It’s hard to believe that it’s already October and the end of the year is upon us. Even though it doesn’t quite feel like Fall in LA, I’m still getting into October and what I like to think of as ‘pumpkin season’. I love this time of year truthfully because I LOVE pumpkin. I feel like there is a large group of us pumpkin lovers out there, am I right? It is one of my favorite dessert flavors. I love to get creative with pumpkin treats and moving beyond pumpkin pie, which brings us to this Fall sweet treat – No Bake Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Cups. (keep reading for the recipe)
Easy to whip up desserts are great because you have no excuse not to treat yourself. They’re ready in no time for a last minute dinner party, lunchbox treat, or end-of-the-day indulgence. You can also make these in advance and have them waiting for you in the fridge for the week. For this dessert I’m mashing up two beloved confections, cheesecake and cupcakes. Two delicious worlds collide to create magic. The way this comes together is rather than crush up cookies to make my cheesecake base, I’m taking Otis Spunkmeyer Mini Chocolate Cupcakes and forming them into a crust. Similar to the process of crushing cookies and mixing them up with melted butter, these Dutch cocoa iced mini chocolate cupcakes are filled with vanilla cream that helps bind the cupcakes into crust when mixed together.
The no bake pumpkin cheesecake comes together in a few easy steps and is a great one bowl recipe. A few ingredients whipped up together and you are almost in chocolate pumpkin bliss. I like to layer a generous amount of chocolate cupcakes at the bottom of a clear glass cup or mason jar, then top it with the pumpkin cheesecake mixture and some homemade whipped cream. Grab your spoon and dig in! Cheesecake and cupcakes never tasted this good.
Otis Spunkmeyer Mini Chocolate Cupcake No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecakes
makes 6 servings
Ingredients:
8 Otis Spunkmeyer Mini Chocolate Cupcakes
8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
8 ounces of pumpkin puree
3 teaspoons vanilla extract (1 teaspoon reserved for whipped cream)
1 cup heavy whipping cream (save ¼ for topping)
¼ cup brown sugar
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of ground cloves
pinch of ground cardamom (optional)
¼ teaspoon salt
In a small bowl combine mini cupcakes with a fork until they are all mixed together. Press into the bottom of 4 small glass jars or cups.
In a medium bowl whip heavy cream and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract until soft peaks form.
In the bowl of your electric mixer or using medium bowl and hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Add the brown sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, cardamom and salt and beat together for a few minutes. (You can also substitute 1 ½ teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice for these spices)
Use a spatula to fold the pumpkin puree into the mixture. Next fold in ¾ of the whipped cream, reserving ¼ of the whipped cream for topping.
Scoop pumpkin cheesecake mixture into a large plastic bag, cut the corner of the bag and pipe the filling over the cupcake crust.
Top with remaining whipped cream.
Serve immediately or refrigerate.
Have some added fun and top the whole thing with a mini cupcake, crushed cupcake or shaved chocolate!
Sweet Somethings: