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These Mini Banana Pudding Cheesecakes are made with vanilla wafer crusts, banana cheesecake filling & topped with whipped cream! You’re going to love this dessert recipe. They’re sweet little bites of banana pudding heaven!
If you’d rather make a full-sized cheesecake instead of a bunch of mini cheesecakes, try this Banana Pudding Cheesecake recipe. Both recipes are great for serving a crowd!
Easy Mini Cheesecakes Recipe
This post is sponsored by Challenge Dairy, but all opinions are my own.
I am a lover of all things banana and so is the hubs. It’s one of the things I love about him. 😉 We’d easily fight over the last banana flavored candy, piece of cake, etc. Banana pudding is part of that shared love. If there’s one dessert that’s hard for us to resist, it’s banana pudding.
When I was in New York a couple months ago, I made a quick stop at Magnolia Bakery. They are known for their banana pudding so I had to try it. They also have lots of fun cakes and cupcakes so be for you could say, “just the banana pudding”, I had about 3 slices of cake and 2 cupcakes to go along with my banana pudding.
I took it all back to my hotel to try them out and have a little tasting party. That’s basically my idea of a good time. And it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that the banana pudding was easily the best! I told myself, “only a few bites” and ate the whole container. Whoops!
How To Make Banana Pudding Cheesecake
Well don’t be surprised if you have a similar experience with these Mini Banana Pudding Cheesecakes. Just one bite or just one cheesecake easily turns into several. They are SO good!
To make them, start with the crust. Every good banana pudding has layers of vanilla wafers, so they are used to make the crust. Combine the crumbs with a little sugar and some delicious Challenge butter. If you’ve never tried Challenge butter, you should definitely check it out. I’ve been using it for a while now and it’s definitely a great, high quality butter. It’s 100% real cream butter with nothing artificial and no added hormones, which I love.
For the filling, you’ll also start with Challenge cream cheese. Again, nothing artificial and farm to fridge in two days, so you know it’s fresh! Add your usual suspects – sugar, flour and sour cream. Next comes the good stuff – some mashed bananas! They add just enough banana flavor to the mini cheesecakes! With some additional banana slices layered into the filling, it’s banana heaven! I know browned bananas are often used in baking, but for these I like using nice, yellow bananas. Feel free to use either though. Add the last few ingredients and bake!
Once the cheesecakes are baked and cooled, top them with a swirl of whipped cream, a vanilla water and a little banana slice! So cute! They’d be the perfect little treat to share with friends at a potluck or summer BBQ!
The hubs and I couldn’t wait to get our hands on these! As soon as I was done taking photos, I handed them straight to the hubs. He had my same problem – he just kept eating. Pretty sure he ended up with a bit of a stomach ache after, but he claims it was worth it.
Watch How To Make Them
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Mini Banana Pudding Cheesecakes
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 12-14 Mini Cheesecakes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Mini Banana Pudding Cheesecakes are made with vanilla wafer crusts, banana cheesecake filling & topped with whipped cream! They’re sweet little bites of banana pudding heaven!
Ingredients
VANILLA WAFER CRUST
- 1 cup (134g) vanilla wafer cookie crumbs
- 2 tbsp (26g) sugar
- 4 tbsp (56g) Challenge Butter, melted
BANANA FILLING
- 12 ounces (339g) Challenge Cream Cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (104g) sugar
- 3 tbsp (24g) all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup (58g) sour cream
- 1/4 cup lightly mashed bananas
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- Banana slices
WHIPPED CREAM
- 3/4 cup (180ml) heavy whipping cream, cold
- 6 tbsp (44g) powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Vanilla wafers
- Banana slices
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 325°F (162°C). Add cupcake liners to a cupcake pan.
2. Combine the vanilla wafer cookies crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Divide the mixture between the cupcake liners (about 2 tablespoons per cup) and press into the bottoms.
3. Bake the crusts for 5 minutes then remove from oven. Allow to cool while you make the filling.
FILLING AND TOPPING
4. Reduce oven to 300°F (148°C).
5. In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, sugar, and flour until combined (Use low speed to keep less air from getting into the batter, which can cause cracks). Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
6. Add the sour cream and mashed bananas. Beat on low speed until well combined.
7. Add the vanilla extract and the first egg and beat slowly until mostly combined.
8. Add the remaining egg and mix until well combined.
9. Add a small amount of filling to each cheesecake cup, then add a couple banana slices on top.
10. Add additional filling on top of the banana slices, filling each cup until mostly full.
10. Bake the cheesecakes for 18-20 minutes, then turn off the oven and leave the door closed for another 5 minutes.
11. Crack the oven door and allow cheesecakes to cool for 15-20 minutes, then put in the fridge to finish cooling.
12. When cheesecakes are cooled, remove them from the pan.
13. To make the whipped cream, add the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixer bowl. Whip on high speed until stiff peaks form.
14. Pipe a swirl of whipped cream on top of each cheesecake and finish off with a banana slice and vanilla wafer.
15. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Cheesecakes are best when well covered for 2-3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Mini Cheesecake
- Calories: 248
- Sugar: 19 g
- Sodium: 137.4 mg
- Fat: 14.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 26.2 g
- Protein: 4.2 g
- Cholesterol: 65.3 mg
Enjoy!
Can you put the whipped cream swirl and banana slice on the night before, or wait until serving?
The whipped cream would be fine, but I would wait to add the banana slice so it doesn’t get too brown.
Are you using the normal size cupcake pan or the mini cupcake pan?
Normal size cupcake pan.
I’m obsessed! Wondering if you could use the vanilla wafer crust for a Banana Pudding Cupcake????
Glad you enjoyed them! Yes, I think the crust would be fine on a cupcake.
With the bananas, can this cheesecake be frozen?
The bananas would turn brown so I would recommend freezing them without the bananas on top.
Should the butter be salted or unsalted? Love this recipe
Either would be fine.
Thanks for your reply! I am making these today for a party tomorrow. I was going to wait to frost them. Will the banana slices on the inside be okay in the fridge overnight?
Yes, the banana slices in the cheesecake will be fine. I hope you enjoy them!
Everyone at my party loved them. Thank you for the recipe. Last time I put the whipped cream on the day of the party. I made them again for a luncheon for tomorrow. Would the whipped cream be okay if I make it today and refrigerated it overnight? Or, can I frost them tonight and have them ready for tomorrow or should I wait till right before the lunch tomorrow? Thanks so much!
These are absolutely amazing. I have a very hot oven so can I cool on a rack or on the counter instead of in the oven with the door cracked? I’m afraid they will keep cooking and be over done.
They usually need to continue cooking while also cooling. I would follow the cooling steps until they look like they’re done and then you can try removing them. Part of the slow cooling process helps make sure they don’t crack though, so be aware that could happen. Another option is to start the cooling process a little sooner if they look like they may overbake.
Delicious!
Can I use a mini muffin pan instead of a normal one? If so how long should I bake ?
I haven’t ever made cheesecakes in that small of a pan, so I’m not sure.
Okay thank you for getting back with me! Have a good night! Excited to make these for my church group tomorrow. I’m making 100 of them! 🙂
Thank you so so much for this recipe! They were a hit and I had like 8 people ask for the recipe! I don’t really like banana cream pie but these were delicious!
Wonderful! So glad they were a hit!
Hi Lindsay
I’ve tried one of your cheesecakes before. It was my first time attempting cheesecake and let’s just say the neighbors think I’m a baking genius…LOL. Your instructions were spot on so thank you!
My dad loves banana caramel crunch ice cream from cold stone. Do you think I could just drizzle some caramel and top with some chopped up roasted almonds to mimic this combo or should I throw the almonds in the actual mini cheesecake and just drizzle with caramel? I’m worried the nuts inside the cheesecake may cause baking issues.
Thank you for your response.
Glad you’re enjoying the recipes! I haven’t had that ice cream, but I’m thinking it’d probably be ok to just add the toppings. You could also try adding some chopped almonds to the crust (as long as they aren’t too big of chunks) or even putting a little caramel in the bottom, kind I think I do for this caramel cheesecake.
Did you remove them from the liners?
You will want to remove them from the liners before eating them. You can serve them with the liners on or off.
Well thank you for the response. I normally know not to eat the paper! Was just asking if you remove the liners when serving/setting them out on your dessert table.
I wasn’t trying to be rude. I get crazy questions sometimes, LOL. You never know!! And the initial question was vague. But as I mentioned, you can serve them with or without the liners. It would depend for me on how you’re serving them. If I’m setting them out on a tray and people are picking them up and walking around with them, I might leave the liner on so that they are cleaner to grab. If I’m plating them, I may go ahead and take the liner off. It really just depends.
I cannot find Challenge brands, is it okay if it’s not?
Definitely. Use what you have.
How do you keep banana from turning brown and whip cream stiff enough to hold cookie and banana upright?
If the whipped cream is made as instructed with the powdered sugar, it should be stiff enough just by whipping it to stiff peaks. The banana slice will brown, so I recommend adding it shortly before serving or leaving it off.
Have you made this in a full size cheesecake? If so baking time and heat?
I haven’t made a full sized cheesecake of these minis, but I do have a full sized Banana Pudding Cheesecake recipe.
Can you use instant banana pudding instead of bananas?
If you’d like to use instant banana pudding, you could check out my full sized banana pudding cheesecake and maybe make it into minis.
This says “mini” cheesecake” does that mean the actual mini cupcake tins or the regular cupcake tins?
Regular cupcake pan. They are minis because they are not a full sized cheesecake.
I made these a couple years ago as directed and they were such a hit. This year I decided to make them again but with all my other cooking by the time I was ready to make this I didn’t feel like the fussyness of 12 cupcakes so I decided to give a 9 inch spring form pan a try. It worked out great! This is what I did… I doubled the recipe and I baked the cheese cake for 55 minutes. When the timer went off I took a butter knife and went around the edge of the cheese cake to make sure it was not stuck to the sides and then turned off the oven and left in for 10 minutes. Then I cracked the oven and left it in for 25 minutes more. The cake was not cool enough to refrigerate yet so I sit it on the counter till cool and refrigerated it. This worked out great. Again thanks for the recipe.