I miss you guys! What’s happening? What’s new? How’s your pumpkin carving/Halloween costuming/PSL consumption going this year?

We are a bit of a Halloween-neutral family. We will dress up if there’s a party to go to, take the kids trick-or-treating, buy a few pumpkins and hit the fall festival scene, but we don’t love Halloween. We like it just fine, but it’s not our favorite holiday. I am always last minute with the costumes and the candy and what not. This year E had planned on being a ghost (BEST DIY COSTUME EVER, SCORE!) but changed his mind and now wants to be a plane (!!?!?! How do I make that!?!) So now the plan is make a cardboard plane, and then little L can go along and dress as a cloud. We’ll see if this plan actually goes forward.

Making these cheesecake bites provided me the perfect opportunity to continue procrastinating on the costumes this week. There was a last minute opportunity to bring a dessert to our house church and I wanted to make something pumpkin-y, but not TOO pumpkin-y, if you know what I mean. Dessert spreads can really be pumpkin overkill this time of year.

The first thing that came to mind was to pumpkin-ize this old recipe for chocolate-covered cheesecake bites. I remember really loving them the first time around and I thought they’d be a great bite-size party treat. I tweaked the recipe a bit and everything turned out perfectly. I love when that happens!

If you are grain-free or gluten-free, you can still make this recipe. Try Carrie’s grain-free graham crackers or  Shauna’s gluten-free graham crackers. If you are dairy-free/vegan/paleo, I feel for you, I love you, but this one’s not gonna work for you. BUT, behold these amazing-looking vegan pumpkin cheesecake pops! They look very similar and would totally work for you, yay! Everyone’s tummies are happy.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites

 

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Prep time

10 hours

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

11 hours

 

adapted from Handle the Heat makes about 36 squares

Author: Oven Love

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 36

Ingredients

• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs (regular, gluten-free or grain-free as needed)
• 1 stick butter, melted and cooled
• 8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
• 5 oz mascarpone cheese, at room temperature (substitute more cream cheese here if you prefer)
• ½ cup granulated sugar (I used coconut sugar, you could use date sugar as well)
• ½ cup plain yogurt or sour cream
• ½ cup pumpkin puree
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• 16 ounces chocolate for melting (refined-sugar free, if necessary)
• 4 tablespoons coconut oil
• more crushed graham crackers, for topping

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8×8 square baking dish with foil and grease with butter or non-stick spray.
2. To make the crust: Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter in a small dish. Press mixture evenly into your pan and bake 8-12 minutes, or until light golden and fragrant.
3. Reduce oven heat to 325 degrees.
4. To make the filling: Beat cream cheese, mascarpone (if using) and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth, 2-3 minutes. Add in yogurt/sour cream, pumpkin, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg and beat until just combined. Pour mixture over the crust and bake 35-40 minutes or until the cheesecake is slightly puffed and the center is set. Cool to room temperature on a wire rack.
5. Refrigerate until chilled (about 2 hours) then place in the freezer, 8 hours or overnight.
6. To coat: Once the cheesecake is frozen, lift it out of the pan and gently peel away the foil. Using a sharp knife, cut the cheesecake into 36 squares. Place in the freezer until you’re ready to dip them.
7. Melt the chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave or double-boiler until smooth. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet. Dip the squares, one at a time, in the chocolate. Let the excess drip off and place on the prepared sheet. Top with graham cracker crumbs, if using. Then refrigerate or freeze until the chocolate is set.
8. Trim excess chocolate, if necessary, and serve cold. Store in the refrigerator or freezer in an airtight container.

3.1.09

Stuffed French Toast Cupcakes
by Oven Love
makes about 16 cupcakes

For the cupcakes (adapted from Cupcake Project):

• 1 3/4 cups (175 grams) cake flour, not self-rising
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup (225 grams) granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup (75 grams) full-fat sour cream
• 1/4 cup canola oil or vegetable oil (60 ml)
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon maple extract
• 2/3 cup (160 ml) whole milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, mix together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
3. Add the sugar and mix until well combined.
4. Add butter and mix on medium-low speed for three minutes.  Because there is so little butter, you’ll end up with a very fine crumb texture.
5. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream, oil, vanilla extract and maple extract until smooth.
6. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined.
7. Slowly add milk and mix on low speed until just combined.  The batter will be liquid.  (Don’t worry, you didn’t do anything wrong.  It’s supposed to be that way.)
8. Fill cupcake liners just over 1/2 full.
9. Bake for 14 minutes and then test to see if they are done. They are done when a toothpick comes out without wet batter stuck to it. If they are not done, test again in two minutes.  If they are still not done, test again in another two minutes.
10. When the cupcakes are done, remove them immediately from the tins and leave them on a cooling rack (or just on your counter if you don’t own a cooling rack) to cool.

For the filling:

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 6-8 strawberries, diced
• 3 tablespoons strawberry or raspberry jam

1. In a small bowl, mix together cream cheese, diced strawberries and jam. To fill the cupcakes, cut a circle in the center of the cupcake to make a hole and remove the excess cake with a spoon. Spoon the filling into the hole.

For the frosting:

• 12 oz cream cheese, softened
• 8 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 1-2 tablespoons strawberry or raspberry jam

1. In a stand mixer, mix cream cheese until smooth- no lumps. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the butter, mixing again until smooth. Add the vanilla and powdered sugar and mix until smooth. If the mixture is too soft, add additional powdered sugar or chill in the refrigerator before piping.
2. To frost the cupcakes using the swirl effect, prepare a pastry bag with a large round tip. Using a spoon, smear a few lines of jam up the sides of the pastry bag. Fill the bag with the cream cheese mixture. Pipe onto the cupcakes in a circular motion.

For the toppings:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 thick slices french bread
• 4 strawberries, sliced

1.  Heat a small frying pan over medium heat. Meanwhile, whisk together the egg, milk, vanilla and cinnamon in a shallow bowl. Dip the slices of bread into the mixture until soaked through. Add the butter to the pan and fry the slices until golden brown. Let cool, cut into cubes and top each cupcake with a french toast cube and a strawberry slice. (Tip: slice the strawberries first and let them sit out a bit on a paper towel so their juices evaporate and you don’t have a soggy mess on your cupcake.)