Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes

Cheese cake is so good, but the idea of a whole cheese cake is to tempting for one person. I would be tempted to eat the WHOLE thing! A while ago I made some crust-less cheesecake cupcakes and they turned out pretty good so I thought, why not make cheesecake cupcakes again, but with pumpkin and gingersnap crust. Talk about the perfect little fall treat. These would be great for Thanksgiving instead of the typical Pumpkin Pie. Little individual cheesecakes for everyone, especially the kids.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes

2 cups of gluten free gingersnap crumbs (I use Trader Joe's)

6 tablespoons melted butter

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 8oz packages of cream cheese - softened

1 cup sugar

1 15oz can of pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie mix)

1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/4 teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 eggs at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line your cupcake tins with paper liners. I only have one regular cupcake tin and an mini cupcake tin, so I used both.

Crust:

Crumble the ginger snaps either in a plastic ziplock back with a rolling pin or in a food processor. Melt the butter in the microwave. Add the brown sugar and butter to the crumbled ginger snaps in a medium bowl and mix until all crumbs are moist.

Scoop about one table spoon into the bottom of each cupcake liner and press down (I used the bottom of one of my spice jars...it fits perfectly for the regular tins, for the mini tin I used the back of my coffee scoop).

Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, let cool in pan on wire rack.





Filling:

In a stand mixer, cream the sugar and cream cheese together until smooth, add the pumpkin puree, vanilla, pumpkin spice and salt. Mix well. Add one egg at a time. Continue to mix until the mixture is completely combined and smooth.



Scoop the mixture into the prepared cupcake liners. I used the same coffee scoop that I used to press the crust into the bottom to do this. It was the perfect size - three scoops for the regular tin and 1 1/2 - 2 for the mini ones.



For the regular tins bake for 40 minutes, rotating 180 degrees half way through. For the mini tins bake for 30 minutes, rotating 180 degrees half way through.Cool in the pan on a wire rack until completely cooled, cover and refrigerate for at least six hours.



Top with whipped cream, caramel sauce or candied pecans if you wish. I hope you enjoy these tasty little treats!

Coconut Cream-Cheese Squares

I found this on Tropical Traditions website when I first ordered their Coconut Flour.  I was a little skeptical about making them because the Coconut flour is very dense and I'm not used to baking/cooking with it yet.  But these turned out great.  I didn't have coconut oil so I just used canola oil. I added a chocolate topping to them too.

Coconut Cream Cheese Squares:

• 1 box (8 oz.) organic cream cheese (soften)


• 1 stick butter


• 1 cup organic coconut flour


• ½ cup organic whole sugar


• 4 large eggs


• 2½ tsp. organic vanilla extract


• 1 Tbsp. Virgin Coconut Oil

Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees F. Brush pan with coconut oil.

Beat butter and cream cheese in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer. Mix until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Beat well. Add sugar gradually, continue mixing. Add coconut flour and vanilla; beat until well blended.

Pour batter into a 11x7 inches rectangular pan (pre-greased, see above.)

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Cool the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Chocolate Topping:

1/2 cup Dark Chocolate Chips

1 tablespoon of Butter cut in fours

1 table spoon of water

Add all ingredients to a microwave safe bowl.  Melt together in 30 second intervals, until completely melted.  Spread evenly over the top of the lightly cooled squares.  Once chocolate and squares have cooled completely, cut and enjoy.

Cheesecake

I had a huge craving for cheesecake the other day. I've made some mini crust-less ones in cupcake pans before but never a full cheese cake. I figured I have the pan, why not try it. I'm so happy I did. I have to say it came out pretty tasty for being my first attempt at it. Best part, its 100% gluten free!
Crust:
1 bag of the Trader Joe's Gluten Free Ginger Snaps (about 1 1/2 cups of the crumbs)
1/4 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of melted unsalted butter

Mix the melted butter, sugar and cookie crumbs together in a bowl and then press into a 9 inch spring form cheese cake pan. Make sure that the crumbs come up a little bit on the sides.

Bake for 8-10 minutes at 375° - COOL

Cheesecake:

3 packages (8 ounces each) of cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tbs Lemon Zest
3 eggs, at room temperature

Mix cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest until creamy and smooth in an electric stand mixer
Add eggs (one at a time) until blended
Pour mixture into cooled crust
Bake at 325° for 45 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool and then refrigerate for a minimum of three hours or over night.

Serve with fruit or your favorite topping!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Cinnamon-Vanilla Frosting

The cupcake recipe is from Bob's Red Mill.  I was on the hunt for a new cupcake recipe and didn't find too much right away.   I went on Bob's Red Mill site and looked to see if he had any and found this chocolate cake recipe instead.  I figured why not just make cupcakes out of this cake recipe.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Cinnamon-Vanilla Frosting

1-1/2 cup Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour

1 cup Brown Sugar

1/2 cup Cocoa powder, unsweetened

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Xanthan Gum

3/4 tsp. Salt

1/2 cup Milk (cow, soy or rice)

1/3 cup Butter, Margarine or Shortening

1 large Egg

1 tsp. Vanilla

3/4 cup warm brewed Coffee

Preheat oven to 350degrees. Line a cupcake pan with paper lingers. Set aside. Place all ingredients, except coffee, in large bowl and blend with electric mixer. Add coffee and mix until thoroughly blended. Pour into prepared cupcake pan and bake for 20 minutes minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Serves 16.

Cinnamon-Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

4oz butter softened

4oz cream cheese softened

2 cups powder sugar divided

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

~In large bowl beat the butter and cream cheese with electric mixer
~Switch the mixer to low speed and add the powder sugar one cup at a time ~Mix until smooth and creamy, add cinnamon
~Beat in the vanilla extract

(I really do heart cupcakes!)

Happy Birthday Lisa

Last night we went out to celebrate Lisa's 30th birthday at the Swiss Bistro in Carmel.  After dinner we headed back to my place for some cake and ice cream.I used the Bob's Red Mill Chocolate Cake Mix (which by the way is wicked good!!) with a little home made cream cheese frosting colored purple, just for her.

Cream Cheese Frosting

4oz butter softened
4oz cream cheese softened
2 cups powder sugar divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

~In large bowl beat the butter and cream cheese with electric mixer
~Switch the mixer to low speed and add the powder sugar one cup at a time until smooth and creamy
~Beat in the vanilla extract