Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites - Revised

I had a can of pumpkin puree in my cabinet that was calling my name to use, so I decided I would try to make a pumpkin cheesecake. So glad I did. It was creamy and had just the right amount of spices to give it that holiday look and taste.

Choosing a nut for the crust was so easy since hazelnuts are a favorite of mine. If you are lucky enough to have your own tree but never were very sure what to do with them, here is a helpful site for harvesting your own hazelnuts.

I wanted to know the history of cheesecake and started poking around the internet for an excellent resource. Found a great site if you have time to explore, The History of Cheesecake and Cream Cheese.

Ingredients for Crust

• Graham crackers
• Sugar white
• Melted butter unsalted
• Hazelnuts

Ingredients for Filling

• Cream Cheese
• Sugar white
• Dark Brown Sugar
• Eggs
• Ground cinnamon
• Ground nutmeg
• Ground ginger
• Vanilla extract
• Pumpkin pie spice
• Heavy cream
• Sour cream
• Pumpkin puree

Making Pumpkin Cheesecake

What a great start to the fall season. The smell of ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg, spreading throughout the home. Pumpkins for sale along the side of the road are signals that summer is over. Time for pumpkin baking.

Prepping

This is a one pan pumpkin dish. Take a 9x9 baking pan and line it with tinfoil. Have the tinfoil hang over two opposite sides. These will be used to lift the cheesecake out of the pan after it has chilled. Make sure the tin foil is pressed the whole way around, even in the corners. Set the pan aside.

Making the Crust

You will need a food processor to get the crust pieces small enough. I have a Breville that has two bowl sizes. A smaller one that fits into the bigger bowl that I use for nuts.

It is hard to judge how many hazelnuts you will need to get ¼ of chopped nuts. I usually just add a handful, which is always more than I need. I pulse the food processor about 6 or 7 times or until the pieces are about the size of sand.

Now, I add the ¼ cup of chopped hazelnuts to the big bowl and turn the food processor on and start adding the graham crackers into the top spout of the lid a few at a time.

The graham crackers I use are dense and make a great crust that holds together. You want the mixture pieces to be about the size of sand.

I add the graham cracker mixture to a bowl and add the sugar and melted butter.

I find it easier to mix using a fork. Make sure all the graham crackers are moistened by the butter. This will make it easy to form the crust.

I add the graham crackers to the prepared pan and spread it around to cover the whole bottom evenly.

Now press down on the graham crackers so that you have a solid bottom crust for the filling. Set the pan aside and not it is time for the filling.

Mixing the Pumpkin Filling

The filling is pretty easy to make, so let's get started.

Add all the block cream cheese to the mixer bowl. Mix the softened cream cheese on a medium mixer speed for about 2 to 3 minutes. This will depend on how cold the cream cheese when you started out mixing.

Now, add ¼ cup of dark brown sugar along with ¼ cup white sugar and mix until blended. Then, add the nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla extract, and the pumpkin pie spice. Mix for a minute on a medium speed.

I break one egg into a small bowl to make sure there are no egg shells. Then add it to the bowl and mix until incorporated. Repeat with the second egg. Once the eggs are incorporated, add the pumpkin puree and mix into the cream cheese mixture.

Finally, add the sour cream and heavy cream. The sour cream adds a little tang to the mixture and the heavy cream helps smooth everything out.

Pour the filling on to the pressed graham cracker crust. Then smooth it out, so it is even in the pan. .

Bake Chill and Serve

Bake at 325°F (165°C or 170°C) for 41-44 minutes. Sometimes the cheesecake will develop cracks. I use these as a guideline for cutting my final cheesecake into small squares.

Once out of the oven, I give it a little jiggle it should be on the firm side. If you press lightly in the middle, it should not leave an indent. I leave it in the pan and let it cool for about 40 minutes. Then cover it with plastic wrap and chill for at least 8 hours. I leave mine in overnight, but if you do not have the time, do the 8 hours.

Take the cheesecake out of the fridge and, using the overhanging tinfoil, pull the whole cheesecake out of the pan.

I put my hand under the cheesecake covering as much of the bottom with my hand that I can and pull the tinfoil away from the cheesecake. It comes off easily, mostly because of the butter in the crust.

I cut 5 strips down and cut each strip into 5 pieces. So I got 25 squares of pumpkin cheesecake bites. You can, of course, make your bigger by doing 4 strips and then 4 pieces for each strip. This will give you 16 squares. I love to serve the pumpkin cheesecake bites with whip cream and even a little pumpkin spice on top

Enjoy!

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