Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes

By JenHall

Ingredients

• 1/2 large can pumpkin
• 16 oz. mascarpone cheese
• 5 eggs
• 3 scoops vanilla protein powder. It MUST be vanilla. My favorite is Optimum Nutrition 100% Casein.
• 3 T cinnamon
• 1/2 t nutmeg
• 1/2 t ground ginger
• dash of allspice
• 1/2 stick of butter
• 2 c. pecan meal
• 1 T maple syrup
• 1/2 c. heavy cream
• 1.5 c. chocolate chips, 85% or above

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and put muffin cups in 2 12 count trays.

For the crust:

Melt butter until slightly soft. In a bowl, combine butter with pecan meal and maple syrup until the meal is moist. With a spoon, press mixture into the bottom of the muffin cups.

For the cheesecake:

In a food processor, combine eggs and cheese until blended. Add pumpkin, protein powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice and blend until smooth. Scoop mixture into the muffin cups so that they’re about 2/3rds filled.

Put in the oven, gingerly, and bake for about 30 minutes, or until you see the tops of the cheesecake start to brown a little.

For the chocolate ganache:

Heat up the cream via microwave or stove – doesn’t matter – until JUST boiling. Don’t let it boil. Pour into a bowl and add the chocolate chips. With a whisk, stir until smooth. This will take a very, very long time to achieve. It might initially look like you’re going to end up with chocolate milk, but keep stirring, it will thicken.

Spread the chocolate on top of the cheesecake. Don’t get too thick with this, as the ganache gets pretty solid.

Refrigerate until everything is cooled. Makes 24 cupcakes. Duh.