Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes

About a year ago, I asked my father to buy me a couple cans of pumpkin.

He bought at least 10. (Overkill much, Dad?)

Here is my latest attempt to defeat The Pumpkin Menace.

These mini cheesecakes are awesome because they taste like pumpkin pie, but better, they're cheesecake without all the fuss (water bath and such), and they're easy to share.

I was going to make the crust with gingersnaps, but I didn't have any. And I'm broke :P
So I was going to settle for graham crackers. But I don't have any.
And then I eyed the giant bag of sugar cookies I made over the weekend. Success! However, that would be a pretty boring crust. So, I got the bright idea of chopping up some candied ginger, and adding in the spices that I would normally put into gingersnaps. I'm going to write up what I used, but you're welcome to use gingersnaps, graham crackers, Oreos, or anything you want :)

I took these over to a friend's place for a movie-party. (V for Vendetta, midnight on the 5th XD )
"You're going to be the death of me," moaned Ian as he unwrapped his third (possibly fourth) cheesecake. I'm going to take that as a ringing endorsement, and warn you to keep them away from your loved ones...as they'll probably ignore you in favor of these creamy treats ;)





melted whipped cream XD


Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes:
(makes 1 dozen)

Crust:
1 cup cookie crumbs
1 tsp finely diced candied ginger (or real ginger)
2 tbsp of any combination of the following spices:
cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice
a pinch of pepper (oh yeah, good stuff)
2 tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit
Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
Mix everything together.
Press about a tablespoon of the mixture into the tin.
Bake the crusts for about 8-10 minutes.
Let cool while preparing the filling.

Lower the oven temperature to 300 degrees.

Filling:
8oz room temperature cream cheese
2 eggs
2/3 cup of pumpkin. (you can go up to 3/4 of a cup if you like your pumpkin more intense...or even a full cup! It makes the cakes a liiiittle denser, but not enough to be detrimental)
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp of the following spices, all together:
cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger. (omit some, add others, or just use pumpkin pie spice...it's up to you :) ) (oh and you can cut the amount if that's too much for you, hehe)
1/2 cup of sugar (white sugar, or brown sugar)
2 tbsp of molasses or dark corn syrup IF you used white sugar.

Cream the cream cheese and sugar together.
Add in one egg at a time, waiting until each egg is fully incorporated.
Add in vanilla (and molasses or corn syrup) and beat.
Then add in the pumpkin and the spices.

Spoon about 1-2 tbsp of the mixture onto each crust. Well, actually just add a little to each crust until you've used it all up.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let cool, then chill in the fridge for at least a few hours.


Enjoy!

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