Ingredients
Spice cake mix
Pumpkin puree: Make sure to use 100% pure canned pumpkin and NOT pumpkin pie filling.
Cream cheese: I used full-fat cream cheese for this recipe because I think it gives these treats the most flavor and richness. Reduced fat would still work, but they may not be as rich tasting.
White almond bark
Pumpkin pie spice
Substitutions and Additions
Choose Your Chocolate: You can substitute chocolate almond bark or chocolate candy melts for the white almond bark if you prefer.
Change The Cake Mix: You can swap the spice cake mix for a super moist vanilla cake mix, white cake mix, or yellow cake mix.
Tasty Toppings: Feel free to garnish your truffles with colorful sprinkles, a drizzle of orange-colored chocolate, graham cracker crumbs, or a sprinkle of cinnamon or sea salt.
Combine With Cookies: You can add crushed ginger snap crumbs (like I do in my Pumpkin Truffles) or crushed graham crackers (like I do in my Pumpkin Spice Truffles) to the pumpkin cream cheese balls batter.
How to Make Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Bites
Heat Treat: Microwave the dry cake mix in two 30-second intervals, stirring between each interval. Cool completely before mixing into the cream cheese.
Make The Cheesecake Mixture: Beat the pumpkin puree and cream cheese until smooth. Sprinkle the dry cake mix over the top of the pumpkin mixture and mix to combine. Cover and chill for 2 hours. (Image 1)
Make The Ball Bites: Scoop the dough with a cookie scoop, roll into balls, and set them onto the prepared baking sheet. (Image 2)
Coat In Chocolate: Melt the almond bark in the microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval. Roll each ball in the melted chocolate, remove any excess, and place the ball onto the baking sheet. (Image 3 and 4)
Pro Tip: Place the coated ball on a fork and gently tap to remove any excess coating. You can use a spoon to pour the coating over any bare spots. Use a toothpick to gently push the coated truffles onto the baking sheet.
Serve: Sprinkle the tops of the coated bites with pumpkin pie spice while the coating is still wet. Allow the coating to completely cool before serving. Enjoy!
Why do I have to heat treat my dry cake mix?
Flour in uncooked cake batter can cause sickness because it often carries bacteria. Therefore, a quick heat treatment is needed to ensure that those germs are killed off. It’s super easy to do this by placing it in the microwave or in the oven for 1-2 minutes.
Tip From Our Recipe Developer
This recipe works best with full fat cream cheese from a block. The whipped cream cheese is too soft and affects the texture of the pumpkin spice cream cheese filling.
I highly suggest using a commercial brand (Libby’s) of pure pumpkin puree for this recipe. I find that homemade, and even some organic brands, of pumpkin puree are too “watery” and don’t allow for the mixture to set properly. If you do decide to use these other options then I highly suggest you drain out as much of the excess liquid from the pumpkin puree as possible. Placing a coffee filter inside a metal sieve (strainer) is a great way to drain out the excess liquid.
You do not want to use canned pumpkin pie mix for this recipe. It has added sugars and spices that will alter the flavor of this recipe.
You can substitute white (vanilla flavored) candy melting wafers in this recipe for the white chocolate almond bark. I do not recommend using white chocolate chips as they have added ingredients that can make them seize up when melting and I find that they do not work as well to get a nice smooth coating on the pumpkin spice cheesecake bites.
A 1000 watt microwave was used to heat treat the dry spice cake mix and to melt the white chocolate almond bark for this recipe.
Storage
To Store: Store any leftover bites in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
To Freeze: You can freeze the uncoated cheesecake bites for up to 2 months. Allow the bites to thaw overnight in the refrigerator before coating.
