Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes on the Char-Broil Big Easy

Note: This recipe was developed using the Char-Broil Big Easy Oil-Less Fryer. If you are cooking using the Char-Broil Smoker-Roaster Grill you should cook with the lid open and the temperature set to High. You might also need to adjust the cooking time.

What started out as an experiment to see if I could bake miniature pumpkin cheesecakes on my Char-Broil Big Easy ended up being one of the best tasting desserts I’ve had in a long time. I was contemplating Thanksgiving, and dreaming about how great a turkey out of my Big Easy tastes, when it dawned on me…. why not also use the oil-less fryer for making dessert? Well, let me tell you folks, these mini pumpkin cheesecakes on the Char-Broil Big Easy are amazing!

Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes on the Char-Broil Big Easy

Cooking…

These little cheesecakes take less than 30 minutes to cook. Although, they do need to chill overnight. Well, they should chill overnight… I can’t say that all of them lasted that long. I think you can shortcut the chilling by placing them in the freezer for 15-20 minutes. And the taste? Phenomenal! Fantastic pumpkin flavor and creamy. All in all, they are the best pumpkin cheesecake you can imagine.

Mini pumpkin cheesecakes on the Char-Broil Big Easy are the best way to cap off a great turkey dinner. If you prefer a non-Thanksgiving version, try my Big Easy mini classic cheesecakes.

The crusts…

I used pre-made miniature pie crusts and cooked them in the Big Easy using the baking pans designed specifically for the cooker. If you don’t have them (they’re also great for making mini pizzas) you can use the standard basket that comes with the Big Easy (you can cook 4 pies at a time) and better yet, use the bunk bed basket which doubles the number of pies you can cook at a time.

Love your Big Easy as much I love mine? Check out my Big Easy Add-Ons page and my free Big Easy eCookbook!

Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes on the Char-Broil Big Easy
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5 from 1 vote

Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes on the Char-Broil Big Easy

These little cheesecakes take less than 30 minutes to cook. They need to chill overnight. Well, they should chill overnight… I can’t say that all of them lasted that long.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Big Easy, Char-Broil, cheesecake
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 13 hours
Total Time 13 hours 10 minutes
Servings 24 servings
Calories 383kcal
Author Mike

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Fire up your Big Easy or preheat an oven to 350 F.
  • Place cream cheese in a mixer and beat until creamy.
  • With the mixer still running, add the eggs one at a time.
  • Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
  • Pour mixture into the pie crusts, about 1/3 cup each. Do not overfill. You may not need all 24 crusts.
  • Place in the Big Easy (you’ll have to work in batches) or oven, and cook 15-20 minutes or until batter has set.
  • Remove from oven and let cool slightly then refrigerate overnight before serving. Top with whipped cream if desired.

Notes

The filling mixture makes approximately 5 cups.

Nutrition

Calories: 383kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 311mg | Potassium: 114mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 1621IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutritional values are approximate.

Shot Glass Sliders

One of the latest fads is beer can burgers. They’re hollowed-out burgers stuffed with whatever you like, normally wrapped in bacon. Sort of like open-faced Juicy Lucy burgers. The BBQ Pit Boys do them up right as they do a lot of things. I decided to make my own twist on them. And since I prefer sliders over full-sized burgers, I went with a smaller version, my shot glass sliders.

I stuffed these lil bad boys with sauteed mushrooms and onions, then topped them with cheddar. They were flat-out delicious. The perfect little bites!

Shot Glass Sliders

Feel free to wrap yours in bacon and stuff them with whatever you love!

Shot Glass Sliders 2

Also try my chipotle ranch sliders. They’re bigger versions of my shot glass sliders.

Shot Glass Sliders
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5 from 1 vote

Shot Glass Sliders

I stuffed these lil bad boys with sauteed mushrooms and onions, then topped them with cheddar. They were flat-out delicious. The perfect little bites!
Course Main
Cuisine American
Keyword burgers, sliders
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings 6 sliders
Calories 318kcal
Author Mike

Ingredients

For the stuffing

For the burgers

Instructions

For the stuffing

  • Melt the butter with the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.
  • Add the remaining ingredients and cook, stirring often, for 20 minutes or until the mushrooms are golden and the onions are softened. Remove from heat.

For the burgers

  • Fire up your grill for indirect cooking.
  • Divide the beef into 6 2 1/2 ounce meatballs. Pack tightly so they stay together.
  • Take a shot glass and push it down into the middle of each ball, wrapping the meat around the outsides of the glass. Don’t press down so far that you puncture through the bottom – you’ll want about 1/3″ of meat all around. Push the glass down gently onto a flat surface to flatten the bottom.
  • Season the patties with salt and pepper and place onto the grill over indirect heat. Grill until the meat is almost at the desired doneness, 45 minutes or longer.
  • Spoon in the mushroom topping and add the cheese. Continue cooking until the cheese is melted.
  • Toast buns as desired.
  • Top buns with the sliders and serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 318kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 59mg | Sodium: 213mg | Potassium: 368mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 58IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 82mg | Iron: 3mg

Nutritional values are approximate.

Mini Chicken-and-Waffles

These mini chicken-and-waffles are the perfect sized appetizers for a crowd. Sure, you can make your own waffles. And you can fry your own chicken. But when you’re in a hurry, these will do just fine. For a little kick, dip the hot chicken nuggets into Frank’s Red Hot wing sauce before skewering them and placing them onto the waffles.

Mini Chicken-and-Waffles

These great game-time treats will disappear in minutes. But they’re easy to make, so you can crank out a big batch of mini chicken-and-waffles in no time. Now, if you’re looking for the full-sized version just grab a few pieces of already-fried chicken and some already-heated Eggo waffles and you’re good-to-go!

Also try my glazed Kielbasa bites.

Mini Chicken-and-Waffles
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4.34 from 3 votes

Mini Chicken-and-Waffles

These mini chicken-and-waffles are the perfect sized appetizers for a crowd.
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Keyword chicken, waffles
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 3
Calories 195kcal
Author Mike

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400 F.
  • Add chicken and cook until 10 minutes remain per the package instructions.
  • Add the mini waffles to the oven and warm 10 minutes.
  • Serve chicken skewered with waffles, drizzled with syrup.

Notes

Nutritional values do not include the chicken nuggets.

Nutrition

Calories: 195kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 410mg | Potassium: 60mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 1065IU | Calcium: 162mg | Iron: 5mg

Nutritional values are approximate.

Mini Cinnamon Rolls

I’ve made my share of homemade cinnamon rolls, but always the full-sized ones. These mini cinnamon rolls from Iowa Girl Eats are fantastically sweet, easy, and a nice lighter alternative to large, morning nap-inducing rolls. I woke up early one morning and made these for my wife to take in to work. Everyone really enjoyed them.

Mini Cinnamon Rolls

Mini cinnamon rolls are a great thing for feeding a crowd. Well, if you can keep everyone from grabbing two handfuls at a time, that is!

Keep the mini theme going with some mini corn dog muffins and some mini baked ham and Swiss sandwiches. And wow everyone with my homemade cinnamon brown sugar Pop Tarts.

Mini Cinnamon Rolls
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5 from 1 vote

Mini Cinnamon Rolls

 These mini cinnamon rolls are fantastically sweet, easy, and a nice lighter alternative to large, morning nap-inducing rolls. I woke up early one morning and made these for my wife to take in to work. Everyone really enjoyed them.
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Keyword cinnamon rolls
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 8
Calories 172kcal

Ingredients

For the maple icing:

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375 F.
  • Unroll the dough into two squares of 4 triangles each.
  • Pinch the seams between the dough triangles together. Lightly roll out with a rolling pin until it is about 1/4″ thick.
  • Brush the dough with the butter.
  • Sprinkle the dough with the cinnamon and brown sugar. Don’t go crazy, just enough to lightly cover the dough.
  • Roll up the dough pieces into tight logs. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut each dough log into 8 pieces. Place into miniature muffin pans that have been sprayed with non-stick spray.
  • Bake 9-15 minutes until the rolls have risen and are golden in color.
  • Meanwhile, whisk together the ingredients for the icing.
  • Remove the rolls from the oven. Remove from the pan and drizzle with the icing.

Nutrition

Calories: 172kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 224mg | Potassium: 6mg | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 91IU | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional values are approximate.

Mini-Corn Dog Muffins

I ran across this great idea for a football game-watching snack from the Plain Chicken blog, one of my absolute favorite places to go on the web. These mini-corn dog muffins are very easy to make and they will disappear very quickly. Because they’re not only fun, they taste great!

Mini-Corn Dog Muffins

You can use whatever dipping sauces (or just ketchup) that you have on hand for these mini-corn dog muffins. I threw together a quick-and-easy, but delicious, maple honey mustard sauce that came out fantastic. Keep the mini theme going with some mini baked ham and Swiss sandwiches and mini cinnamon rolls! You’ll also love my mini corn dogs.

Change things up by using something other than hot dogs. I recommend Andouille sausage for a nice spicy Cajun spin!

Mini-Corn Dog Muffins
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4 from 1 vote

Mini-Corn Dog Muffins

Great little appetizer bites!
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Keyword corn dogs, muffins
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 48 bites
Calories 75kcal

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400 F.
  • Spray two mini-muffin pans (24 muffins each) with non-stick spray.
  • Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, honey and butter in medium sized bowl.
  • Slowly whisk in the flour, baking powder, Creole seasoning, jalapenos, and cornmeal. Stir until smooth.
  • Place one tablespoon of the mixture into each muffin cup. Then, push a piece of hot dog down into the middle of each cup.
  • Bake 10-15 minutes or until golden.
  • Serve with your favorite dipping sauces.

Nutrition

Calories: 75kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 88mg | Potassium: 42mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 99IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional values are approximate.