I am horrible at making seasonal appropriate treats and posting them to my blog, so I am really proud of myself for getting this posted today. Earlier this week, I made pumpkin cheesecake truffles for my co-workers and they were a big hit. You won’t believe how easy these are to make and they look really fancy. Trust me. You’ll impress everyone if you bring these to an upcoming holiday get together.

Ingredients

• 1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup canned pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 pound bittersweet chocolate (60% cacao), chopped (I used Ghirardelli)
• 2 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs

Preparation

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease pie plate.

Beat cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until creamy and smooth, then beat in egg until combined. Add pumpkin, vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice and mix on low speed until smooth. Pour batter into pie plate and bake until edges are set and center is still a little wobbly, 30-35 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

Cover cheesecake with wax paper or parchment then wrap in plastic and chill until cold, at least 3 hours. I let mine chill overnight.

Scoop out pumpkin cheesecake with an ice cream scooper, leveling it off, then releasing it, flat side down, onto wax paper–lined baking sheets. Freeze until frozen solid, at least 1 hour.

Melt chocolate in a small, deep bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, then remove bowl from pan.

Rest a cheesecake scoop on a fork and lower it into chocolate, then spoon chocolate over it to coat it completely. Let excess chocolate drip off, then scrape bottom of fork against edge of bowl and return coated ball, flat-side down, to wax paper–lined pan. I used another fork to push the truffle off the fork. Sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs. Repeat with remaining balls. If cheesecake begins to soften, return to freezer to harden. Return finished truffles to the freezer.