Recipe: Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes

Some of you may have forgotten that I could bake. I almost did too because life has been so busy over the past few months that I've barely turned on my oven to try out a new recipe! But I made these delicious and simple mini pumpkin cheesecakes for Thanksgiving and I wanted to share it with you all. It's a great, easy treat to make throughout the fall and winter, so I hope you enjoy!

Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes with Whipped Cream

adapted from Just Us Four Blog

makes about 15 mini cheesecakes

for the crust...

• 30 ginger snap thin cookies
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1. Preheat your oven to 350F and line two cupcake tins with 15 paper liners.
2. Put the cookies and sugar into your food processor and pulse until they are nicely crumbled.
3. Add the melted butter and pulse until combined.
4. Press about 1 tablespoon of the crumbs into the bottom of each liner.
5. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes and rinse out your food processor.

for the cheesecake...

• 2 8oz packages of cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
• 3 1/2 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger

1. In your clean food processor, beat the cream cheese until smooth.
2. Add in all of the remaining ingredients and process for 1-2 minutes until totally combined.
3. Pour the mixture into the paper liners (on top of the crust) filling each cup about 3/4 full.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until cheesecake looks set.
5. Cool completely.

For the whipped cream topping...

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons sugar

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, whip the cream, vanilla and sugar on high speed with the whisk attachment until stiff peaks form or the cream stays on the whisk when the mixer is stopped.
2. Fill up a large piping bag with a star tip and pipe a dollop of whipped cream on top of each cheesecake.
3. Store in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 48 hours.