Mini Pumpkin Spice Cheesecakes

I made these delicious morsels a few weeks ago as a "Thank you" for the Woman's Health Clinic that I had been rotating through.  It was a fun way to spoil all the girls who work so hard to provide excellent health care to women!  The next day, I passed out quite a few copies of the recipe.

I think my only critique is that after a few days, the gingersnap crust became quite soggy.  No one seemed to mind except me!  J and I served the leftover Praline Topping over pumpkin ice cream.  DELICIOUS!


Mini Pumpkin Spice Cheesecakes
This recipe is a conglomeration of approximately 3-4 different pumpkin cheesecake recipes :)

Yield: ~20 mini cheesecakes

Pumpkin Spice Filling

• ~20 Gingersnap cookies
• 16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup pumpkin puree (canned pumpkin works)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3-4 tablespoons bourbon (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place gingersnap cookies in the bottom of foil cupcake liners in cupcake pans. 

In a large mixer, beat together cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Mix in vanilla extract and eggs. Beat in pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and bourbon until well combined. Pour mixture on top of baked crust. Bake for 20-24 minutes, or until filling is set. Cheesecake is ready to come out of the oven when the center still wobbles very slightly (the residual heat in the cheesecake will continue to bake them once out of the oven). Allow to cool completely to room temperature in pan before chilling in refrigerator. 

Praline Topping

• 1 1/2 cups pecans
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Arrange the pecans on a baking sheet in a single layer and toast them at 350 degrees for 7-9 minutes, until golden brown and aromatic. Coarsely chop the nuts.  Stir together the brown sugar, cream, and butter in a saucepan set over medium heat. Boil the mixture for about 1 1/2 minutes, adjusting the heat to make sure it does not boil over. Do not stir. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla, salt, and pecans. Cool the topping at least 15 minutes before spooning over the top of the chilled cheesecakes.

 

Serve immediately, or cover and chill until ready to serve. The cheesecake will keep, well wrapped, in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.  Enjoy!