These Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites are a fun holiday dessert for the Fall. A delicious graham cracker crust is loaded with a smooth and creamy pumpkin cheesecake layer. It’s a great alternative to traditional Pumpkin Pie!
Why You Will Love Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites
- EASY – With a simple, two ingredient crust and just a couple minutes of prep, this dessert is a breeze to make!
- PERFECT FOR HOLIDAY PARTIES – If you have to bring a dessert to a potluck or pitch in, these are the perfect things! Easy to share, full of holiday cheer and sure to wow all the other guests! They look like cute little pumpkins on the table and people won’t be able to resist grabbing one!
- MAKE AHEAD OF TIME – Make them a day ahead and let them chill out in your fridge until they are ready to serve. Or even freeze them and thaw them out when needed!
Mini Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites
The first reason that I love these is that are basically a combination of three wonderful things: Pumpkin Pie, Cheesecake and Cupcakes. And they smaller than a usual slice of Pumpkin Pie or Cheesecake. So, even if your stuffed from all of your turkey, stuffing and potatoes, eating these these small Pumpkin Cupcakes won’t put you over the edge. If you want just one, have just one. If you want two, grab and extra. If you want three?… Why not?!?!?
Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes Recipe
The recipe is super easy! There are three components to this dessert: the crust, the cheesecake and the pumpkin icing. For step-by-step instructions, check out the recipe card below. But here is what you’ll need to get started.
For the crust:
- GRAHAM CRACKER CRUMBS – About 1.5 cups. You can also make your crust out of crushed Oreo Cookies for a burst of chocolate!
- BUTTER – Unsalted and melted. You’ll simply mix the melted butter with your crumbs for the easiest pie crust recipe ever!
For the filling:
- CREAM CHEESE – Make sure that it’s softened. To cut some calories off this recipe, you can substitute for low fat cream cheese. You can also use this Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese. If you use the Pumpkin Spice, you cam omit the Pumpkin Puree if you don’t have it or don’t want to use it!
- PUMPKIN PUREE – 3 oz. Again, if you used Pumpkin Cream Cheese, you can omit this ingredient.
- SOUR CREAM – Use light sour cream to cut some more calories.
- GRANULATED SUGAR – Sweetens things up!
- EGG – One large egg. Room temperature.
For the topping:
- GREEN FONDANT – To make the stem of the pumpkin.
- WHIPPING CREAM – If needed, you can substitute for heavy cream. Check out this article for the difference between heavy cream and whipping cream.
- SUGAR – White, granulated sugar.
- FOOD COLORING – If you have Orange Food Coloring, use that. If not, you can combine Yellow and Red Food Coloring to the desired color.
Storage, Leftovers and Freezing
Store leftover mini cheesecakes in the refrigerator in an airtight container. They should stay good in your fridge for about 5 days.
These mini cheesecake are great to freeze! I’d flash freeze them on a baking tray. Once solid, you can put them in a freezer safe container or freezer bag. They will stay good in your freezer for up to 4 months. Thaw out in the fridge.
Notes, Tips and FAQs
- USE ROOM TEMPERATURE CREAM CHEESE – As with making any cheesecake, it’s best to use room temperature cream cheese to make the final cheesecake as smooth and creamy as possible.
- USE A MUFFIN LINER – Make sure you are lining your muffin pan with a cupcake or muffin liner. This makes all the difference in this recipe.
- ADD VANILLA EXTRACT – Although it’s not needed, you can add 1 tsp of vanilla extract to the cheesecake ingredients for an added boost of flavor.
- WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO GET GRAHAM CRACKER CRUMBS? – You can either use a food processor, which will get you very fine crumbs very quickly, but can be a mess to clean up. Or you can just put the crackers in a ziplock baggie and crush them in there.
- HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN THE WHIPPED CREAM IS READY? – Whip the ingredients with a whisk or in the bowl of a stand mixer until stiff peaks form.
- SHORTCUT – To make this recipe even simpler, you can just frost them with regular whipped cream. Sprinkle on some Pumpkin Pie Spice, Cinnamon or drizzle Caramel Sauce for extra Fall flavor!
This recipe will yield 12-15 mini cheesecake bites! Enjoy!
LOOKING FOR MORE HOLIDAY RECIPES? CHECK OUT THESE 13 GREAT THANKSGIVING SIDE DISHES OR THIS SLOW COOKER HAM WITH PINEAPPLE.
IF YOUR LOOKING FOR MORE FALL DESSERTS, CHECK OUT:
- EASY PUMPKIN MOUSSE RECIPE
- APPLE CINNAMON CUPCAKES
- PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS
- PUMPKIN CINNAMON ROLLS
- PUMPKIN MOUSSE
- PUMPKIN PIE CRESCENT ROLLS
- PUMPKIN RICE KRISPIE TREATS
Mini Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
- 6 tbsp butter
For the filling:
- 12 oz. softened cream cheese approx. 1 ½ blocks
- 3 tbsp pumpkin puree
- 3 tbsp sour cream
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
For the topping:
- 1-2 oz. green fondant
- 1 ½ cups whipping cream
- 2 tbsp sugar
- Red gel food coloring
- Yellow gel food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and line a muffin tin with paper cupcake liners. Spray with cooking spray.
- Melt butter in a microwave-safe bowl and add to bowl of graham cracker crumbs. Mix until completely combined.
- Scoop 1 ½ tbsp of graham cracker crumb mixture into each lined muffin tin section. Pack down.
- Bake graham cracker crusts for 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat cream cheese, pumpkin puree, sour cream, sugar and egg. Mix on high speed until smooth.
- Fill each muffin tin section with cheesecake filling.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes.
- Allow to cool on a wire rack before decorating.
- Roll out 12-15 spheres from green fondant – about ½ an inch in size.
- Shape each sphere into cylinders, giving it a point at one end and then curving it slightly. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together whipping cream, sugar, 5 drops red gel food coloring and 3 drops yellow gel food coloring on high speed.
- Beat until whipped cream forms.
- Scoop whipped cream into a piping bag with Wilton #23 tip attached and frost each cheescake.
- Top each mini cheesecake with green fondant – it will act as the pumpkin’s “stem.” Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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