I am sad to say that my son has officially arrived at the age where he is too cool to treat-or-treat.  I miss the days when we planned a costume and I made special treat bags for all his closest friends.  While I don’t usually dress up for the holiday I always enjoyed making him a costume. One year he wanted to be Harry Potter so I spent several weeks knitting him up an authentic Gryffindor scarf.  I guess I have to now satisfy myself with enjoying other little monsters and princesses that come to my door.

Needless to say I am horribly unprepared for Halloween this year.  I thought a pumpkin treat would get me in the spirit of the holiday.  I love pumpkin in any form and cheesecake is one of my favorite indulgences.  By making mini no-bake cheesecakes this is a dessert that is perfect for last minute gathering since you can have it ready from start to finish in about 20 minutes.   Have a safe and happy Halloween and visit me at www.scalingbackblog.com for more recipes!

No-bake pumpkin cheesecakes   

Ingredients:

For the crust:

7 graham crackers or 1 cup of your favorite graham cookie or gingersnaps

¼ cup roasted hazelnuts

3 tablespoons butter

For the filling:

1 ½ cups heavy cream divided

2 tablespoons maple syrup

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 cup pure pumpkin puree

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup maple syrup

½ teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

or

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground ginger

a pinch of ground cloves

Method:

In a food processor or high-speed blender crush the cookies and hazelnuts into fine crumbs.  In a small skillet melt the butter over medium heat and then cook stirring occasionally until the butter starts to brown and smells nutty 4-5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and add the butter to the cookie mixture and stir to combine.  Reserve 2 tablespoons of the mixture for garnish and divide the remaining mixture evenly into six small serving containers pressing gently to form an even layer.

Whip one cup of heavy cream in the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment until stiff peaks form and set aside.  In the same bowl that you whipped the cream in add the cream cheese, pumpkin puree, brown sugar, maple syrup, salt and spices and process until smooth.  Gently fold the reserved cup of whipped cream in two separate additions. 

Clean the bowl of the stand mixer and whip the remaining ½ cup of the heavy cream and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup until stiff peaks form.

Pipe the pumpkin mixture over the prepared cookie layer and then pipe or dollop the maple whipped cream over the top and sprinkle with the reserved crumbs.