Pumpkin is certainly a favorite fall flavor – pair it with cheesecake and you are sure to have a delicious fall dessert for brunch.
These mini-pumpkin cheesecakes with salted-caramel crunch topping will delight every guest.
They are made by using cream cheese, Greek yogurt and creamy, smooth pumpkin puree then they are topped off with an irresistible light and fluffy topped, then finished with a salted-caramel crunch topping.
This dish is perfect for any event when you want to impress your guests with something simple but sophisticated.
Be Sure To Serve An Elegant Dessert With Brunch
Have you ever thought of serving a sophisticated dessert for brunch?
Elegant desserts are often overlooked for breakfast or brunch, but these desserts are sure to impress your guests.
After brunch is over, and it is time to serve dessert, many people want something that is not too heavy.
While it is true that the most common desserts served at a brunch are usually rich in chocolate, creaminess, and heavy in butter, there are many other delicious desserts that can be served when hosting brunch guests.
These mini pumpkin cheesecakes are one such example.
Glam Up These Individual Pumpkin Cheesecakes!
Brunch is a favorite meal of many because it combines the best aspects of breakfast and lunch.
When you plan for brunch, make sure to include dessert.
There are plenty of elegant desserts for brunch that you can choose from – but 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.
If you can’t find any in your local grocery store, you can order some online here:
Another option is to top these mini-pumpkins cheesecakes with your favorite caramel sauce or some chopped nuts before serving.
For a more minimalist approach, simply sprinkle a bit of pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon on top of the whipped cream.
There are so many ways you can change these up to suit your taste or offer a mixture of all kinds of different toppings at your next brunch and see what your guests prefer.
Mini-Pumpkin Cheesecakes with Salted-Caramel Crunch Topping
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 24 mini-cheesecakes 1x
Ingredients
Whipped Cream:
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream
- 2 t. vanilla extract
- 2 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 temperature
- 1 c. light brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1 t. salt
- 3/4 c. canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
- 1 T. Greek yogurt
- 1 egg
- 1 t. pure vanilla extract
- 2 t. ground cinnamon
- 1 t. ground nutmeg
- 1 t. ground ginger
- ½ t. ground cloves
Optional garnish:
- Salted Caramel Crunch (pictured)
- Caramel sauce
- Chopped 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 the 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 the oven to 350 degrees.
- Spray 24-cup mini muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- Put the 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.
- Transfer the crushed cookies to a glass bowl and add melted butter.
- Stir with a fork until thoroughly combined. 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 the cookie crumb mixture into 24 equal parts and press the mixture 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 the cream cheese, brown sugar, and salt with a hand-held mixer.
- Add the pumpkin puree and Greek yogurt to the cream cheese mixture and continue beating until combined.
- Crack the egg in a separate bowl before adding it to the cream cheese mixture.
- Then blend in vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Continue blending until all the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated into the batter.
- Evenly divide the pumpkin cream cheese mixture between the 24 muffin-tin cups, placing it 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.
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How To Make Holiday Cookies
In this eCourse you will learn how to make four different types of popular holiday cookies.
You also get tips on how to make the cookies turn out their best.
The four types of cookies covered in this eCourse includes:
Sugar Cutout Cookies
Snickerdoodles
Molasses Crinkles
Holiday Gumdrop Cookies
There is also a downloadable PDF that includes all of the recipes plus a bonus recipe for the run sugar glaze popular for icing sugar cookies.