Lime Cheesecakes
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These Mini Lime Cheesecakes are easy to make and delicious! The perfect easy treat that is lighter, healthy and gluten free!
These key lime cheesecakes are seriously a must make treat!! They are everything you want in a healthier dessert: lower in sugar and fat, higher in protein, but still tasty, sweet, and delicious!
If you’ve tried our Lemon Cheesecakes or Pumpkin Cheesecakes, these are very similar, just with a key lime twist.
You are going to love the cinnamon, buttery crust and creamy, tangy filling!
why we love these healthy key lime cheesecakes
What’s not to love about mini lime cheesecakes? They are light and bursting with flavor while having the perfect amount of rich, creaminess. Here’s why we love this recipe:
- Lower in fat – A slice of cheesecake typically has about 30-40g of fat. These mini cheesecakes only have 11g of fat per serving!
- Easy to make – These cheesecakes only are made with a few ingredients. They only take about 20 minutes of work to make (the rest of the time is for baking/chilling!)
- Gluten Free – Cheesecake is often made with graham cracker crust – this recipe has almond flour for the base which means everyone can enjoy them!
- Lower in sugar – Most cheesecakes have over 30g of sugar per slice. This recipe only has 12g of sugar per serving. The filling is sweetened with honey and there’s a tiny bit of brown sugar in the crust.
Ingredients for Mini Lime Cheesecakes
To make mini lime cheesecakes you’ll need:
- Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour
- brown sugar
- cinnamon
- butter
- Neufchâtel cream cheese
- nonfat greek yogurt
- honey
- lime zest/lime juice
- lime extract
We also used silicone muffin liners.
You can find substitutions for all of these ingredients below in the green shaded substitutions box.
How to Make Healthy Lime Cheesecakes
- Mix together the crust. Press 1.5 tablespoons of the crust mix into each of the 12 muffin cups. Make sure to cover the entire bottom of all the cups and gently press the filling down.
- Bake the crust for 13-14 minutes at 350 until the edges start to brown a tiny bit. Once the crusts have cooked, remove the crusts from the oven and allow the crusts to cool while you prepare the filling.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer- use your whisk attachment and whip together cream cheese, greek yogurt, honey, lime zest/juice and lime extract on high speed for 5-6 minutes until smooth.
- When your crust is completely cool, scoop 3 tablespoons of cheesecake filling into each of the muffin cups, filling ¾ of the way. Put the cheesecakes into the fridge and chill for 6-8 hours or overnight.
SUBSTITUTIONS FOR HEALTHY LIME CHEESECAKES
Almond Flour: You can sub in 1 cup of finely ground graham crackers for almond flour. If you do this, we recommend skipping the brown sugar or cutting it in half. You can’t substitute coconut flour for almond flour. It doesn’t work with the cream cheese. The almond flour crumb mimics the graham crackers best.
Butter: I haven’t tried substituting butter in this recipe. Melted coconut oil or olive oil might work but I can’t be sure. I wouldn’t recommend it.
Sugar: We tried a honey infused crust to really try to mimic the classic graham cracker crust flavor but it just didn’t pop through. We also tried one with coconut sugar and did not like the taste. Brown sugar is the best choice here. It’s a ¼ cup over 10 mini cheesecakes which I think is a good ratio.
Neufchâtel Cream Cheese: Neufchâtel Cream Cheese is just lower fat cream cheese. We use the cream cheese in a block (not whipped versions) I haven’t used regular cream cheese in this recipe, but I think it would work. It would make the cheesecakes higher in fat/calories.
Greek Yogurt: I have not tried substituting the greek yogurt in this recipe. Full fat yogurt may work but I can’t be sure.
Dairy Free: We do not recommend any dairy free options for this recipe.
Room Temperature: It is very important that these ingredients are brought to room temperature for the smoothest filling. If you don’t, your filing won’t be as smooth. Cream cheese will leave little lumps if it’s not completely to room temp. This will still be fine for eating, but not necessarily for presentation. I think a fresh lime garnish would be great.
Baked: We don’t recommend baking these cheesecakes. In order to get a nice looking cheesecake with the yogurt, you’d need to have a water bath in the oven and it’s overall a lot of work!
Muffin Liners: Foil or silicone muffin liners work best. Paper ones risk sticking and taking on too much moisture.
Mix ins: We have a recipe for Healthy Pumpkin Cheesecakes that is delicious if you’re looking for a fall flavored cheesecake, Healthy Lemon Cheesecakes for another light dessert, or Healthy Cheesecake Bites that are plain.
Making one large cheesecake: I haven’t tried making one large cheesecake with this recipe but I think it would work if you were to make it in a springform cheesecake pan
To Make it Lower Carb: You can try using a no carb/low carb sweetener but I have not tested this so I can’t be sure how it would work.
How to Serve Key Lime Cheesecakes
These yummy key lime cheesecakes are best made 24 hours in advance of when you have to serve them. They only need about 6 hours to chill, but if they can set in the refrigerator overnight they’ll be even better!
Serve cold: These cheesecakes should be served cold. They’re fine to sit out at room temp for 1-2 hours, but they will get soft, and they’re meant to be eaten cold.
With zest: We served these with lime zest and sometimes a small lime wedge, but you can serve them however you like!
How to Store Healthy Cheesecakes
Refrigerator: These mini lime cheesecakes must be stored in the refrigerator. They will last in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. They can get a little moist on top from condensation in the refrigerator so I recommend just blotting them with a paper towel before serving if that happens
Freezing: These cheesecakes freeze very well. When ready to eat -remove and defrost for 10-15 minutes at room temperature. They will last in the freezer for up to a month.
Other healthy dessert recipes:
Looking for other easy desserts? Check out these 40+ Healthy Dessert Recipes.
Mini Key Lime Cheesecakes
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 cup almond flour
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons butter melted
Cheesecake Filling
- 8 ounces Neufchâtel cream cheese or low fat cream cheese
- ¾ cup 0% nonfat greek yogurt 6 ounces
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 tablespoon lime zest
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon lime extract
Instructions
- Note: It is important that these ingredients are brought to room temperature for the smoothest filling. If you don’t, your filing won’t be as smooth and will have bumps in it.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- To make the crust, stir together almond flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and melted butter until a coarse sand-like texture forms. Line a 12 cup muffin tin silicone muffin liners. (Foil liners will also work. Do not bake without liners)
- Press 1.5 tablespoons of the crust mix into each of the 12 muffin cups. If you have extra crust, evenly distribute it among the muffin tin. Make sure to cover the entire bottom of all the cups and gently press the filling down.
- Bake the crust for 13-14 minutes at 350 until the edges start to brown a tiny bit.
- Once the crusts have cooked, remove the crusts from the oven and allow the crusts to cool while you prepare the filling.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer- use your whisk attachment and whip together cream cheese, greek yogurt, honey, lime zest/juice and lime extract on high speed for 5-6 minutes until smooth.
- When your crust is completely cool, scoop 3 tablespoons of cheesecake filling into each of the muffin cups, filling ¾ of the way.
- Put the cheesecakes into the fridge and chill for 6-8 hours or overnight. You can also put the cheesecakes in the freezer for 2-3 hours if you’d like them to set quicker.
- Store the cheesecakes for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
These are amazing!!!