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mini pumpkin cheesecakes

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I thought my light and fluffy mini cheesecakes couldn’t get any better, but pumpkin and biscoff cookies are a match made in heaven. These mini pumpkin cheesecakes are smooth and fluffy with a lightly spiced pumpkin flavor and paired with a buttery biscoff crust. This cheesecake is a little different than a typical dense cheesecake- it’s much lighter thanks to whipped egg whites.

Ingredients

Scale

the crust

215g Lotus Biscoff cookie crumbs (this is just shy of an 8.8 oz. package)

50g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar

57g (4 Tbsp) butter, melted (unsalted or salted)

the filling

122g (1/2 cup) Libby’s pumpkin puree

100g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar

12 oz. (1 1/2 bricks) cream cheese, room temp

40g (3 Tbsp) sour cream

2 egg yolks

2 egg whites

2 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract

1/4 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or 1/8 tsp table salt)

1/2 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice

the topping

120g (1/2 cup) heavy whipping cream

7g (1 Tbsp) powdered sugar

120g (1/2 cup) sour cream

25g (2 Tbsp) granulated sugar

1/4 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or 1/8 tsp table salt)

1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract

the whipped cream

240g (1 cup) heavy whipping cream

30g (1/4 cup) powdered sugar

1/4 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or 1/8 tsp table salt)

1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract

cinnamon or nutmeg for finishing

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 F (177 C).

Stir together the crushed biscoff cookies, granulated sugar, and melted butter until it is fully combined and resembles moist sand.

Place six 4″ tart pans with removable bottoms on a baking sheet. Press the crumbs into the tart pans using a 1/4″ measuring cup to press into the sides and bottoms firmly. Make sure the crumbs are as tightly pressed as possible.

Bake the tart shells for 6-7 minutes.

Cool the shells on the baking sheet before filling. Lower the oven temp to 325 F (163 C).

While the shells are cooling down, beat the cream cheese with a mixer until it is smooth. Add the sugar  and salt and continue mixing until combined. Add the egg yolks, pumpkin, sour cream, salt, and vanilla. Mix just until combined and finish off with a spatula to make sure everything is evenly combined. (You don’t want to over mix at this stage or the egg yolks will gain volume and cause cracking in the final cheesecakes.)

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they reach soft peaks. (Not stiff peaks.) Add the beaten egg whites to the cream cheese mixture and gently fold in until combined. (Be careful not to over fold and cause the egg whites to deflate.)

Evenly scoop the cheesecake filling into the biscoff cookie tart shells and gently smooth out the surfaces. A cookie scoop is a really helpful tool with scooping the filling, and an offset spatula is helpful for smoothing them out.

Bake for 30-35 minutes at 325 F (163 C) until set but jiggly. They will deflate as they cool and look slightly wrinkly on top.

Cool the cheesecakes at room temperature for about an hour before topping them with the whipped sour cream topping.

To make the topping, whisk together the sour cream, granulated sugar, kosher salt, and vanilla bean paste. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whip the heavy whipping cream with the powdered sugar until it reaches stiff peaks. Gently fold the whipped cream into the sour cream mixture until combined, but don’t over mix.

Smooth the whipped sour cream topping over the tops of the cooled cheesecakes. Cover and refrigerate overnight to fully set.

When ready to serve, remove the cheesecakes from the tart pans. Be very delicate, because the cookie crumb crust is barely being held together. If you’d like, make the whipped cream. Combine the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, kosher salt, and vanilla and beat with a hand mixer (or whisk) until you reach stiff peaks. Place the whipped cream into a piping bag with whatever fancy tip you’d like to use and pipe onto the cheesecakes any way you’d like. I like to do one dollop in the middle or a bunch all around the edge of the cheesecake. Finish with a sprinkling of nutmeg or cinnamon.

Notes

  • I recommend using the weight measurements rather than the volume if you can because it is a significantly more accurate (and easier) way to measure. If you prefer the volume measurements, I have added them for you, but I do recommend you try a scale. You may love it.
  • You can use salted or unsalted butter in this recipe, and honestly I would prefer salted.
  • Feel free to use vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste, but know that vanilla bean paste has a much stronger vanilla flavor and also adds the pretty speckles.
  • Table salt and Diamond Crystal kosher salt are not interchangeable as a 1:1 swap. If you’re going to use table salt, use half the amount called for of Diamond Crystal. I definitely recommend buying a big box of Diamond Crystal because it will last you a while and is the best salt for baking.
  • Make sure to check that your oven temp is accurate! You may be surprised by how off it can really be, and an oven thermometer is a cheap little tool that may save you a big headache.
  • This recipe makes 6 individual cheesecakes, but it can easily be doubled to make 12 cheesecakes. You will need 12 tart pans.
  • I use the Wilton 4″ mini tart pans with removable bottoms.
  • This recipe is adapted from Taste of Home’s Light and Airy Cheesecake that my family made so so many times while I was growing up.
  • If the crust is feeling dry while mixing, add another tbsp or two of melted butter.
  • Use full fat cream cheese, such as Philadelphia.
  • I use Libby’s pumpkin puree NOT pumpkin pie filling. I don’t recommend using an organic puree because there is a lot of extra moisture.
  • The cheesecakes tend to puff up a lot in the oven and deflate when they start to cool. They will also look a bit wrinkly. Don’t worry, the creamy topping covers it up!