Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes

Cheesecake mixture

Graham cracker mixture

Making their big debut at the TRG chili cook-off

Each year at work the re-touching department at The Richards Group which is referred to as CBN has a "Chili Cook-Off" you can enter your homemade chili or you can bring a dessert or side of your choice. There is a panel of judges that judge each chili and name a winner each year. It is a lot of fun and people really get into it which makes it an event to look forward to each year.

I thought about making chili this year but who was I kidding, dessert is my thing so I am sticking to it. As I mentioned in the last post, pumpkin is my favorite fall ingredient so I decided to not just highlight it in one dessert, but two. The first one was a mini pumpkin cheesecake recipe that I found while surfing the wonderful world of baking blogs. I had thought about making a large pumpkin cheesecake so when I found these I was thrilled. They were a huge hit at the cook-off. I think people really enjoy the small cupcake size since it is easier to handle then a full piece of cake. Not to mention the taste is out of this world. The only down side to this recipe is that you have to keep them in the fridge overnight before you can enjoy them :-)

Check back in a few days and I will post the second pumpkin dessert - mini pumpkin whoopie pies with maple cream cheese frosting - yummy

Original recipe adapted from Gingerbread Bagels (she has lots of great photos of the process and I suggest you check them out)

***NOTE: CHANGE IN RECIPE*** My Mom tried making these today and informed me that the amount of cheesecake batter the recipe makes is only enough for about 10 cupcakes... After thinking back on the day I made these I doubled the cheesecake portion of the recipe, so I didn't notice at the time. However, the amount of pumpkin mixture is plenty if you are doubling the cheesecake. So, if you need more than 10 servings I would go ahead and double the cheesecake portion of the recipe. Hope this helps! - K

Crust:

• 7 graham cracker sheets
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake mixture:

• 1 pound cream cheese, softened (two 8 ounce blocks)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, at room temperature lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Pumpkin mixture:

• 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tablespoons + 1/2 teaspoon all purpose flour

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Line your cupcake pan with liners, set aside.
2. In a food processor, place the graham crackers and pulse till they are a sandlike texture. Place the graham cracker crumbs in a bowl, add 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Melt the butter and add to the graham cracker mixture. Put 1 tablespoon of the mixture into the bottom of each cupcake liner. Press down the crumbs with your finger and set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment mix the cream cheese on medium speed for about 3 min until it is smooth without any lumps. Add in 2/3 cup of sugar and 2 tsp of vanilla extract. mix until just combined.
4. in a separate bowl, crack the eggs and lightly beat. Slowly add in the eggs and mix. Add in the 1/2 cup of sour cream and mix until the cheesecake mixture is smooth, making sure to scrape down the sides as you go.
5. To make the pumpkin mixture, combine all the ingredients listed above under "pumpkin mixture" add in 2/3 cup of the cheesecake mixture and mix until the two batters are completely combined and there are no lumps.
6. Fill each cupcake liner with 1 1/2 scoop fulls of the cheesecake batter (using a small ice cream scoop) each liner should be filled almost to the top. Now place 3 dots of the pumpkin batter onto each of the batter filled liners. I used a 1/4 teaspoon to scoop the pumpkin in. Use a toothpick to swirl the two batters together.
7. Bake in the oven for about 27-30 min. Rotate the pan half way through the baking time. Once they are done backing, cool them completely in the fridge overnight - Keep them in the pan
8. ENJOY!

Here are some of my photos from the cook-off while the judging was going on before the masses of chili seekers hit...