My sister-in-law gave me this wonderful magazine called The Best of Fine Cooking. This particular issue consists of baking tips from the pros and several holiday baking recipes.

When I browsed through the magazine the first time, I was really only looking at the recipes, not the baking tips. As I sit here now and look for the second time, I see how much helpful information is packed into this magazine. It’s definitely a must-read if you’re into baking. This issue is only available until January 31st.

Last Saturday we were having a Christmas potluck at our house for about 35 people. One of the things I decided to make were these cute pumpkin cheesecakes I found in the magazine. They were very easy to make, but I did make one mistake. Below it says to make sure you don’t overbeat once the eggs are added or the cheesecakes will puff and crack during baking. That’s exactly what mine did.

Regardless of my error, they still tasted yummy.

These cheesecakes are great for Thanksgiving or Christmas, so hurry up and give them a try!

Ingredients:

Cooking spray
2 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1-1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Pinch table salt
2 large eggs
1/3 cup pure solid-pack canned pumpkin
2-1/4 tsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

Directions:

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 300°F. Line 12 standard muffin tins (approximately 23/4 inches in diameter) with foil liners and coat lightly with cooking spray.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large mixing bowl using a hand-held electric mixer) beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed until very smooth and fluffy, stopping to scrape down the bowl as necessary, about 4 minutes. Add the sugar, vanilla, and salt, and continue beating until well blended and smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl frequently, about 1 minute; there should be no lumps. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating on medium speed until just blended. (Don’t overbeat once the eggs are added or the cheesecakes will puff and crack during baking.)

Transfer 2/3 cup of the batter to a small bowl. Add the pumpkin, flour, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg to the small bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until well blended.

Divide the plain batter among the muffin cups (about 2 generous Tbs. in each). Then divide the pumpkin batter evenly among the cups (about 1 generous Tbs. in each). Drag the tip of a wooden skewer, toothpick, or paring knife through the two batters in a random, swirly pattern to create a marbled look

Bake until the centers of the cheesecakes barely jiggle when nudged, 15 to 18 minutes. Set the muffin tins on a rack and let cool completely. Cover and refrigerate until very cold, at least 6 hours or up to 3 days.

Make ahead tips…

The baked cheesecakes can be refrigerated, covered for 3 days or frozen for 1 month. Freeze the cooled cheesecakes in the tins in heavy-duty zip-top plastic bags, or remove them from the tins and arrange in airtight containers.