Looking for easy-to-make sweet treats? These Cuban Guava Mini Cheesecakes are just what you need. Tropical flavored, creamy, and smooth, they will make your taste buds want to come back for more. Best of all, they are no-bake and only take 30 minutes to make!
If there is one thing you should know about me, it’s that I am a super cheesecake fan. What’s not to love about a luxurious, creamy cake, surrounded by a sweet graham cracker crust?
These mini guava cheesecakes are perfect for holidays, dinner parties, and to help with portion control; however, there’s no stopping you from eating four of them in one sitting!
Because I am a cheesecake fanatic, I pay meticulous attention to the consistency of my cheesecake, the balance of ingredients, and its appearance. You can always buy a pre-made crust in the store, but I love to make mine from scratch.
Be sure to check out my other delicious cheesecake recipes like tiramisu cheesecake, baklava cheesecake fusion and brownie pumpkin cheesecake.
📋Why This Recipe Works
- No-Bake: A no-bake dessert is always a winner for me as it means I can free up my oven. Perfect if you are planning to serve these as part of a bigger feast.
- Make ahead: These cute individual desserts can be made several days ahead of time, so they are ideal for special occasions and holidays.
- Quick: It only takes 30 minutes to make up a batch of these guava cheesecakes, so you have no excuse not to give them a try!
What is Guava?
This tropical fruit is native to Mexico and Central America and has started to be introduced to other regions, such as South Florida. It's wonderfully sweet and full of flavor.
Brazilians eat guava paste (Goiabada or Pasta de Guayaba) with Minas cheese, a combination they refer to as "Romeo and Juliet."
In Cuba, guava paste is to their Thanksgiving (El Sanguibin) what pumpkin is to ours.
Just for fun, I’ll mention that guavas are high in fiber and vitamin C, but I don’t want to fool you into thinking that these mini cheesecakes are a “healthy dessert option.” It is drizzled right on top of classic cheesecake so don’t fool yourself!
🛒Ingredients and Notes
- Maria Cookies: Maria cookies are very popular in Latin America. They are thin and dry and slightly sweet. You can use graham crackers if you can't find Maria cookies.
- Vanilla Extract: If you can, use pure vanilla rather than imitation. The taste is so much better.
- Guava Paste: Guava paste is fairly readily available in most stores, Kroger, Target, and Walmart all sell it. It's usually found in the world food aisle. It's wonderfully thick and sweet and works so well with the tangy cheesecake.
🔪Step by Step Instructions
- Add Maria cookies to a food processor and pulse until the cookies are crushed into fine crumbs. Add melted butter and process to combine. The mixture should have the consistency of wet sand.
- Line a muffin pan with muffin wrappers, or line ring molds with parchment paper.
- Place 1 ½ tablespoon of the cookie mixture into the bottom of each mold. Press the mixture down firmly to form the crust.
- Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Stir in vanilla extract and lime juice.
- In a separate bowl, whisk heavy cream until soft peaks form. Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture until fully combined. Top the crust with cream cheese mixture.
- In a small saucepan, add guava paste and water. Use medium heat to melt the guava paste, stirring occasionally.
- Using a spoon, pour the melted guava paste over the cheesecakes and refrigerate before serving. Top with whipped cream if desired.
💡Recipe Tips
- Instead of mini cheesecakes, make a traditional cheesecake in a 9-inch pie pan.
- Press the cookie crumbs down firmly into each mold. You can use your fingers or the back of a spoon.
- So that the cream cheese is easy to combine with the other ingredients, it should be softened before using it. I like to take it out of the fridge about an hour before I plan on making these guava cheesecakes.
- I prefer to mix the filling together in a stand mixer, but you can mix it by hand if you prefer. It will take a little longer and make sure the ingredients are smooth and well combined.
- Once you have made you mini guava cheesecakes, let them sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving.
❓FAQs
It's easy to make these mini guava cheesecakes gluten-free. You can get GF Maria cookies or graham crackers to make the base of the cheesecake. The rest of the dessert is gluten-free, so perfect for anyone who has an intolerance.
These guava cheesecakes will keep well in the fridge for up to 5 days, although they are at their best within a day or 2. If you are making them more than 3 or four hours ahead of time, cover the cheesecakes with plastic wrap or place in an air tight container.
All cheesecakes are best made with full fat cream cheese. It's richer and thicker and will make for a much tastier and satisfying dessert. They will still turn out well with low fat cream cheese, but for me, it has to be full fat all the way!
💗Related Recipes
- No-Bake Eggnog Gingersnap Cheesecake Cake
- Key Lime Ribbon Cheesecake
- Corsican Lemon Cheesecake - Fiadone
- No-Bake Kefir Blueberry Cheesecake
- Carrot Cake Cheesecake
Liked this recipe? Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section. Your feedback is always appreciated! Stay in touch through Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook! Don't forget to sign up for my email list below too!
Mini Guava Cheesecakes
Ingredients
For the crust
- 15 Maria cookies or 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
- 4 tbsp melted butter
For the filling
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Juice from ½ lime
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 7 ounces minced guava paste about 1 cup
- ¼ cup water
Instructions
- Add Maria cookies to a food processor and pulse until the cookies are crushed into fine crumbs. Add melted butter and process to combine. The mixture should have the consistency of wet sand.
- Line a muffin pan with muffin wrappers, or line ring molds with parchment paper.
- Place 1 ½ tablespoon of the cookie mixture into the bottom of each mold. Press the mixture down firmly to form the crust.
- Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Stir in vanilla extract and lime juice.
- In a separate bowl, whisk heavy cream until soft peaks form. Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture until fully combined. Top the crust with cream cheese mixture.
- In a small saucepan, add guava paste and water. Use medium heat to melt the guava paste, stirring occasionally.
- Using a spoon, pour the melted guava paste over the cheesecakes and refrigerate before serving. Top with whipped cream if desired.
Notes
- Instead of mini cheesecakes, make a traditional cheesecake in a 9-inch pie pan.
- Press the cookie crumbs down firmly into each mold. You can use your fingers or the back of a spoon.
- So that the cream cheese is easy to combine with the other ingredients, it should be softened before using it. I like to take it out of the fridge about an hour before I plan on making these guava cheesecakes.
- I prefer to mix the filling together in a stand mixer, but you can mix it by hand if you prefer. It will take a little longer and make sure the ingredients are smooth and well combined.
- Once you have made you mini guava cheesecakes, let them sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving.
How long to bake cheesecake in 9" pie or springform pan and at what oven temp??
Would a springform pan need a water bath?
Hi, Char! This cheesecake is no-bake. You can definitely follow the steps using an 8 or 9-inch springform or pie pan. I hope you like as much as we did! 🙂
Hi Jas, regarding Mini Guava Cheesecake recipe. Does the lime juice get added to the water and guava paste?
Hi, Cindy! Oops, no it gets added to the cheesecake filling. Thank you for noticing my error, I fixed the recipe. Hope you like it as much as we did!
oh man I love guava and these sound so refreshing! Thanks for sharing with Thursday Favorite Things - I'll be featuring you tomorrow! Angelina @ Petite Haus
Thank you for the honor, Angelina! Much appreciated 😀
I love Guava and this will be a very special treat! Hope you are having a wonderful week and thanks so much for posting with Full Plate Thursday!
Miz Helen
These are really special, Miz Helen. The best part, easy to make 🙂
These guava cheesecakes look so good. Guava always reminds me of my mother, as she did love guava. But I rarely see a recipe using Guavas, so I was excited to happen upon this recipe. Thank you for sharing at Snickerdoodle Create Bake Make.
Food always triggers the fondest memories, doesn't it? Now that I discovered guava, I have a couple more easy recipes to share. Stay tuned 🙂
Looks so elegant, and sounds delicious!
Thank you much, Irene! 😀
These look amazing - love that you used guava here!
Thanks, Amy! We truly loved it 🙂
Those mini cheesecakes looks amazing...
So happy you like them, Lathiya! They were a hit with our dinner company 🙂
I just recently went to a Cuban restaurant for the first time, where I (of course) tried the guava cheesecake - it was phenomenal, so I'm super excited to see a recipe like this one to make it at home! I love that this is no bake, too. I'll have to keep an eye out for guava paste. Is this something you've been able to find in grocery stores, or do you order it online? Thanks for bringing these treats to Fiesta Friday!
Wow, how about that? 😀
I ordered guava paste online (link in the Essentials box here in the post) but some grocery stores might carry it too. Have fun making it and, of course, more fun eating it!
These look so tasty, and I admit I am more likely to indulge in such a dessert when they are diminutive, even though I am likely to have more. The guava flavour with the cake is brilliant. Thanks for posting and joining us here at Fiesta Friday.
Isn't that the truth? We eat more when we think we're eating less, LOL.
I sure do love guava! I bet my kids would love this recipe too. 🙂
It's loved by every age group. 🙂 Thank you for stopping in, Marissa!
My husband loves guava. These mini cheesecakes look amazing! Thanks for sharing at #HomeMattersParty
These look amazing. I love how they have been cut into little circles. Reminds me of a cherry cheesecake my mom makes.
Thank you, they were made in cupcake liners, rather than cut into circles but I like how you're thinking 🙂
Nummy and it’s no bake too, just a bit of heavy whipping and mixing and it’s done. It couldn’t get better than that. And I love guavas too. We just to have a guava tree at out previous house and I miss it so. My taste buds start going crazy just imagining their smell when you cut them open. It’s so distinctive. Can’t wait to try this one
Easy peasy. I have yet to try fresh guava fruit. I don't think I can buy it here, but I'll keep looking. 🙂