Healthier Key Lime Cheesecakes with Greek Yogurt! These single-serve cheesecake cups are perfect for parties. Simple ingredients!
I just realized this was my first time making cheesecake… AND a dessert with limes… WEIRD. Well, maybe not that weird but I do love a good cheesecake and I am surprised it’s basically taken me all of my adult life to make one.
Drew was in the middle of painting the kitchen cabinet doors (yes, we’re STILL painting them…) when I asked if he wanted to try one of these key lime cheesecakes. He ate the whole thing in one bite.
Me: So do you like them? You have to tell me what you think.
Drew: Well yeah, every girl likes cheesecake.
Wait… what?
I think he was just trying to appease me. Sometimes he says these things and I really wish I had a recorder going at all times. Any other food bloggers out there with SO’s like this?
After I finished the photos I offered him another one… and he proceeded to eat the entire thing – lime wedge and all. Not on purpose. But I did catch him on my IG stories in the act and it was pretty freaking funny.
So how do you feel about key lime cheesecake? I hope you say “YES, PLEASE.”
Cheesecake in general is such a classic dessert and I don’t know why anyone would truly dislike it… Unless of course you’re lactose-intolerant or eat primarily vegan, which would be an acceptable reason.
I probably avoided sharing cheesecake on the blog for so long because it isn’t considered the “cleanest” dessert. Whatever that means. But when I started Fit Mitten Kitchen I was boxing myself into this little confined space of “clean eating”, even though I very much enjoyed a variety of foods myself and preached “balance“. Now this blog is a reflection of what I enjoy making for you all but myself as well. No more boxes – just well-balanced eating and indulging 😀
But these key lime cheesecakes!
Ohhh they are GOOD you guys. I kind of didn’t realize just how simple it is to make cheesecake.
what you need
- graham crackers
- butter
- cream cheese
- greek yogurt
- sugar
- eggs
- limes
You start with the crust by processing graham crackers with butter, then transfer evenly into lined muffin tins. While the crust are pre-baking you prepare the filling by beating together the cream cheese, greek yogurt, sugar, eggs and lime juice plus the zest.
Then you just pour the filling into the muffin tin liners and bake. THAT IS IT.
These key lime cheesecakes are a lightened up dessert that friends and family will love. The lime flavor is subtle but not overpowering. If you really wanted, you could always sub lemon or orange if lime isn’t your thing 🙂
Either way, I am really happy with how these turned out! Definitely had to practice a little self-control here to keep myself from eating more than one two.
How to Make…
Mini Key Lime Cheesecakes with Greek Yogurt
Healthier Key Lime Cheesecakes with Greek Yogurt! These single-serve cheesecake cups are perfect for parties. Simple ingredients!
- Prep Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Scale:
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 8–10 crackers)
- 3 TBS butter or ghee
- 8oz cream cheese, softened (low fat or regular)
- 2/3 cup plain Greek yogurt (0%, 2% of whole milk all work)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg white
- Juice of 3 small limes, about 3TBS
- Zest of 2 small limes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300F. Line 12 muffin tins with foil liners. Lightly spray with grease. Set aside.
- In a small food processor or blender (I used my NutriBullet) process graham crackers into crumbs, then pulse together with butter until combined.
- Evenly divide graham cracker mixture between the 12 liners, pressing with back of tablespoon to flatten.
- Bake graham cracker crust for 8-10 minutes. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes while you make the filling.
- In a medium mixing bowl using electric mixer, beat together softened cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add in yogurt and sugar, beating again until smooth. Then add in egg, egg white, juice of limes and zest. Beat until just combined.
- Evenly distribute cheesecake batter into liners with baked graham cracker crusts. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the middle is set.
- Remove from oven and allow pan to cool to room temperature, then place in fridge to chill for 2 hours before serving.
Recipes Notes:
Prep time includes chilling the cheesecakes.
These Key Lime Cheesecakes could be made a day in advance as well, chilling the cheesecake cups overnight.
Nutrition Information:
- Serving Size: 1/12th
- Calories: 164
- Sugar: 8g
- Sodium: 132mg
- Fat: 11g
- Saturated Fat: 6g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 14g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 43mg
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Yvonne says
I made your recipe last weekend. It cai¿ught my attention because the recipe called for only a little sugar and because you mix cream cheese and yogurt, which makes the cake lighter.
They didn’t turn out as beautiful as yours, but they taste great.
I had trouble with the baking time, though. I had to leave them for almost an hour in the oven before they set. Is it possible that the recipe asks for a tiny amount of flour in the batter? Or maybe it just was the cream cheese I had, which had a funny texture (as if mixed with gelatine); no other one available here in Venezuela. Regardless, I will prepare them again
Yvonne says
I forgot to comment that when I baked them, I didn’t have any liners and just used a knive to loosen the cakes a bit shortly after taking them out of the oven. The mini cakes came out easily when I took them out of the refrigerator.
I decided to freeze them after tasting the first couple so that they would be fresher for a longer time and they are perfect after some minutes at room temperature.
Ashley says
Hi Yvonne, Thanks so much for your comment and providing feedback! The baking time could have been affected by the kind of cream cheese used. They shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes but if your cream cheese was a different consistency than what I had, that could be it. I’m glad you were still able to enjoy them!
annoyed says
Used regular cream cheese, 2% greek yogurt. 15 minutes in the oven, then rested and chilled. They ended up gooey. I checked other recipes (after doing this unfortunately) and they all ask for 20+ minutes cook time. This recipe is not right.
Ashley says
Hi there. Sorry you had trouble with the recipe – it could be a number of things but every oven is different so it could just be that yours needed to bake for a few minutes longer.
Christy says
I thought this would make a great lower carb recipe with a few tweaks. I used a coconut flour crust & swapped Splenda for the sugar. I also decided to make a whole pie instead of cupcakes. It came out great & will be a new go to recipe. I want to try it with lemon or key lime juice next time. Thanks for the great idea! Perfect for summer!
Ashley says
Thanks so much for your comment and sharing your substitutions, Christy! So glad you love the recipe and it worked for you 😀
Kar says
Can I use stevia instead of sugar and what amount should be used
Ashley says
I haven’t tried stevia before so it’s hard to say… I’d start with 1 tablespoon at a time (assuming it’s dry stevia sweetener) and taste test while adding!
Marie says
These are delicious! I made the recipe exactly as described and they came out great. The perfect mini dessert! Can’t wait to make these again!
Ashley says
Thanks so much for your comment, Marie! I am so happy you enjoyed them 😀
Deborah says
These were GREAT! Perfect tartness and SOOO easy. I tried to make things easier and used a Nilla wafer on the bottom, which wasn’t very good. Will definitely do the graham cracker crumbs next time. Thank you so much for the recipe!
★★★★★
Deborah says
I forgot that I did have to bake them a little longer 20-25 minutes to set. I used full-fat cream cheese from Trader Joe’s. And didn’t grease the cupcake papers, which was fine.
★★★★★
Deborah says
Sorry! 2 last comments: I used a mini-muffin tin. And just threw in 2 whole eggs. In case anyone else wondered if those changes would work.
★★★★★
Ashley says
Awesome – thanks so much for your comments and review Deobrah! It is SUPER helpful for those reading the recipe and I always appreciate the feedback. Glad you enjoyed them!
Debbie says
I doubled this recipe and baked it in a spring form pan. I had 3 containers of key lime Greek yogurt that none of the family wanted to eat. Since the yogurt was already flavored with the lime, I used only 1/2 of the lime juice a the zest of one lime. I did add a bit more sugar. I baked it for about 45 minutes and it needed another 5.
After it chilled about an hour, we couldn’t wait another 60 minutes to try it. The flavor was good and it was creamy but it had a bit of a powdery texture. The next day, after chilling overnight, it was excellent! The powdery texture was gone. It was still creamy and the lime was more flavorful.
I’m definitely saving this recipe. I can see changing it up with lemon. Maybe an orange or tangerine flavor would give it a creamsicle taste.
★★★★★
Ashley says
Thanks for your comment and feedback, Debbie! I appreciate you sharing your results! Glad you were able to make it work 🙂