These mini pumpkin cheesecakes are the perfect dessert for any upcoming family gatherings. I love this time of year, I always get excited to see how the leaves on the trees start to change color. I live in Connecticut and one of the most spectacular scenes, in my opinion, is the foliage. There is a festival of orange, yellow and brown colors with a combination of green and red. It’s magnificent!
Mini Pumpkin Cheesecake is a dessert hard to resist!
That’s why I decided to make these mini pumpkin cheesecakes as my first fall dessert post on the blog. These mini cheesecakes have a resemblance to some of the predominant colors of fall, but most importantly, the pumpkin flavor and the creamy and smooth top filling make this recipe just perfect. I can almost guarantee you’ll fall in love with them 🙂
How to Make These Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes
Step #1: Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the gingersnap cookies inside a blender or a food processor, and break them into small pieces if you are using a blender to make the grinding easier and faster. Add the melted butter and grind.
Step #2: Spray with nonstick cooking spray the cavities of the 12 mini cheesecake pans or muffin pans or use cup liners. Place about 12 tablespoons of the gingersnap crust into the cavities of the mini cheesecake pan. Press down with a spoon or a small glass to make the mixture evenly distributed into the mini cups.
Step #3: Using a hand-electric blender, beat the cream cheese, sugar, pumpkin puree, vanilla, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, and other spices. Proceed to add an egg and mix until the mixture is blended thoroughly and it looks smooth.
Step #4: Using a small spoon, fill each of the mini cheesecake cups with the cream cheese mixture and bake them in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the center looks set.
How to make Whip Cream:
- In a mixing bowl, combine powdered sugar and heavy cream. I used this easy homemade whip cream to compliment the flavors of the pumpkin cheesecake filling.
- After removing the pumpkin cheesecake from the oven, allow it to cool for at least 30 minutes and then chill for at least 2 hours before garnishing it with homemade whipped cream and some of the gingersnap crust mixture.
Tips and Tweaks
-
- Mini sizes will save you baking time. Just 20 minutes in the oven
- You can use cupcake liners on your cheesecake or muffin pan to create those fancy lines. Make them without the liners(make sure to spray each cup), and they will have smooth sides, or you can do like me and do both.
- Make sure to cool them in the fridge for at least two hours. This makes it easier to remove them from the baking muffin pan, and the cup liner will easily be removed.
- To remove the pumpkin cheesecake from the baking pan, I used a paring knife and gently inserted it in between the pumpkin cheesecake and the surroundings of the baking muffin pan. It will just come right off.
- The cream cheese and eggs should be at room temperature. This will prevent the lumps in the cheesecake filling from making it smooth.
- Save some of the gingersnap cookie crumbs to garnish your pumpkin cheesecakes. It makes them look fancy and cute.
The aroma in the house after baking these delicious pumpkin cheesecakes screams
Fall
Please find a printable recipe card below. Don’t forget to leave your thoughts and recommendations; I look forward to reading them. Follow me on Pinterest and Facebook.
Enjoy!
Mini Pumpkin Cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust
- 15 gingersnap cookies
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted)
Filling
- 1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese (room temperature)
- ½ cup sugar granulated
- ½ cup pumpkin puree can
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ tablespoon pumpkin spice
- a pinch nutmeg (optional)
- 1 egg
Homemade whip cream
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup Powdered sugar
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the gingersnap cookies inside a blender or a food processor. Break them into small pieces if you are using a blender to make the grinding easier and faster. Add the melted butter and grind.
- Spray with a nonstick cooking spray the cavities of the 12 mini cheesecake pans or muffin pans or use cup liners. Place about 12 tablespoons of the gingersnap crust into the cavities of the mini cheesecake pan. Press down with a spoon or a small glass to make the mixture evenly distributed into the mini cups.
- Next, using a hand electric blender, beat the cream cheese, sugar, pumpkin puree, vanilla, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, and other spices.
- Proceed to add an egg and mix until the mixture is blended thoroughly and it looks smooth.
- Using a small spoon, fill each of the mini cheesecake cups with the cream cheese mixture and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the center looks set.
Homemade Whip Cream
- In a mixing bowl, combine powdered sugar and heavy cream.
- After removing the pumpkin cheesecake from the oven, allow it to cool for at least 30 minutes and then chill for at least 2 hours before garnishing with homemade whipped cream and some of the gingersnap crust mixture.
- enjoy!
Notes
- The estimated total time does not account for the two hours in the refrigerator and the 30 minutes of cooling!
- Excellent dessert to make ahead of time
