Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes {with Salted Caramel Sauce}
These individual Pumpkin Cheesecakes are the perfect fall dessert! They're perfectly rich and creamy and brimming with spiced pumpkin flavor. And who can resist that decadent caramel sauce? It's a match meant to be!
Servings: 24
Prep25 minutesminutes
Cook20 minutesminutes
Cool5 hourshours30 minutesminutes
Ready in: 6 hourshours15 minutesminutes
Ingredients
Crust
1 3/4cup(220g) finely crushed graham crackers (about 14 full sheets)
Chopped pecans or lightly sweetened whipped cream(optional)
Instructions
For the crust: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together crushed graham crackers with 2 Tbsp granulated sugar.
Pour in melted butter and stir mixture until evenly coated. Divide graham cracker mixture among 24 paper lined muffin cups, adding about a heaping Tbsp to each.
Firmly press mixture into an even layer. Bake in preheated oven 5 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool while preparing filling.
For the filling: In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves until no clumps of sugar remain (break up any little clumps with your fingertips).
Add cream cheese to a large mixing bowl, pour sugar mixture over cream cheese and using an electric hand mixer set on low speed, blend together until smooth, about 30 seconds.
Mix in eggs one at a time. Blend in pumpkin and vanilla, then mix in heavy cream.
Tap bowl forcefully against countertop to release some of the excess air bubbles, about 30 times. Divide mixture over graham cracker crust in muffin liners, adding about 1/4 cup to each cup and filling nearly full.
Bake in preheated oven until nearly set (no longer very jiggly), about 20 - 25 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack at room temperature, 30 minutes, then transfer to refrigerator and chill 3 hours until set.
Top with caramel sauce and a pinch of sea salt just before serving. Add pecans or whipped cream if desired. Store (caramel and cheesecakes separate) in refrigerator in an airtight container.