wasn’t beat enough. I’m just guessing: Maybe the chocolate was a bit TOO warm? The recipe doesn’t say how cool the chocolate should be once it’s melted. One comment said she let it get too cool. I melted the chocolate after I beat the cream cheese, sugar and yogurt (used yogurt last time and it was great). It is in the oven now but the little white lumps didn’t seem right. Any ideas. Also, this time I used Baker’s whereas last time I only had Shreffenburger and it was potent but I love chocolate so no big deal.
Could Avocados be substituted for any of the ‘cream’-based ingredients? Thanks!
I tried these. They tasted great. There was one problem: the chocolate, although melted before adding to the other mixture, separated. The chocolate, basically, got cold and turned into tiny chunks. The finished product looked like cookies and cream. I would like to try these again though. I love all of the savory dishes, so I will try this again.
Can these little gems be frozen?
I made these over the 4th of July holiday. The first time I tried I somehow broke the batter, not folding the egg in properly. But since it only used 4 oz of cream cheese I just tried again and they turned out great!
First. I must tell you that I love your recipes and have used many of them repeatedly. Most recent is this marvelous 5 ingredient cheesecake cups recipe. Yum, yum, and yum again. Curiously, I could not fit 2 Tablespoons of the batter into my mini muffin paper liner. Mine held a smudge over 1 Tablesppon. Nonetheless, they were excellent and I resolved the problem by eating two instead of one!
On a different topic, while on a recent trip to Italy I discovered farrow and fell in love with its taste and texture. I have very few recipes for the preparation of farro that don’t include using mushrooms (food allergy in this household) and I was wondering if you could provide a few.
Thank you in advance.
Oops that was farro (darn spell check)
Tried…epic fail. Fell apart
These were delicious…Thanks for another great recipe.
These were amazing!
How did you get 12 cupcakes out of this?? I did 2 tablespoons each and only got 6 🙁
Did you use the mini cupcake pan?
Mine are in the oven now and I actually got 14 minus, but only put one tablespoon in each, which pretty much filled each one. I was afrId to put 2 in case it overflowed…lets see how they turn out!
???? People read the comments before you ask a question! She said at least 5 different times that you could substitute yogurt for sour cream. Hi Gina love your recipes, can’t wait to make these tonight.
My chocolate flecked as well but still tasted great. I doubled the recipe. I have 24 mini in the oven right now and have plenty left over to make another batch!
Great!
Happy 4th!! Tried several of your recipes, that are keepers, including this one. Yum!!! They are clearly written and easy to understand. Thank you and keep the recipes coming. Cathy
Loved these! One thing I messed up-I let the chocolate cool a little too long before adding it. So the cups came out white with chocolate specks-but still tasted great! So make sure you’re adding the chocolate while it’s a little on the warm side! Thanks for sharing! Excited to check out the 5 ingredient cook book too!
Should have read this first!! I have chocolate specks baking! Hopefully it’ll turn out ok. I made a double batch.
I made this today and it was delicious. But mine went flat in the middle upon cooling. Do you know what I could have done to prevent this? Thanks!
I made these substituting 0%Greek yogurt for the sour cream and 1 tsp lemon extract and the zest of one lemon instead of chocolate. They were really yummy though did stick a bit to the paper liners. I would make them again.
Oven at 225F?
yes
How many cheesecakes is this supposed to make? I’m following the directions and there is hardly any batter to match your 12 cup yield. I’m thinking there is something off with your numbers.
12 mini cupcake size cups, not 12 measuing cups
Can I use Stevia instead of sugar? Or use half Stevia and half sugar. I want best quality and best taste possible.
Looks fabulous! I am going to take them to our 4th of July Party.
These were so bomb. I made them earlier today thank you for sharing!
Could you use greek yogurt instead of sour cream?
SUre
Will the cupcake liners peel away nicely?
yes
I made them last night and mine do not peel away easily. More like I have to lick it out of the wrapper but still delicious.
The low fat cream cheese … low fat sour cream!! Yuck. Better off using full fat ingredients or just don’t make it. Not healthy.
Jenny – Don’t make them then! I’m sure people can make their own decisions and don’t need your negative input…
Why is a comment like this even necessary? Bloggers are just people, and there’s no reason to be so ugly. A quick Google search will yield thousands of cheesecake and mini cheesecake recipes. If this doesn’t float your boat, go find whatever cheesecake you think is “healthy.”
Jenny did you not notice the title of her Blog it’s called Skinny taste for a reason and if you have every tried any of her recipes you would know just how good they are.
The muffin cup you’re holding in the photo appears to be a regular-size muffin cup–not a mini. I think mini-muffin cups make 24 in a pan, not 12, as shown in the photo. Is the nutritional count for mini-muffin cups or regular?
This is mini, I didn’t use the whole pan.
my mini muffin pans make 12. I have several of them.
These look so great!
Could you use 0% greek yogurt in place of the sour cream?
Should be fine
If 0% means 0 fat, there may be a texture difference. Although lite sour cream doesn’t have the fat content of regular, it still has some fat. Bakling is more exacting than cooking. You may find it to be perfectly acceptable, but don’t be surprised if it’s not quite as rich tasting as the original recipe.
Looks delicious!! Love all your recipes. Question… My 6 year old son’s favorite dessert is cheesecake but he doesn’t like chocolate. Could I make these without the chocolate? If so any adjustments I would need to make?
Thanks!!
I’m sure they would be good with some vanilla and lemon zest.
Thanks for the tip! I’m going to try them like this.
Hi Gina… Can u use splenda in place of sugar?
Hi Gina. You dont indicate that these are freezer friendly. Do you think it would alter the quality of them to freeze them? I have a lg mini muffin pan and was thinking about making a double batch and freezing some for later.
Should be fine!
These sound like they’d be awesome eaten right out of the freezer!g
Hi! What is “bakers”? Thanks, really want to try these ????
The brand of chocolate I used.
That looks so good. Love that it’s only 65 calories.
That looks so good. Love that it’s only 65 calories.
Do you think I could substitute yogurt for sour cream?
Sure
Do you beat the egg before adding?
I didn’t but you can.
Could you sub Greek yogurt for the sour cream?
Sure
Do they come out easily out of the paper cup?
They were fine, eating them with a spoon.
It’s mini muffin.
Hello! I don’t have mini muffin tins. How long do you recommend I bake these of I make them traditional muffin size? Thanks! And what a wonderful-looking recipe! Can’t wait to try it!
Should be the same.
This looks so freaking delicious!
I am in love with cheesecake, so any time I see that word, I’m like, MUST MAKE NOW!
Great post!
Quick question, please! Yield says 12 cups, serving size 1 cup – is that 12 8-oz cups or 12 mini-muffins? Thanks!
I think 1 cup as in 1 cheesecake cup…2 tablespoons of mix.
Correct, 1 mini cup
It’s mini muffin
While I agree that the information given is confusing, common sense should tell you that you are not going to get 12 8oz cups out of that amount of ingredients. It’s 12 mini muffins/cheesecakes total. One per serving.
You’re only putting 2 tablespoons of the mixture in each cupcake “cup” so you can’t expect a very large serving size : )
It’s in the beginning of the instructions…Line a mini muffin pan with mini cups or mini muffin liners.
Mini muffin cups. Serving size is two tablespoons batter
It means 12 mini-muffins. If you look at the amount of the ingredients in the recipe, it certainly isn’t going to yield 12 8-oz cups unless some magic is involved. 🙂
🙂
take it easy folks – there’s no such thing as a bad question. 🙂
It will be 12 mini muffin cups. No way you’d get 12 8-oz cups from the ingredients listed.
correct, mini cups
I made a double batch, and came out with 24 mini cupcakes, so just 12 minis for the regular recipe it seems.
I assume the egg is lightly beaten before it’s folded in?
I didn’t but sure, that works too.
Are these muffin size or mini muffin size? I know you say mini in the recipe but they look bigger in the pic. Just wanted to confirm. Look great and I can’t wait to make these!
I wondered the exact same thing. The photo of the tin appears to be 3 by 4 and the serving size says 1 cup, so that has to be a regular sized muffin tin.
I think they’re minis (my mini tin looks very similar to the one pictured, and it says “mini” all over the recipe) – and I believe that’s Madison’s (her daughter?) hand holding the cheesecake 🙂
My mini-muffin tin is still 3×4….just a smaller pan. I would guess they are mini based on the picture of the hand holding it. (And I think 1 cup is like 1 muffin cup) Just my guess though!
Yes, they are mini cupcakes.
Wow, this is absolutely beautiful and gorgeous! I love how you made the recipe (totally going to make them this weekend like you did), and I am truly grateful for your kind words and sharing the recipe from my upcoming cookbook!! My heart is so full of love right now, THANK YOU!!!!!!!
My pleasure 🙂 These were freakin awesome!!!