Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites

It's that pumpkin season that everyone so adores.  To celebrate?  Other than our favorite ermahgerd girl?? 

How about some pumpkin cheesecake bites?  Now, if you're like me, you might not be a huge cheesecake person, but give these a chance.  They are AMAZE BALLS.  F'realz.

Ingredients:
15 oz canned pumpking (not pie, just pumpkin)
3 eggs
1/2 C brown sugar
2 T cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C granulated sugar
1 T cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 lbs cream cheese (room temp)
Ingredients (crust):
2 sleeves of graham crackers (18 crackers)
1 stick butter, melted
1/4 C sugar
* whipped cream to top

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
2. In a large bowl, crush the graham crackers (or process them to make it easier). Add sugar and melted butter and mix well.  Press into a parchment lined pan and bake for 5 minutes until toasty.
3. Reduce oven temp to 325 degrees.
4. Mix together pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar, cream, and vanilla in a large bowl.
5. In a separate bowl, beat together cream cheese, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and ginger.  Beat until light and fluffy.
6. Slowly pour in pumpkin mixture.  Continue beating until smooth and no lumps remain.
7. Pour batter onto cooked crust and bake for 50 minutes or until edges begin to pull away from the side of the pan.
8. Cool completely before removing from pan, then cut into small squares and top with whipped cream.

Cheesecake in a Jar!

There have been a ton of posts on Pinterest lately that have included cooking in Mason jars.  Obviously, I loved creating a cocktail in one, why not cook??

I'm not a huge cheesecake person, but I love chocolate and peanut butter, so when I found this recipe for a peanut butter cheesecake on an Oreo crust with a Nutella topping, I was sold!

So, first of all, start with 12 (4oz) mason jars.  (And, yes, they are oven safe.  My mother pestered me, worried, several times over about this.)

Oreo Crust Ingredients: 

16 Oreo Cookies, ground in a food processor
3 Tblsp Butter, melted
Pam Baking Spray (spray all jars with it)

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Ingredients:
12 oz Cream Cheese, at room temperature
7.5 oz container Creme Fraiche (or sour cream)
3/4 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1/4 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1/3 Cup Peanut Butter
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Nutella Topping:
1/2 Cup Nutella
1/4 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream   

Crust Directions:

1. Decimate the Oreos in a food processor, and place in a separate bowl.

2. Melt butter and then drizzle over the Oreo crumbs.

3. Mix well.

4. Divide the Oreos among your Pam-ed jars, then press the crumbs down firmly.

5. Place the jars in a lipped pan, and then place them in the fridge to chill out (literally) while you make the cheesecake.

*For those gluten free-ers, just omit the crust.  Still amazing!

 Cheesecake Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
2. Using your mixer, blend the cream cheese, creme fraiche/sour cream, and sugar until smooth.
3. Add the vanilla, cream, and peanut butter, and beat until smooth.
4. Beat in the eggs one at a time until just blended.
5. Add your cheesecake filling to your prepared crusts.  I filled mine up to the threads (where the lid screws on).
6. Fill the pan that your jars are sitting in with water.  The jars should have between 1/4" and 1/2" of water surrounding them (basically enough to cover where the crust is).

7. Bake your cheesecakes for about 30 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven and onto a cooling rack or safe surface to help them cool.
9. Once the jars have completely cooled, you can put the lids on and transfer them to your fridge.



From there, they can sit for a night or more.  There's something about time in the fridge that generally helps cheesecakes
The cheesecakes rose nicely in the oven, but they did settle back down as they cooled, leaving enough space for the topping.

I made my cheesecakes on a Friday morning and didn't take them out of the fridge until Sunday morning.  They were perfect.

When you're ready, put the Nutella (1/2C) and heavy whipping cream (1/4) in a microwave safe bowl/measuring cup.  Zap it for a minute or two, stopping twice to stir it.

Once the Nutella and cream have combined for a tasty topping, add it to your cheesecakes, filling the jar the rest of the way.  Then, return to the fridge to set until you're ready to serve up these delicious bad boys.

I left a slight gap at the top so I could place a cupcake cover over the top as a lid before closing the ring around the jar.

These are the perfect size for a picnic, or an individual portion for yourself for days to come!

Literally.  I ate one a day for about 5 days.  AMAZING.

Post-lunch snack at my desk!

Taste of Sweetness Saturday: Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes!

For this week's Taste of Sweetness, I'll show you the easiest, most amazing recipe for pumpkin cheesecakes ever.  Not only is it ridiculously simple, but it also makes more than enough to earn you more friends than you counted on this fall!

First, the recipe.  Now, I wasn't sure what kind of snaps to get, since there were no Archways (as recommended) at my local grocery store.  I did find two different brands, however.

The fancy, all natural ones were too small, but the generic Nabisco hockey-puck looking ones were perfect! and they tasted good, too.  So, they're the ones that were thrown into the cups.  Perfect, perfect fit!  Now, if you are making these the day of, the crust will be crispy.  However, after a night in the fridge, they will be soft.  Both taste fantastic, just know if you're looking for a harder or softer crust to plan accordingly.  I liked them better softer, but I had a lot of compliments on the crispy, too.  Personal preference reigns.

 The recipe starts by mixing up the cream cheese until fluffy.  I'm used to doing this when you've mixed something in the cream cheese first, but never solo.  As it was, my paranoia ran the show and I spent a lot of time fluffing my recipe at every step.  At least it looked pretty!!

Have I mentioned yet how much I love having assistants at work?!  No wonder chefs can make it look easy.  With enough people working with you, any recipe is a breeze!  To be fair, this recipe really is simple, but when you have an extra pair (or two) of hands, it goes very quickly!!

Yep, this looks like a lot of batter.  Indeed, it is.  The recipe said if you fill up the cakes two-thirds of the way, you'll make 24 mini-cheesecakes.

I filled the first batch that way.  For the second set of 24, I filled up about five-sixths of the way.  Even still, I made 48 cheesecakes, and was giving them away like it was going out of style!   It worked out really well for my work party, but if you're not having 40 people, you may want to think about halving the recipe!!

The puffed up, cracked, and fell, as expected.  I only cooked them for 18 minutes, because they went a lot faster than the recipe said they would.  Just keep an eye on them and make your adjustments accordingly.

Since no one likes cracked cakes, we added whipped cream, and then on the final night we added a dab of cream cheese frosting.  Either way, these are to die for, and they contain everything that makes you think of Fall!

In a word...AMAZING!!!