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Pumpkin cheesecake bites are rich, creamy, and perfectly spiced with a two-ingredient gingersnap cookie crust. This two-bite-sized sweet treat requires just 15 minutes of hands-on prep time, and is the perfect fall dessert.
For the lovers of pumpkin and/or cheesecake, get ready for your new favorite fall treat! Creamy cheesecake laced with warm spices and rich with golden pumpkin is sure to be a hit at your house. As if pumpkin spice wasn’t autumnal enough, to make it even more festive and perfect for holiday celebrations, we use gingersnap cookies for the crust.
If you want a quick and easy Thanksgiving dessert idea, this is perfect. Watch peoples’ eyes light up when you mention pumpkin cheesecake. But it’ll be our little secret that it’s a whole lot simpler to make in bite-sized form; no water bath needed!
Why This Recipe is a Winner
- Quick and easy! With just 15 minutes of hands-on prep time and around 20 minutes to bake, cheesecake doesn’t get much quicker. If you’re looking for a beginner-friendly holiday dessert or a dessert to make with kids, this one is perfect. And bonus, these freeze well! They’re good to keep stashed in your freezer during the holidays in case you have a friend unexpectedly pop by and want a sweet treat to enjoy with a pot of tea.
- Full of festive fall flavor. As soon as pumpkin spice season rolls around, this recipe is a great option. Whether you need a dessert for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or a random fall gathering, pumpkin cheesecake fits the bill.
- Portion control built right in. Around the holidays there’s always a ton of decadent foods available. Between the work parties, family gatherings, and actual holidays, there’s a variety of temptation just about everywhere you look. If you’re trying to watch what you eat to lose or maintain your weight, instead of depriving yourself, why not try exercising moderation? A small dessert portion like a mini cheesecake can help you feel satisfied so you don’t overindulge! Without any toppings, each of these individual cheesecakes has less than 150 calories.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites Ingredients
Breaking It Down
Ingredients Explained
In this section I explain the ingredients and give substitution ideas where applicable. For the full recipe (including the ingredient amounts), see the recipe card below.
- Cream cheese – This is the base of our cheesecake; cream cheese adds rich, creamy texture and a subtly tangy flavor. For this recipe, make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature or slightly softened.
- Pumpkin puree – You can use homemade or store-bought pumpkin puree, just make sure it’s not pumpkin pie filling.
- Light brown sugar – Along with sweetness, brown sugar adds notes of caramel and molasses.
- Egg – Egg helps create the perfect texture and makes sure our cheesecake isn’t too dense.
- Vanilla extract – For depth of flavor and aroma.
- Pumpkin pie spice – This earthy, warm, sweet spice blend usually contains a mixture of the following: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and cloves. Black pepper usually isn’t included in pumpkin spice blends, but it’s a common addition to pumpkin spice’s Christmas-y cousin, gingerbread spice mix.
- Salt – A natural flavor enhancer that makes sure our dessert isn’t bland or overly sweet.
- Gingersnap cookies – Gingersnap cookies add delicious gingerbread flavor to this festive dessert that pairs beautifully with pumpkin cheesecake. Here we crumble 24 small crunchy gingersnap cookies, which is just over 1 1/2 cups of crumbs.
- Unsalted butter – We mix melted butter with the cookie crumbs to form the crust of our cheesecakes. Salted butter will also work here.
How to Make Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites
To prep, preheat the oven to 350F. Line regular muffin tray with 16 paper liners.
- Add the gingersnap cookies to a food processor and process until crumbled.
- Add the melted butter and pulse a few times to combine.
- Divide the gingersnap crumbs between 16 lined muffin wells (about 1 heaping tablespoon of crumbs per muffin well). Use a shot glass, the flat end of a wooden spoon, or your fingertips to press the crumbs down into the muffin wells.
- Add the cream cheese, pumpkin puree, light brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, and salt to a large bowl. Use a handheld beater to mix until smooth.
- Divide the cheesecake mixture between the muffin wells.
- Bake on a rack in the center of the oven until the cheesecakes are set along the outside and just a touch jiggly in the center, about 18 to 22 minutes. Put the cheesecake pans on a wire rack to cool to room temperature (about 30 minutes). After that, transfer them to the fridge to chill completely, about 2 hours.
Pro Tip: Temperature Matters
Take the cream cheese out of the fridge at least an hour (two is better!) before you want to make this. The cream cheese needs to be at room temperature or slightly softened when you make the cheesecake batter. This makes for a super creamy cheesecake, and also ensures you don’t have to over-mix. Over-mixing causes tiny bubbles to form, and can lead to a collapsed cheesecake or a sunken-in-the-middle cheesecake.
Storage
Store mini cheesecakes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Wait to add any toppings (such as whipped cream) until right before serving.
Variations
- Crust – Instead of using gingersnap cookies for the crust, you can use crushed graham crackers, vanilla wafers, or even shortbread cookies. Whatever you use, you’ll need a slightly heaping 1 1/2 cups of cookie crumbs.
- Spice blend – If you’re not a fan of pumpkin pie spice mix, you can substitute with any warm spices you like. This will still be delicious even if you just use cinnamon!
- Toppings – There are a ton of different topping options! Here are a few ideas: whipped cream (or Cool Whip), caramel sauce, butterscotch sauce, gold sanding sugar (this is perfect if you want to make it special for a holiday dessert!), and/or crumbled gingersnaps.
Special Diet Friendly
This recipe is easy to make gluten free, low carb, or keto friendly!
- Gluten free version – Use gluten free gingersnap cookies.
- Low carb and keto friendly version – Use keto butter cookie crumbs for the crust (you can add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon or pumpkin spice to the cookie crumbs), and keto brown sugar in the filling.
Tips For Success
- If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, you can easily substitute with what you have in your pantry. Instead of the 1 1/2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice that this recipe calls for, use the following ground spices: 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon allspice, and 1/8 teaspoon cloves.
- You don’t need any special equipment to bake these individual cheesecakes. A standard muffin pan works perfectly here.
- This is meant to be a mini dessert (it’s perfect for portion control!); each mini cheesecake is about two to three bites and just under 150 calories. If you want to make thicker cheesecakes, you can make 12 servings instead of 16 and increase the bake time slightly to 20 to 25 minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nope! One of the best things about making small cheesecakes in a muffin pan is that you don’t need a water bath (aka bain marie) to bake them.
There are two main precautions we use to help prevent our cheesecake bites from cracking: 1) make sure not to over-bake them, and 2) bake them in the center of the oven. Follow the instructions in the recipe card, and your cheesecakes should turn out just fine. And even if they do crack on top, you can serve them topped with a dollop of whipped cream and no one will be the wiser!
When you’re making individual cheesecakes, make sure your ingredients are at room temperature to help prevent them from collapsing or sinking in the middle. The cream cheese in particular needs to be at room temperature or slightly softened so it combines well with the other cheesecake ingredients without the need for over-mixing. This is because over-mixing can cause aeration, which leads to mini cheesecakes collapsing.
More Pumpkin Dessert Recipes to Try
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Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites Recipe
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Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature or slightly softened
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree homemade or store-bought, but not pumpkin pie filling
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar lightly packed
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 24 gingersnap cookies just over 1 1/2 cups of crumbs
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
Optional Topping Suggestions for Serving:
- Whipped cream or Cool Whip
- Caramel sauce
- Butterscotch sauce
- Gold sanding sugar
- Crumbled gingersnaps
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a muffin tray with 16 paper liners.
- Add the gingersnap cookies to a food processor and process until crumbled. Add the melted butter and pulse a few times to combine.
- Divide the gingersnap crumbs between 16 lined muffin wells (about 1 heaping tablespoon of crumbs per muffin well). Use a shot glass, the flat end of a wooden spoon, or your fingertips to press the crumbs down into the muffin wells.
- Add the cream cheese, pumpkin puree, light brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, and salt to a large bowl. Use a handheld beater to mix until smooth.
- Divide the cheesecake mixture between the muffin wells.
- Bake on a rack in the center of the oven until the cheesecakes are set along the outside and just a touch jiggly in the center, about 18 to 22 minutes.
- Put the cheesecake pans on a wire rack to cool to room temperature (about 30 minutes). After that, transfer them to the fridge to chill completely, about 2 hours.
- Serve with any toppings you like.
Notes
- Recipe Yield and Serving Size: This recipe makes 16 pumpkin cheesecake bites; each mini cheesecake is 1 serving.
- Nutrition Information: The nutritional information for this recipe was calculated without the optional topping suggestions.
- Portion Size: This is meant to be a mini dessert (it’s perfect for portion control!); each mini cheesecake is about two to three bites and just under 150 calories. If you want to make thicker cheesecakes, you can make 12 servings instead of 16 and increase the bake time slightly to 20 to 25 minutes.
- Storage: Store mini cheesecakes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Wait to add any toppings (such as whipped cream) until right before serving.
- Gluten Free Version: Use gluten free gingersnap cookies.
- Low Carb and Keto Friendly Version: Use keto butter cookie crumbs in the crust (you can add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon or pumpkin spice to the cookie crumbs), and keto brown sugar in the filling.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximate.
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I’m the writer, recipe developer, photographer, and food stylist behind this blog. I love finding the human connection through something we all do every day: eat! Food is a common ground that we can all relate to, and our tables tell a story. It’s my goal to inspire you to get in the kitchen, try something new, and find a favorite you didn’t know you had.
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