Cheese Pumpkins Recipes

Steps:

• Line plate or tray with waxed paper or plastic wrap.
• Scoop out about 1 tablespoon of the cheese food, and roll into a ball. Repeat with remaining cheese until you wind up with about 12 balls.
• Refrigerate for 15 minutes on prepared plate.
• With a toothpick, draw ridges around the balls to resemble pumpkins. Dip the bottoms of the pumpkins in the peanuts (to resemble dirt).
• Just before serving, place a couple of parsley leaves on the top of each pumpkin and insert a broken pretzel piece for each stem.
• Store in refrigerator until ready to use.

Steps:

• With a mixer, blend 16 ounces room-temperature cream cheese with 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar, 3 tablespoons minced onion, 2 tablespoons salsa, 2 teaspoons ground cumin and 1 teaspoon minced jalapeno. Scoop onto plastic wrap and use the wrap to form the mixture into a 5-inch pumpkin-shaped ball; chill at least 2 hours. To serve, unwrap, roll in crushed nacho-flavored tortilla chips and press a bell pepper stem into the top.

Steps:

• Stir together pumpkin and mustard; season with salt and pepper. Spread 2 slices of bread with pumpkin mixture. Top with cheese and sage. Cover with remaining bread and brush both sides with butter. Cook in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, flipping once, until golden and crisp, 8 to 10 minutes total. Serve, sprinkled with flaky salt.

Steps:

• Line small serving plate with waxed paper. For each pumpkin, roll level tablespoon cold-pack cheese food into a ball; place on plate. Refrigerate 10 to 15 minutes for easier handling.
• With end of toothpick, draw ridges around balls to resemble pumpkins. Dip bottoms of cheese balls in chopped peanuts.
• Just before serving, insert pretzel halves into cheese balls for pumpkin stems. Decorate with parsley for leaves. Store pumpkins in refrigerator.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in lower third.
• Toast baguette slices in 1 layer on a baking sheet in oven until tops are crisp (bread will still be pale), about 7 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.
• Remove top of pumpkin by cutting a circle (3 inches in diameter) around stem with a small sharp knife. Scrape out seeds and any loose fibers from inside pumpkin with a spoon (including top of pumpkin; reserve seeds for another use if desired). Season inside of pumpkin with 1/2 teaspoon salt.
• Whisk together cream, broth, nutmeg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a bowl. Mix together cheeses in another bowl.
• Put a layer of toasted bread in bottom of pumpkin, then cover with about 1 cup cheese and about 1/2 cup cream mixture. Continue layering bread, cheese, and cream mixture until pumpkin is filled to about 1/2 inch from top, using all of cream mixture. (You may have some bread and cheese left over.)
• Cover pumpkin with top and put in an oiled small roasting pan. Brush outside of pumpkin all over with olive oil. Bake until pumpkin is tender and filling is puffed, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Mix cream cheese with one egg and 3 tablespoons of sugar. Put the entire mixture on a piece of wax paper or parchment paper and shape it into a long log.
• Put it in the freezer while you mix and fill the pans, up to an hour.
• Unwrap and cut with a sharp knife so each cream cheese disk equals 1-2 teaspoons. If the cream cheese disks are too big around, cut thick slices and then cut them in half. This lets you push it down into the batter easier.
• Mix all ingredients together (except cream cheese and nuts).
• Fill muffin tins (greased or paper cups) half full.
• Put cream cheese disc in the middle, pressing down.
• Sprinkle with 1 tsp chopped nuts.
• Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean from the muffin part (do not touch the cream cheese!).
• Let cool in pans for 5 minutes, then remove to racks to cool completely. Do not touch the cream cheese until it cools.

Steps:

• Line small serving plate with waxed paper. Roll each level tablespoon cold pack cheese food into a ball; place on waxed paper-lined serving plate. Refrigerate 10 to 15 minutes for easier handling.
• With end of toothpick, draw ridges around balls to resemble pumpkins. Dip bottoms of cheese balls in chopped peanuts.
• Just before serving, insert pretzel halves into cheese balls for pumpkin stems. Decorate with parsley for leaves. Store in refrigerator.

Steps:

• Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until sizzling, about 30 seconds. Add garlic and sugar. Cook, stirring constantly, until garlic just starts to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Immediately remove from heat. Transfer garlic mixture to a bowl. Add Cheddar cheese, cream cheese, green onions, and garlic salt. Beat using an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy. Cover and refrigerate until firm enough to handle, about 30 minutes.
• Shape chilled cheese mixture into golf-ball-sized balls. Roll each ball in crushed crackers and slightly flatten the bottom. Press 1/2 a pretzel stick into the top. Repeat with remaining cheese mixture.
• Spread parsley out on a serving plate and place mini cheeseball pumpkins on top, leaving enough room in between for parsley to show through.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Butter a deep 22cm loose-bottomed cake tin and line with baking parchment. Wrap the base and side of the tin with three layers of cling film, followed by three layers of foil (this helps keep it waterproof during baking). Fold a clean tea towel and put it in the base of a large roasting tin.
• Blitz the biscuits to crumbs in a food processor. Add the melted butter and pulse to coat the crumbs. Tip the mixture into the prepared cake tin, spreading up to the side and pressing down with the back of a spoon. Bake for 10 mins. Remove from the oven, brush with the egg white and bake for another 3 mins (this will help stop the base from becoming soggy).
• To make the filling, put the soft cheese in a bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, and beat with an electric whisk or the mixer until loosened. Add the pumpkin purée, sugar and flour and beat again until combined. With the motor running, gradually add the eggs and egg yolk until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Pour the filling over the baked biscuit base, then sit the cake tin on the tea towel in the roasting tin. Pour a kettleful of just-boiled water into the roasting tin so the water comes halfway up the side of the cake tin.
• Bake for 10 mins, then reduce the oven temperature to 110C/90C fan/gas ¼. Bake for a further 1 hr 30 mins until the cheesecake is set with just a slight wobble in the middle when you gently shake the tin. Turn off the oven, then open the oven door slightly and leave the cheesecake to cool inside for 2 hrs until completely cool. Remove from the oven and chill overnight.
• Carefully remove the cold cheesecake from the tin and transfer to a cake stand or serving plate. Whip the cream to soft peaks using an electric whisk, and spoon in big dollops over the cheesecake. Dust with a little cinnamon or pumpkin spice, sprinkle over the chopped pecans and drizzle with the caramel sauce before serving.