These little mini-pumpkin cheesecakes are a crowd favorite because they look almost as good as they taste! For a little extra “sparkle,” top each cheesecake with some pre-made salted caramel crunch.
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If you can’t find any in your local grocery store, you can order some online here:
You can also top with your favorite caramel sauce or some chopped nuts before serving. For a more minimalist approach, sprinkle a bit of pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon on top of the whipped cream.
Mini-pumpkin Cheesecake with Salted-Caramel Crunch Topping
Ingredients to make Mini-Pumpkin Cheesecake with Salted-Caramel Crunch topping
For this mini pumpkin recipe, you are going to need:
For the whipped cream:
- heavy whipping cream
- vanilla extract
- real maple syrup
For the crust:
- crushed gingersnap cookies (approximately 25-30 cookies)
- unsalted butter
For the pumpkin cheesecake:
- cream cheese
- light brown sugar
- salt
- canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
- Greek yogurt
- egg
- pure vanilla extract
- ground cinnamon
- ground nutmeg
- ground ginger
- ground cloves
Optional garnish:
- Salted Caramel Crunch (pictured)
- Caramel sauce
- Chopped nuts
Directions to Make Mini-Pumpkin Pie
In a large glass bowl, blend 1 pint of heavy whipping cream and vanilla extract with a hand or immersion blender until it doubles in size and changes texture. Then, drizzle maple syrup into the bowl and continue blending until the mixture is light and fluffy. Set aside or place in refrigerator until ready to use.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 24-cup mini muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
Put cookies in a large heavy-duty freezer bag and cover with a towel. Pound the bag with a meat mallet or rolling pin until cookies are uniformly crushed into very small pieces. (This can also be done in a food processor).
Transfer crushed cookies to a glass bowl and add melted butter. Stir with a fork until thoroughly combined.
Note: Add a little more melted butter to hold the cookie crumb mixture together, if necessary. However, do not add too much, or the butter will compete with the flavor of the gingersnap crust.
Divide cookie crumb mixture into 24 equal parts and press into the bottom of each muffin cup firmly with your fingers to form a crust. Bake in preheated oven for 8 – 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
Combine cream cheese, brown sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl with a hand-held mixer. Add pumpkin puree and Greek yogurt to the cream cheese mixture and continue beating until combined.
Open the egg in a separate bowl before adding to the cream cheese mixture. Then blend in vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Continue blending until all ingredients are thoroughly incorporated into the batter.
Evenly divide the pumpkin cream cheese mixture between the 24 muffin-tin cups and place it on top of the pre-baked cookie crust. Fill each cup slightly higher than the edge of the pan.
Place muffin tin on the center rack of the oven and bake for 15 – 20 minutes, or until the tops are lightly browned and the pumpkin mixture has set. Remove from oven and cool completely before removing mini-cheesecakes from the tin. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight before serving.
To serve, top with whipped cream and salted caramel crunch or your favorite caramel sauce. Spoon homemade whipped cream into a plastic sandwich bag and cut a small corner off one bottom side—pipe onto individual mini-cheesecakes for greater control.
Mini-Pumpkin with Salted-Caramel Crunch Topping
Ingredients
- Whipped Cream:
- 1-pint heavy whipping cream2 t. vanilla extract2 T. real maple syrup
- Crust:
- 1 ½ c. crushed gingersnap cookies (approximately 25-30 cookies)2 T. unsalted butter, melted
- Pumpkin Cheesecake:
- 8 oz. package cream cheese, room temperature1 c. light brown sugar, firmly packed1 t. salt3/4 c. canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
- 1 T. Greek yogurt1 egg1 t. pure vanilla extract
- 2 t. ground cinnamon1 t. ground nutmeg1 t. ground ginger½ t. ground cloves
- Optional garnish:Salted Caramel Crunch (pictured)Caramel sauceChopped nuts
Instructions
- In a large glass bowl, blend 1 pint of heavy whipping cream and vanilla extract with a hand or immersion blender until it doubles in size and changes texture. Then, drizzle maple syrup into the bowl and continue blending until the mixture is light and fluffy. Set aside or place in refrigerator until ready to use.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 24-cup mini muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- Put cookies in a large heavy-duty freezer bag and cover with a towel. Pound bag with a meat mallet or rolling pin until cookies are uniformly crushed into very small pieces. (This can also be done in a food processor).
- Transferred crushed cookies to a glass bowl and add melted butter. Stir with a fork until thoroughly combined.
- Note: Add a little more melted butter to hold cookie crumb mixture together, if necessary. However, do not add too much or the butter will compete with the flavor of the gingersnap crust.
- Divide cookie crumb mixture into 24 equal parts and press into the bottom of each muffin cup firmly with your fingers to form a crust. Bake in preheated oven for 8 – 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, brown sugar, and salt with a hand-held mixer. Add pumpkin puree and Greek yogurt to cream cheese mixture and continue beating until combined.
- Open egg in a separate bowl before adding to the cream cheese mixture. Then blend in vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Continue blending until all ingredients are thoroughly incorporated into the batter.
- Evenly divide pumpkin cream cheese mixture between the 24 muffin-tin cups, placing on top of the pre-baked cookie crust. Fill each cup slightly higher than the edge of the pan.
- Place muffin tin on center rack of oven and bake for 15 - 20 minutes, or until the tops are lightly browned and the pumpkin mixture has set. Remove from oven and cool completely before removing mini-cheesecakes from tin. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight before serving.
- To serve, top with whipped cream and salted-caramel crunch or your favorite caramel sauce. If using homemade whipped cream, spoon it into a plastic sandwich bag and cut a small corner off one bottom side. Pipe onto individual mini-cheesecakes for greater control.
