These Mini Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecakes with homemade crust are the best fall treat when you get that pumpkin craving swirled with delicious flavors of pumpkin, cinnamon, and spices!
Making the perfect pumpkin swirl cheesecake begins with the unsung hero of all cheesecakes, the crust. Mini cheesecake is notoriously difficult to find a premade crust for. I can tell you that’s a good thing. Not making your own cheesecake crust is a huge missed opportunity. A lot of people think it’s just graham cracker crumbs and butter. That is so not true!
While the highlight of a pumpkin swirl cheesecake is exactly the kind of coupling of smooth velvety creamy flavors you would expect, you can’t get anywhere without the right kind of crust. That doesn’t mean you have to go overboard on your mix of ingredients (although you certainly could). All it means is that you can give your crust more pizzazz by playing with the balance of the overall mix. I have a simple but effective blend that I personally love that is tasty and enhances the delicious treat.
How to Swirl a Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake
I’ll admit before I thought this through, the first method that occurred to me was mixing the pumpkin and the cheesecake mix in a large bowl and pouring out the swirled pattern into the individual cups like something out of a classic cartoon. Luckily I stopped myself before springing into action. The way to swirl your cheesecake is not all at once with all the ingredients in a large bowl. That will only blend the ingredients and it will result in an uneven pour.
Instead, what you want to do is dab one of each type of mixture into a crust. In my instructions below, I recommend a 2:1 ratio of cheesecake to pumpkin. Then individually swirl each cup of cheesecake and pumpkin with a knife. It’s not as magical, but it works.
Crust Ingredients
1 C crushed graham crackers
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp sugar
¼ C unsalted sweet cream butter, melted
How to Make Cheesecake Crust
Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners and preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Using a medium bowl, whisk together the crust ingredients until a moist sand-like mixture appears. Scoop in 1 ½ tablespoon of the crust into the cupcake liners. Using a flat bottom glass, press the crust mixture down to smooth it out.
Cheesecake Ingredients
2 – 8oz cream cheese
¾ C powdered sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
Pumpkin Cheesecake Ingredients
⅓ C pumpkin puree
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground allspice
2 tsp flour
How to Make Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake
Using a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until combined and smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time until combined and smooth. Set aside.
Using a medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients of the pumpkin cheesecake until combined and smooth. Whisk in 2/3 C of the cheesecake mixture.
Spoon 2 tablespoons of the plain cheesecake mixture into the crust. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the pumpkin cheesecake onto the top of the plain cheesecake. Swirl with a butter knife.
Place into the oven and bake them for 30 minutes. Allow to cool completely on the counters. Place into the fridge overnight.
Top cheesecakes with fresh whipped cream and cinnamon and enjoy!
Mini Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake Recipe
These Mini Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecakes with homemade crust are the best fall treat when you get that pumpkin craving swirled with delicious flavors of pumpkin, cinnamon, and spices!
Ingredients
Crust Ingredients
- 1 C crushed graham crackers
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp sugar
- ¼ C unsalted sweet cream butter, melted
Cheesecake Ingredients
- 2 - 8oz cream cheese
- ¾ C powdered sugar
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
Pumpkin Cheesecake Ingredients
- ⅓ C pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- 2 tsp flour
Instructions
How to Make Cheesecake Crust
- Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners and preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
- Using a medium bowl, whisk together the crust ingredients until a moist sand-like mixture appears. Scoop in 1 ½ tablespoon of the crust into the cupcake liners. Using a flat bottom glass, press the crust mixture down to smooth it out.
How to Make Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake
- Using a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until combined and smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time until combined and smooth. Set aside.
- Using a medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients of the pumpkin cheesecake until combined and smooth. Whisk in 2/3 C of the cheesecake mixture.
- Spoon 2 tablespoons of the plain cheesecake mixture into the crust. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the pumpkin cheesecake onto the top of the plain cheesecake. Swirl with a butter knife.
- Place into the oven and bake them for 30 minutes. Allow to cool completely on the counters. Place into the fridge overnight.
- Top cheesecakes with fresh whipped cream and cinnamon and enjoy!
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