Mini Lime and Guava Cheesecakes

Tropical flavored, creamy, and smooth, these Cuban Mini Lime and Guava Cheesecakes will make your taste buds want to come back for more.

Best of all, these bite-sized individual desserts are no-bake and only take 30 minutes to make!

Mini desserts are super fun, especially cheesecakes. They also happen to be my favorite sweet treats. What’s not to love about a luxurious, creamy cake surrounded by a sweet graham cracker or cookie crust?

These mini lime cheesecakes with guava sauce are perfect for holidays like Valentine's Day, dinner parties, summer cookouts, 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 my cheesecake's consistency, the balance of ingredients, and 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 it 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 lime guava cheesecakes, so you have no excuse to give them a try!
• Easy: Because they're so easy to make, these little cheesecake pies can be doubled or tripled to serve a crowd.

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."

To Cubans, guava paste is as important for El Sanguibin (Thanksgiving) as pumpkin is to us.

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 the 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.
• Lime: you can use regular or key lime.
• 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

Crust

1. Generously grease the mini cheesecake pan or line a muffin tin with paper liners and grease them with nonstick cooking spray (if you’re using ring molds, line with parchment paper).
2. 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.
3. Place about a heaping tablespoon of the cookie mixture into the bottom of each cavity. Press the mixture down firmly to form the crust.

Cheesecake

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
2. Add in the cream, vanilla, lime zest, and juice and continue beating until well combined and thickened.
3. Distribute the mixture evenly over crusts. Refrigerate.

Guava Sauce

1. In a small saucepan, add guava paste and water. Use medium heat to melt the guava paste, occasionally stirring, until smooth.
2. Let guava cool down, but don't let it solidify.
3. Using a spoon, pour the melted guava paste over the cheesecakes and refrigerate before serving. Remove from the pan and top with freshly whipped cream if desired.

👩‍🍳Top Tips

• I used my mini cheesecake pan for this recipe because the bottoms are removable, so you can easily pop them out. You can also use a muffin tin with paper liners or small ring molds.
• 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, a shot glass (works great!), or another small object.
• I try to brush off any stray crumbs sticking to the sides so that my cheesecake layer comes out clean.
• To easily combine cream cheese 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 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.
• To distribute the cheesecake layer, I use an ice cream scoop/dipper. It takes about 1 ½ - 2 scoops, depending on the pan you're using.
• Once you have made your mini lime and guava cheesecakes, let them sit in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.

❓FAQs

😋 Other Amazing Recipes to Try

• No-Bake Eggnog Gingersnap Cheesecake Cake
• Key Lime Ribbon Cheesecake
• Corsican Lemon Cheesecake - Fiadone
• No-Bake Kefir Blueberry Cheesecake
• Carrot Cake Cheesecake

Use up leftover guava paste in these recipes:

• Mexican Guava Charlotte
• Brazilian Guava and Salted Caramel Pie
• Puerto Rican Sweet and Savory Guava Dip

Liked this recipe? Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating 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 Lime and Guava Cheesecakes

These no-bake Cuban Mini Guava Cheesecakes with rich and smooth tropical flavor will make your taste buds want to come back for more.

5 from 12 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Cuban

Diet: Vegetarian

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 12 servings

Calories: 294kcal

Author: Jas

Equipment

• ▢
  Food processor
• ▢
  stand mixer
• ▢
  Mini cheesecake pan or a muffin tin
• ▢
  small saucepan

Ingredients

For the crust

• ▢ 15 Maria cookies or 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• ▢ 4 tablespoon butter melted

For the filling

• ▢ 8 oz cream cheese softened
• ▢ ½ cup sugar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 2 tablespoons lime juice
• ▢ zest of 1 lime
• ▢ 1 cup heavy cream

For guava sauce

• ▢ 7 ounces guava paste (about 3 wedges)
• ▢ ¼ cup water

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Crust

• Generously grease the mini cheesecake pan or line a muffin tin with paper liners and grease them with nonstick cooking spray (if you are using ring molds, line with parchment paper).
• 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.
• Place about a heaping tablespoon of the cookie mixture into the bottom of each cavity. Press the mixture down firmly to form the crust.

Cheesecake filling

• In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
• Add in the cream, vanilla, lime zest, and juice and continue beating until well combined and thickened.
• Distribute the mixture evenly over the crusts. Refrigerate.

Guava sauce

• In a small saucepan, add guava paste and water. Use medium heat to melt the guava paste, occasionally stirring, until smooth.
• Let guava cool down, but don't let it solidify.
• Using a spoon, pour the melted guava paste over the cheesecakes and refrigerate before serving. Remove from the pan and top with freshly whipped cream if desired.

Expert Tips

• I used my mini cheesecake pan for this recipe because the bottoms are removable, so you can easily pop them out. You can also use a muffin tin with paper liners or small ring molds.
• 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, a shot glass (works great!), or another small object.
• I try to brush off any stray crumbs sticking to the sides so that my cheesecake layer comes out clean.
• To easily combine cream cheese 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 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.
• To distribute the cheesecake layer, I use an ice cream scoop/dipper. It takes about 1 ½ - 2 scoops, depending on the pan you're using.
• Once you have made your mini lime and guava cheesecakes, let them sit in the fridge for at least 1 hour before serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 294kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 48mg | Sodium: 196mg | Potassium: 65mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 712IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 1mg

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Update Notes: This recipe was originally published in July 2018 and updated in January of 2021 with new photos and recipe tips.