Truffle Brownie Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites

Thanksgiving is around the corner, and I can honestly say, I am still a little obsessed with pumpkin.  I cannot wait for pumpkin pie, I am making my pumpkin soup as I write this, and I am thinking about attempting some sort of pumpkin macaroon (have lots of egg whites on hand).

My Thanksgiving menu is already set and organized and I am not planning on adding to it.  However, my kids are off from school this week and later today, we are meeting friends for a hike.  Our plan is to go out for lunch after the hike, yet I knew everyone is going to end up back at our house to play for a bit.  I wanted to have some snacks on hand.  I whipped up these truffle brownie pumpkin cheesecake bites as I had some left over pumpkin puree in the fridge.  Rather than making them in a 9x9" pan, I opted to make individuals in my silicone baking muffin pans.  These are going to be the perfect compliment to a big bowl of pomegranate seeds and a white bean dip with roasted pita chips.  Maybe, we will skip lunch all together and simply come home for the snacks!

Truffle Brownie + Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites

yield: 28 mini bites

ingredients:

brownies:

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate

1 stick of butter, cubed

2 Tbls. unsweetened cocoa

1 Tbls. espresso powder

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. salt

3 eggs

1 cup flour

cheesecake

8 oz. cream cheese

1 egg

1/3 cup sugar

2 Tbls. flour

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

instructions:

• preheat oven to 350*

for the brownie layer:

• melt chocolate, butter, cocoa, and espresso powder in a bowl over simmering water.

• remove bowl from the heat and add the sugar, vanilla, and salt.  add the egg and mix until smooth.

• fold in the flour.

• using a small ice cream scoop, scoop batter into individual muffin tins. set aside while you make the cheesecake

for the cheesecake layer:

• in the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth.

• add the sugar and combine

• add the egg and the vanilla and mix to combine

• mix in the remaining ingredients until fully incorporated.

• using the same ice cream scooper(cleaned, of course), scoop over brownie mixture and fill muffin cups almost to the top.

• using a toothpick or small skewer swirl the cheesecake mixture slightly to form a pattern with the brownie mixture.

• bake 20-25 minutes, rotating pans back to front mid through.  brownie bites are done when the top of the cheesecake feels slightly firm to the touch.

• let cool on a wire rack.  once cool, stick in the fridge for about 45 minutes.  once totally firm, pop the brownie bites out of the muffin cups and enjoy!!