Mini Pumpkin Pie Cheesecakes with Wafer Cookie Crust
These adorable mini pumpkin cheesecakes are everything a holiday dessert should be: indulgent, decadent and guaranteed to produce big smiles at any fall gathering.
These little bites of holiday heaven are a perfect one-bite size, require no water bath or springform pan, and are virtually impossible to mess up. Made with a creamy pumpkin filling, warm holiday spices and a vanilla wafer crust, no Thanksgiving is complete without them.
I haven’t even gotten to the best part. Because these are made with less fat cream cheese and have no sour cream or heavy whipping cream, this miniature delight has only 174 calories per cheesecake. You read that right, a deliciously guilt-free pumpkin season or Thanksgiving dessert.
Has the pumpkin bug caught you and you can’t stop at just cheesecake? Fear not pumpkin addicts, I’ve got homemade pumpkin pie, pumpkin pudding and pumpkin banana cookies, calling your name.
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- Perfect one-bite size.
- Easy to make with minimal ingredients.
- The cookie crust is a fun twist on a traditional cheesecake crust.
Ingredients and Substitutions:
These are the main ingredients for these pumpkin pie cheesecakes. See the recipe card below for the full ingredients list and instructions.
- Vanilla Wafer Cookies: we’re using these for the crust for a fun twist on a classic graham cracker crust. You can use graham crackers in its place but I recommend trying these out.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: store-bought or homemade.
- Butter: or coconut oil.
- Cream Cheese: must be softened so it combines with the sugar. I used less fat cream cheese but for a super creamy cheesecake, use full-fat.
- Dark Brown Sugar: light brown or sugar substitute is ok. Sugar replacement will change the taste and texture of your filling.
- Pure Pumpkin Puree: canned pumpkin puree is 100% straight pumpkin, nothing else. Pumpkin pie filling has added sugar and spices and using that instead of puree and will make these way too sweet. I like to save the extra pumpkin puree for these chocolate pumpkin swirl brownies.
- All-Purpose Flour: you can omit the flour for a lighter and fluffier texture.
Variations
- If you’re a cheesecake purist and prefer a buttery graham cracker crust, feel free to forgo the vanilla wafers and use the same amount of graham cracker crumbs.
- Add a healthy dollop of whipped cream, Cool Whip, caramel sauce or maple syrup to your finished mini cheesecakes.
Dietary Modifications
- For gluten-free, you can use a gluten-free wafer or graham crackers and gluten-free flour, such as Bob’s 1:1.
- I don’t recommend making dairy-free as the cream cheese really is the secret sauce to the perfect creamy filling.
How to make mini pumpkin cheesecakes (a visual step-by-step guide):
Step 1: prep the crust
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and line a muffin tin with paper liners.
In a food processor, crumble the vanilla wafer cookies and pumpkin pie spice until well crushed and you have a bowl of fine crumbs.
Pour in the melted butter and pulse to combine. The mixture should resemble wet sand.
Step 2: cook the crust
Using a 1 ½ Tablespoon cookie scoop, place one full scoop of crust in each liner in the muffin pan and press firmly into the bottom. Bake for 6-10 minutes or until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool while making the cheesecake filling.
Step 3: make the cheesecake filling
In a large bowl, beat the less-fat cream cheese and dark brown sugar until light and fluffy with a hand or electric mixer, about 3-5 minutes.
Mix in the pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and flour until incorporated.
Slowly beat in the large egg, just until combined. Do not overmix your cheesecake batter.
Step 4: fill the cups and bake
Place 1 and ½ scoops of the pumpkin cheesecake filling in each prepared and cooled crust using the cookie scoop. Evenly distributed between all 12 muffin tins.
Bake cheesecakes for 12-15 minutes or until the edges are set and the middle slightly wobbles.
Step 5: let cool and set
Allow the mini cupcakes to cool to room temperature, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight, for best results.
When ready to serve, remove from the baking pan, top with syrup, whipped topping and pumpkin pie spice, and serve.
Expert Tip!
Make sure your cream cheese is softened. Creaming the sugar and cream cheese together only works if the cream cheese is soft enough to incorporate into the sugar, resulting in a smooth, rich filling. Using cold cream cheese will result in lumps of cream cheese.
Recipe FAQs
Whipped cream, sprinkle of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice, maple syrup, caramel sauce or just by themselves as a deliciously perfect fall dessert.
Store your cheesecakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. The toppings do not store well, so I recommend garnishing just before serving. You can freeze the cheesecakes for more extended storage for 2-3 months. They can be kept in the freezer for 2-3 months. Allow frozen cheesecakes to thaw in the refrigerator before serving.
One of the most beautiful things about making these mini cheesecakes is that you don’t need a water bath. Unlike a traditional, full-sized baked cheesecake, these mini cheesecakes cook evenly without the help of a water bath and don’t crack on the top. They are also amazing because they can be easily made in one bowl and take 15 minutes to prep for baking!
Check out some of our other pumpkin recipes!
If you make this recipe, please leave a rating and/or comment! Tag me on Instagram @ohsnapmacros, I love hearing from you!
Mini Pumpkin Pie Cheesecakes
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Ingredients
Crust
- 5.5 oz. vanilla wafer cookies 1/2 a box
- 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 cup salted butter melted
Cheesecake
- 8 oz. 1/3 less fat cream cheese softened
- 1/3 cup dark brown sugar packed 56g
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree 120g *not pumpkin pie filling
- 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 1 egg
Toppings
- Whipped topping
- pumpkin pie spice
- caramel sauce
- maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. In a food processor, crumble the vanilla wafer cookies and pumpkin pie spice until well crushed and you have a bowl of fine crumbs.
- Pour in the melted butter and pulse to combine. The mixture should resemble wet sand.
- Using a 1 ½ Tablespoon cookie scoop, place one full scoop of crust in each liner in the muffin pan and press firmly into the bottom. Bake for 6-10 minutes or until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool while making the cheesecake filling.
- To make the cheesecake filling, in a large bowl beat the less-fat cream cheese and dark brown sugar until light and fluffy with a hand or electric mixer, about 3-5 minutes. The sugar should not be grainy at this point but well incorporated into the cream cheese.
- Mix in the pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and flour until incorporated.
- Slowly beat in the large egg, just until combined. Do not overmix your cheesecake batter.
- Place one and ½ scoop of the pumpkin cheesecake filling in each prepared and cooled crust using the cookie scoop. Evenly distributed between all 12 muffin tins.
- Bake cheesecakes for 12-15 minutes or until the edges are set and the middle slightly wobbles.
- Allow the mini cupcakes to cool to room temperature, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight for best results.
- When ready to serve, remove from the baking pan, top with syrup, whipped topping, and pumpkin pie spice, and serve.
Video
Notes
- Store your Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. The toppings do not store well, so I recommend garnishing just before serving. You can freeze the cheesecakes for more extended storage for 2-3 months. They can be kept in the freezer for 2-3 months. Allow frozen cheesecakes to thaw in the refrigerator before serving.
- Substitute full-fat cream cheese for less fat.
- Omit all-purpose flour for a lighter, fluffier texture.
- Light brown sugar is a good substitute if needed. Granulated white sugar can also be used; however, it doesn’t have quite the same flavor.
- Use canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. Filling will make the cheesecakes too sweet.
Fav. Fav. Fav. My hubby isn’t a big pumpkin pie fan, so we switched it up with pumpkin cheesecake. Delish! Also super easy to make.
These are seriously amazing. I’ve made this recipe 3 times now and every time they’ve come out perfect!
SO GOOD. I used cinnamon graham crackers instead of the vanilla wafers (since that’s what I had on hand) and they turned out amazing!
Yay!! So glad you loved them!