Fall is finally here. That, of course, means midterms, cozy sweaters and most importantly, pumpkin everything.

Whether you turn pumpkin spice into your sole personality trait every autumn or prefer your pumpkin in small doses like me (one grande hot chai latte with pumpkin cold foam, please), this pumpkin cheesecake recipe will help you bring in the fall weather with a much needed boost of serotonin. You can make these as a big ‘ole regular sized cheesecake or make them mini to bring and share at your socially distanced Friendsgiving before break. 

Recipe

Tools

• Blender
• Can opener
• Fridge
• Knife

Ingredients

• 14 ounces can sweetened condensed milk 
• 8 ounces block cream cheese, room temperature 
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• ¼ cup pumpkin purée
• 6 mini graham cracker crust tins

Vegan/non dairy option: vegan cream cheese (available at most full grocery stores), sweetened condensed coconut milk (try Walmart, Whole Foods or Amazon), make your own crust from ½ cup melted vegan butter + 1 cup crushed Biscoff Cookies 

Steps

1. Cut cream cheese into half-inch cubes. Blend until smooth. You really need to make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature before blending, as cold cream cheese won’t blend as well. No one wants chunky cheesecake.
2. Add sweetened condensed milk to the blender and combine thoroughly with cream cheese. 
3. Add lemon juice and blend. Lemon juice is necessary to help the cheesecake set. Do not skip this ingredient. 
4. Add pumpkin purée and blend until thoroughly combined. 
5. Pour mixture into pie crust. Refrigerate for at least four hours and up to overnight. Serve with whipped cream and cinnamon topping!