' With Thanksgiving comes a lot of traditions. Families gather and we have our favorite foods. I’m always asked to bring my pumpkin cheesecake, and I’m more than happy to. This year, however, I’m thinking a lot more about portion control, especially when it comes to carbohydrates.
I got the idea for making individual cheesecakes, and did some searching online to get some ideas for how to put them together. So, here’s a cupcake-sized version of my pumpkin cheesecake. It’s got less fat and less sugar than the original, as you don’t make a crust. Of course, if you eat four of them at once, it’ll be almost like eating a slice of the regular cheesecake (almost as many carbs, though a lot less fat), but the smaller portions should make it easier to limit yourself. Right? 
Lisa’s Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes
Makes 24 mini cheesecakes
24 ounces cream cheese — room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon five-spice powder
3 whole eggs — room temperature
24 whole gingersnap cookies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl and beat until smooth. Add in pumpkin, five-spice powder and eggs, and beat until thoroughly combined, with no white lumps. Remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl once in a while.
Place a paper liner in the muffin cups. Put a single gingersnap cookie in the bottom of the liner. Divide the cheesecake filling evenly between the 24 muffin cups.
Bake for 15 minutes. Turn your oven off, prop the oven door open and let the cheesecakes cool in the oven until the trays are cool enough to handle bare-handed. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before removing from the muffin tins. Chill before serving.
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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 174 Calories; 11g Fat (57.3% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 15g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 58mg Cholesterol; 139mg Sodium.
Exchanges: 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 2 Fat; 1 Other Carbohydrates.
