I have been seeing a lot of tasty looking pumpkin recipes on food blogs lately so I wanted to do a pumpkin dish for my thanksgiving dinner dessert. While searching I came across a recipe for mini pumpkin cheesecakes on Pinch My Salt. The pumpkin cheesecake recipe also happened to have maple syrup, falling into the maple theme that I had going for my thanksgiving dinner. The original recipe called for 14 minutes of cooking time which I though was little light but I guess it would be fine for mini cheesecakes. My cheesecakes were a bit bigger and I ended up cooking them for closer to 40 minutes before they looked done. I topped the cheesecake with a maple mascarpone cream. The pumpkin cheesecakes were a great finish to a tasty thanksgiving dinner. I really liked the pumpkin flavour in the cheesecake. Luckily I still have a lot of pumpkin puree to use in other recipes.

Maple Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake

(makes 2 servings)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon butter (melted)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 8 ounce package cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg (slightly beaten)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ginger

Directions:
1. Mix the graham cracker, brown sugar, butter, maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg.
2. Press the mixture into the bottom of two 4 inch spring form pans.
3. Mix the remaining ingredients in a large bowl until smooth.
4. Pour the mixture into the spring form pans.
5. Bake in a preheated 325F oven until it is set, about 45-60 minutes.

Note: This recipe makes enough for 2 4 inch spring form pans. Triple the recipe for an 8 inch spring form pan and quadruple the recipe for a 10 inch spring form pan.