Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes With Sour Cream and Salted Caramel Topping

Fall is my favorite season. The leaves change, I pull out my sweatshirts and boots, and my family goes apple picking. Fall means another favorite too, pumpkin season! What better way to celebrate than with a new dessert recipe. Cheesecake is one of those desserts I’m always asked to bring to family gatherings. The end result is always amazing, but it is SO time consuming.

This recipe takes less than half the time of making a full size cheesecake, and saves the difficulty of dealing with a springform pan, water bath, and possible ugly cracks on top. My family has been making a plain version of these since I was in elementary school. The recipe came from a friend’s mother and they are so quick and easy to make. I decided to create a pumpkin version this year and they are soooo good.

Notes from the Food Scientist

• Cheesecake is technically custard, not cake. The matrix is composed of eggs which thicken the custard by egg proteins unwinding and linking together.
• Try not to overmix this batter as you don’t want to add too much air. Starting with room temperature ingredients will help everything come together quickly into a smooth batter.
• If you don’t want to pull out your food processor, crushing by hand or with a rolling pin works fine.

Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes With Sour Cream and Salted Caramel Topping

A delicious combination of pumpkin pie and cheesecake in an individual portion size.

5 from 14 votes

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Course Anytime, Dessert

Servings 24

Equipment

• Two 12-cup Muffin Pans
• 24 Foil Muffin cup liners

Ingredients

  

Cheesecake

• 3 – 8oz pkg cream cheese softened
• 1 cup + 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 5 eggs
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla
• 1 ½ cups pumpkin puree canned
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ginger ground
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg ground
• 1/8 tsp cloves ground

Gingersnap Crust

• 20 Gingersnap Cookies
• 2 tbsp Butter melted

Sour Cream Topping

• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup sugar granulated

Salted Caramel Sauce

• 1/2 cup butter unsalted
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Instructions

 

Gingersnap Crust

• Preheat oven to 350F.
• In food processor, pulse gingersnaps until they are finely ground
• Add butter and pulse until well combined
• Press approximately 1 tbsp of mixture firmly into bottom of 24 muffin cups
• Bake crust for 5 minutes and allow to cool.

Pumpkin Cheesecake and Sour Cream Topping

• Beat softened cream cheese with sugar at medium speed until well blended
• Add eggs, one at a time. Mix well after each addition
• Add pumpkin, sour cream, spices, and vanilla. Mix just until well blended.
• Divide mixture evenly over gingersnap crust in muffin cups.
• Bake 20 to 25 minutes or just until set. While baking, mix sour cream and 1/4 cup sugar together in small bowl.
• Remove cheesecakes from the oven and allow middles to drop for 5 minutes
• Top each cheesecake with 1 tbsp of sour cream mixture. Return them to the oven and bake for 5 minutes
• Remove cheesecakes from the oven and cool 30 minutes on wire rack. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. Store leftovers in refrigerator for 2 to 3 days.

Salted Caramel Sauce

• Melt butter in small saucepan over low-medium heat
• Increase heat to medium. Add brown sugar and milk.
• Stir constantly until mixture comes to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes
• Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and salt
• Pour into bowl or jar. Let cool slightly before serving.
• Drizzle over top of cheesecakes.

Keyword cheesecake, cheeseckade salted caramel, gingersnap crust, pumpkin