Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes with Gingersnap Crusts

Mini pumpkin cheesecakes with gingersnap crusts are irresistible, individual desserts. This easy cheesecake recipe makes the perfect fall dessert!

Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes with Gingersnap Crusts

My friend and fellow blogger, Kate of Kate’s Kitchen, sent me an email asking if I wanted to be a “Celebrity” chef at a benefit to raise funds for folks with developmental disabilities. Huh? I guess I could fake the celebrity status with a confident attitude, right? How could I say no?  

The last 4 weeks have been crazy: flying to Iowa, moving my sick and elderly parents 800 miles to Denver in an RV, flying home, flying to Seattle for a food bloggers conference, flying back to Denver when my dad was admitted to the ICU. Ugh. Enough already. I needed 75 servings of a dessert, so instead of making a traditional, full sized cheesecake, I went with a simple fall classic, Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes.

Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes

Instead of the typical graham crackers in the crust, I bought a bag of gingersnaps and crushed them for some extra zing. I love the contrast of white chocolate with the orange pumpkin, so I topped these all with a round of ganache and varied the garnishes: crystallized ginger, candied pecans and candy corn. The toppings are great at disguising any imperfections (shhhh…don’t tell!) plus making for a more elegant presentation. As luck would have it,  this month’s Dessert Challenge theme is pumpkin and cream cheese, so thankfully, these served double duty. If you’re interested in supporting this wonderful cause, you can go to the Indy Cooks site and follow the link to “tip the chef.” Even a dollar will help…thanks SO much!!!

A couple of items you may need to make the mini pumpkin cheesecakes:

Mini Muffin Pan

Nielsen-Massey Vanillas Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract

Yield: 75 cheesecakes

Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes with Gingersnap Crusts

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Mini pumpkin cheesecakes with gingersnap crusts

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

Crust:

• 12 ouncebag Archway gingersnap cookies, processed into crumbs
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Filling:

• 4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 4 eggs, at room temperature

Optional garnishes:

• White chocolate ganache (6 ounces chopped white chocolate melted with 1/4 cup cream)
• Candied pecans
• Crystallized ginger
• Candy corn

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325º. Line mini muffin tins with muffin papers. Set aside.
2. Mix together gingersnap crumbs and melted butter, till well incorporated. Put 1 teaspoon of crumbs into the bottom of each muffin tin. Tamp down to make the bottom crusts. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and sugar till smooth. Add vanilla, maple syrup, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and pumpkin puree and beat till incorporated, scraping the bowl with a spatula as needed. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing just till incorporated.
4. Spoon filling into prepared mini-muffin tins. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove to cooling rack to cool completely.
5. When cool, may top with a round of white chocolate ganache, then a pecan half, piece of crystallized ginger or a candy pumpkin, if desired.

Notes

Total time does not reflect cooling and chilling time