Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes

Freeze them in their wrappers, unwrap and pour some ganache on top before serving. I used to try to time everything so that all the food, including dessert, would be piping hot and fresh from the oven.

For those of you who want to get as much of their Thanksgiving preparation done in advance as possible, these are perfect!

Yield: 12 mini cheesecakes

Total Time: 54 minutes
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 34 minutes

Ingredients:

For the Crust

• 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 6 tablespoons gluten-free 1-to-1 baking flour, buckwheat flour (or all-purpose flour for a non-gluten-free version)
• 6 tablespoons cocoa powder
• pinch of salt
• 4 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

For the Cheesecake

• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 3 large eggs

For the Ganache

• 1/2 cup whipping cream or heavy cream
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Note: If you need these cheesecakes to be gluten-free, make sure all your ingredients are certified gluten-free.

Directions:

For the Crust

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a muffin pan with 12 muffin liners. Note that this crust recipe does not work in regular pie pans and only as mini cheesecakes.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Using an electric hand mixer, beat in the butter at low speed until thoroughly combined and a dough forms. If you have trouble incorporating it, use your hands. It’ll be sticky.
3. Divide the dough between the muffin liners (I used 19 grams of dough per liner). Press the dough down with the bottom of a shot glass. If using gluten-free 1-to-1 baking flour or all-purpose flour, bake for 11-13 minutes or until the surface of the crust no longer appears wet. Move on to the next step. If using buckwheat, bake for 14 minutes. The crusts will appear very bubbly and liquid. Remove from the oven, let cool for a minute, and then use the shot glass again to lightly press down (which will remove the holes).
4. After baking, the crust will still be soft but will firm slightly as it cools. Let cool for 10 minutes while you prepare the cheesecake.

For the Cheesecake

1. Turn the oven down to to 325°F.
2. With an electric hand mixer, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until light and fluffy.
3. Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, molasses, pumpkin puree, vanilla extract, salt and pumpkin pie spice and beat on low until well combined.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating on low after every addition until thoroughly incorporated. Do not over mix!
5. Fill each muffin liner to the top with cheesecake batter and bake for 20 minutes or until the middles of the cheesecakes are set and don’t jiggle when the pan is tapped.
6. Remove from the oven and let the cheesecakes cool in the pan.
7. Once completely cool (about 1 hour), remove the cheesecakes from the pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until ready to serve. The wrappers come off neatly before and after refrigeration.
8. Refrigerate the cheesecakes in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

For the Ganache

1. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, warm the cream just until hot, steamy and on the verge of simmering. Remove from the heat.
2. Pour this over the chocolate chips and stir until all the chocolate chips are completely melted.
3. Let cool for about 20-30 minutes or until room temperature before pouring over the chilled cheesecakes.