| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 2 hr 10 min |
| Active: | 30 min |
| Yield: | 24 cheesecake bites |
Ingredients
- 20 gingersnap cookies, finely crushed to yield 1 1/4 cups, or 1 1/4 cups graham-cracker crumbs
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter
- 2 strips thick-cut bacon, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
- One 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup canned pumpkin
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon fine salt
Instructions
- Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 24-count mini-muffin pan with paper liners.
- For the crust: In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the crumbs and stir until the mixture forms clumps. For the filling: Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook until crispy, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon and drain on paper towels. In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese, pumpkin, maple syrup, egg, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt together until smooth. Mix in the cooked bacon.
- Using the bottom of a shot glass or a small glass bottle, press 1 teaspoon of crust mixture into the bottom of each muffin cup. Using a small ice-cream scoop, scoop 2 tablespoons of filling batter on top of each crust and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool for 20 minutes and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 96 calorie |
| Total Fat | 7 grams |
| Saturated Fat | 3.5 grams |
| Cholesterol | 25 milligrams |
| Sodium | 94 milligrams |
| Carbohydrates | 7 grams |
| Protein | 1 grams |
| Sugar | 4 grams |
Reviews
I made these mini cheesecakes for Halloween and they were a huge hit. The sweet and salty bites were delicious! One note about the recipe…it makes more crust than is needed. Next time, I will reduce the number of ginger snaps.
Not sure if my first review took. These are really amazing, sweet and savory and a great dessert for someone that’s not really into sweets (like me). I’m making these in pretty muffin paper cups for Christmas gifts today, about 60 of them. Excellent recipe. Everyone that tried them fell in love.
As an amateur cook who attempts to be “creative” with trusted recipes (don’t ask why) a yummy dessert came to life. (I’m confident it’s not as AMAZING as Giada’s masterpiece.) I used sweet potato puree instead of pumpkin, kept the vanilla, salt and maple syrup–yummy. However, I wanted to make cupcake sized “bites” and ended up over buttering the crust. Instead of adding the bacon to the mix, I used Alex G’s candied bacon recipe to top the cheesecake–OMGosh so good. 🙂 The finishing touch will be cinnamon whipped cream–I can’t wait to share it with my boys.
Lacked flavor JMDUFF? What recipe were you following? I just made these cheesecakes tonight, and they are so sweet and salty. Perfection and an absolute treat. I give this a 5 star review.
These were awful. They lacked flavor. Not quite sweet, but not quite savory. No one liked them and most were thrown out. I usually like Giada’s recipes, but definitely not this time!
I loved these, but I revised so my vegetarian friends could enjoy. Only 2 small changes. 1) Delete the bacon 2) Pipe on a little cinnamon whip cream after they’ve cooled. They were delicious!!