From Cooking Classy
Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes are the perfect fall dessert! They’re perfectly rich and creamy and brimming with spiced pumpkin flavor. And who can resist that decadent caramel sauce? It’s a match meant to be!
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 24 cupcakes
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 3/4 cup (220g) finely crushed graham crackers (about 14 full sheets)
- 2 Tbsp (28g) granulated sugar
- 6 Tbsp (86g) salted butter, melted
Filling
- 1 cup (215g) packed light-brown sugar
- 6 Tbsp (75g) granulated sugar
- 3 Tbsp (30g) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 3 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened well
- 4 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups (362g) canned pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (60ml) heavy cream
- 1 recipe homemade caramel sauce, recipe here
- Flaked sea salt, such as Maldon*
- Chopped pecans or lightly sweetened whipped cream (optional)
Directions
For the crust:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together crushed graham crackers with 2 Tbsp granulated sugar. Pour in melted butter and stir mixture until evenly coated. Divide graham cracker mixture among 24 paper lined muffin cups, adding about a heaping Tbsp to each. Firmly press mixture into an even layer. Bake in preheated oven 5 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool while preparing filling.
For the filling:
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves until no clumps of sugar remain (break up any little clumps with your fingertips). Add cream cheese to a large mixing bowl, pour sugar mixture over cream cheese and using an electric hand mixer set on low speed, blend together until smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Mix in eggs one at a time. Blend in pumpkin and vanilla, then mix in heavy cream. Tap bowl forcefully against countertop to release some of the excess air bubbles, about 30 times. Divide mixture over graham cracker crust in muffin liners, adding about 1/4 cup to each cup and filling nearly full. Bake in preheated oven until nearly set (no longer very jiggly), about 20 - 25 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack at room temperature, 30 minutes. Then transfer to refrigerator and chill 3 hours until set.
- Top with caramel sauce and a pinch of sea salt just before serving. Add pecans or whipped cream if desired. Store (caramel and cheesecakes separate) in refrigerator in an airtight container.
*Alternately you can mix in 3/4 - 1 tsp fine sea salt with the sugar/water mixture when making the caramel rather then topping them with sea salt.
