Mini Pumpkin Cheesecake

It's November which means Thanksgiving which means Pumpkin Pie.. right? Right! But, I'm not really fond of Pumpkin Pie. Cheesecake tho, I love cheesecake! So I thought, hmm why not pumpkin cheesecake?! And do here it is...

First, behead and de-bottom your pumpkins.

Next, cut them in half and remove the seeds. Cut them in half a couple more times and then place them either skin up or down a cookie sheet. (It was late at night and I forgot pictures, I'm not sure why, but forgive me!) Cook them for about an hour, until they're light brown and soft.

Next, use a fork to skin the pumpkins. If they have been cooked long enough it should come off very easy.

Put the pumpkin pieces in a large mixing bowl.

Use an immersion blender to puree the pumpkin.

For the crust you'll need butter, sugar, and graham crackers.

Next, take your graham crackers and your roller and break them into crumbs.

Next, add sugar and stir.

Then add the melted butter and stir until well mixed.

It should look somewhat like this. 

Press the crust into the cupcake pan.

Bake the crust for about 7-8 minutes. 

Start the filling by whipping the cream cheese until fluffy. Add the sugar and mix.

Then add cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and ground ginger. 

Add fresh pumpkin puree. 

Mix until well incorporated. 

Add the heavy cream and eggs, mix well.

Fill the crusts with the filling.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until cheesecake no longer looks soupy.

Chill for 3-4 hours before eating.

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Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients

Filling:

32 oz. cream cheese

1 ½ cup sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 cup pumpkin puree

4 eggs

2 tbsp. heavy cream

Crust:

12 full graham crackers

1/3 cup sugar

6 tbsp. melted butter

Directions

Filling:

1.     Add cream cheese to mixing bowl and beat until fluffy, add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

2.     Add cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and pumpkin puree and beat until well mixed.

3.     Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each egg.

4.     Add heavy cream and mix until combined.

Crust:

1.     Heat oven to 350º

2.     Crush graham crackers into crumbs

3.     Add sugar and stir

4.     Add melted butter and mix well

5.     Press into cupcake pan and bake for 8-9 minutes.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream

A few weeks ago our visiting teacher brought us a small pumpkin perfect for pumpkin puree! So I found a great recipe from Pioneer Woman  on how to make homemade pumpkin puree that was super easy! Since we're not really pie fans unless it's Christmas or Thanksgiving, I decided to make a pumpkin cupcake! 

I made my own spice mix but you could use a pre-made pumpkin pie spice for these also. I didn't have any on hand and it was super easy to just make some from the spices I had available. 

I started with 1 cup of pumpkin puree and then added more to taste. You could add more or less, it's up to you and your preference. 

I decided to go with a cinnamon buttercream ad topped them with some sprinkled brown sugar. Yumm!

  

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Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes:
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
3 tbsp. brown sugar
1 box white cake mix
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup heavy cream 
4 eggs
about 1 1/2 cups homemade pumpkin puree 

Frosting:

1 can buttercream

2 tsp. vanilla

2-4 tsp. cinnamon

¼ cup heavy cream

4-6 cups powdered sugar

Directions

Cupcakes:

1.     Preheat oven to 350º, line cupcake pan with paper liners

2.     In a small bowl mix the cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. (You can also use Pumpkin Pie spice if you have it on hand)

3.     Add the brown sugar to the spice mix and mix well.

4.     In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix on low the cake mix and spice/brown sugar mix.

5.     Melt butter and set aside to cool

6.     Add heavy cream and butter to dry ingredients and mix on medium

7.     Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition

8.     Mix on medium about 60-90 seconds until well mixed

9.     Fold in pumpkin puree

10.  Divide batter between cupcake pans, filling about 2/3 full

11.  Place cupcake pans in oven and immediately turn oven down to 325º

12.  Bake for 30-35 minutes

Frosting:

1.     Add buttercream, vanilla, cinnamon and heavy cream to the bowl of your stand mixer

2.     Beat on low until well mixed

3.     Add powdered sugar and mix on low, add more or less powdered sugar based on desired consistency

Thanks for coming, stay awhile, and return often! xoxo