Mini Gluten-Free Low-Sugar Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe

These mini pumpkin cheesecakes are perfect for the holidays! They have a gluten-free almond crust and I opted to just use less sweetener instead of using a substitute. Personally, I don’t eat desserts often, so they are now very sweet to me. If you’ve been following a Paleo, Keto, or Low carb diet, you probably feel the same way. Most artificial sweeteners go through long drawn out processes to become the final product. I stick to natural products and just use a small amount. You can always add sweetness with the whipped cream!

Gluten Free Almond Flour Crust:

• 1 Cup Almond flour (used Anthony’s unblanched almond flour)
• 4 Tbsp Butter softened + small amount for greasing
• ½ tsp. Maple Syrup
• Sprinkle of Cinnamon & pinch of salt

Makes 12- 16 crusts in a 12 cup silicone cupcake mold. (You will need 16 if you plan to do the full cheesecake recipe)
-Preheat oven to 300℉ (150℃). I use a glove to grease the silicone muffin pan with butter on the bottom and sides around the bottom. (You could make this in a traditional muffin tin, but the time could vary and you might have issues removing your cheesecakes later.)
-Add all ingredients to a medium bowl. You can mash it with a fork, but I find it easiest to just mix it with my gloved hand until it’s all the same crumbly texture that can be formed in a ball.
-Press about 3/4 Tbsp of the crust mixture into the bottom of each cup and level it out with your fingers. Use any leftovers to even out cups that seem short.
-Put muffin pan on a sheet pan and bake about 12-15 min until beginning to brown. Let cool for at least 15 min.

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I wanted this recipe to fit exactly into 12 or 24 muffin tins, but it just didn’t work out without using half blocks of cream cheese or eggs. Looking at other recipes, it seems to be common, so I decided to leave it. It makes 16 cupcake sized cheesecakes. I found they actually cooked fine without crusts at this temperature, so you can spread the crust to fit 16 cups or make 12 with crusts and 4 without if you don’t have 2 pans and want to just quickly bake off the remaining batter.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling:

• 16 oz Organic cream cheese (You can also make your own)
• 2 Tbs Maple syrup (can double for a traditional sweetness level)
• 2/3 cup Pumpkin puree
• 3 Large eggs
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
• 2 pinches Cloves

-Beat the softened cream cheese in a large bowl until it’s smooth.
-Add everything else and stir until well combined. If you use the mixer, keep the speed low so you don’t incorporate too much air & whip it. Mix until just combined, not longer.
-Place silicone mold onto sheet pan. Rub butter on the sides of the silicone mold above the prebaked crusts.
-Ladle or pour the batter evenly among the 16 cups.
-Cook for 20 min at 300 F. Should still be set but still jiggly in the middle.
-Let them cool for 10 minutes then move the cupcake mold off of the hot sheet pan. Let cool for 20 more min on the counter then cover and refrigerate. Cool at least 4 hours before serving.

We ended up topping these with my orange cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving dinner and some homemade whipped cream! I added a pinch of salt, cinnamon and vanilla extract to give the illusion of sweetness, and maple syrup to taste. Just beat cream with the whisk attachment on a hand mixer until it has your desired texture. If you want to pipe it decoratively, you’ll want it to be stiff peaks, so beat until it stands up when you turn the mixer upside down.

Chef tip: Cream is easiest to whip when it’s cold and in a chilled metal bowl. You can whisk it by hand and work it right off lol

Let me know in the comments or on Instagram if you make these! I’d love to hear or see how they turn out!