Pumpkin Cheesecake Ball is a simple, no-bake dessert! This fun “appetizer” has pumpkin pie-inspired flavors, milk chocolate toffee bits, and a coating of mini chocolate chips.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Ball
Come fall, my boys know that just about everything we eat (and drink) will include pumpkin. So when we swapped our usual weekend chocolate fondue night for this Pumpkin Cheesecake Ball, they weren’t too surprised. Luckily, they all love pumpkin treats!
This fun dessert ball tastes like a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie and is perfect for a fall gathering. It’s such a unique treat, and everyone we’ve served it to loves it!
Pumpkin Cheesecake Ball ingredients
- Spice cake mix: My favorite for this cheesecake ball is Betty Crocker® Super Moist Spice Cake Mix. It has pudding in the mix for extra thickness and softness.
- Cream cheese: Use full-fat cream cheese for the best texture. Lower-fat versions can make the ball watery and less hold together.
- Unsalted butter: Use unsalted butter to control the overall saltiness since the cake mix has salt.
- Pumpkin pie spice: This mix of warming spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and allspice) is easy to find or can be made at home.
- Canned pumpkin: Use pure canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling.
- Sugars: Powdered sugar and brown sugar gives a deeper flavor without making the cheesecake ball grainy.
- Vanilla extract: Adds a light flavor.
- Toffee bits: Milk chocolate toffee bits boost flavor and texture.
- Coating: Roll the ball in mini chocolate chips, or use crushed pecans, toffee bits, or cookie crumbs if you prefer.
Quick Tip
Use softened cream cheese and butter, but don’t melt them, or the Pumpkin Cheesecake Ball won’t set. Leave them out for 45 minutes to an hour, or use these quick tips to warm them up.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Ball Dippers
While I’m partial to a nice big spoon…here are a few of my other favorite things to dip into this Pumpkin Cheesecake Ball:
- Regular graham crackers or cinnamon graham crackers
- Golden Oreos® or Golden Oreo Thins (If you love chocolate and pumpkin together, regular Oreo cookies are also amazing!)
- Vanilla wafers
- Biscoff® cookies
- Pretzels/pretzel thins
- Gingersnap cookies
- Sliced apples (like Granny Smith, Fuji, or Honeycrisp)
How (And Why) To Heat Treat Spice Cake Mix
Spice cake mix is an ingredient in this Cheesecake Ball. Since it isn’t baked, it has “raw” flour that may have bacteria. If you’re worried, heat treat the mix using one of these methods:
- Microwave: Put the spice cake mix in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in 30-second bursts, stirring in between, until it reaches 165°F all the way through.
- Oven: Preheat the oven to 300°F and line a large sheet pan with parchment paper. Spread the cake mix on the pan and bake, stirring every 1.5 minutes until it hits 165°F.
Tip: Heat treating lowers the risk of bacteria like salmonella or E. coli, which can be found in uncooked grains.
Storage
Store the Pumpkin Cheesecake Ball in a sealed container in the fridge. It will stay fresh for up to 5 days.
Use Leftover Pumpkin In
- Soft-baked Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting
- Maple-glazed Pumpkin Scones
- 7 Layer Pumpkin Bars with chocolate chips, toffee, and coconut
- Soft Pumpkin Cookies with chocolate chips
- Pumpkin Créme Brûleé with caramelized sugar on top
Pumpkin Cheesecake Ball
Equipment
- Hand mixer or stand mixer with whisk attachment
- Plastic Wrap
Ingredients
- 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese softened to room temperature, see note 1
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/3 cup canned pumpkin not an entire can
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar or dark brown sugar, firmly packed
- Orange food coloring optional
- 1-1/3 cups spice cake mix see note 2
- 1/2 cup English Toffee Baking Bits
- 1 cup miniature chocolate chips
- Serving suggestions see note 3
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter (softened to room temperature but not melted) using a hand mixer (or stand mixer with whisk attachment) until completely smooth.
- Add vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin, powdered sugar, brown sugar, food dye (if desired for a more intense orange color), and cake mix (see note 2). Beat until fully combined. Use a spatula to scrape sides.
- Stir in toffee bits. Although mixture is wet now, it firms up a lot in the fridge!
- Lay out a large piece of plastic wrap and transfer mixture to the center of it. Tightly wrap and form into a ball (it doesn’t form perfectly here, but it will be easier to shape once it is firmer!)
- Chill for 2 hours or until firm.
- Once firmed and chilled, place mini chocolate chips on a plate and unwrap the pumpkin ball onto the chips. Roll around and press chips all around the ball. Serve with your favorite cookies/crackers, apple slices, etc.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Heat treat it in the microwave: Add the spice cake mix to a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high in bursts of 30 seconds, stirring between each burst. Take your time stirring well to ensure none of the mixture burns. Use a thermometer to test the mixture in a few places to make sure it has reached 165℉ throughout. (If you get less than 165℉, return the flour for another burst of 30 seconds).
- Heat treat it in the oven: Preheat oven to 300℉. Line a large sheet pan (with sides) with a nonstick liner or parchment paper. Spread the cake mix on the pan. Bake the cake mix, removing and stirring it every 1 and 1/2 minutes. Every time you remove the cake mix to stir, test it with the thermometer. As soon as it reaches 165℉, it’s safe to use in the recipe.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Has anyone tried splitting the results into 2 smaller cheeseballs? Anyone tried freezing the cheeseball?
Froze it for 3 weeks and when it thawed it was still delicious!
This cheesecake ball looked amazing and tasted even better! It was a huge hit at the bridal shower at which I served it. I made it the day before the shower, so waited until that morning to stir in the toffee bits so they wouldn’t be too soft. It was a little difficult to shape into a ball because it was pretty sticky, and even stickier when I unwrapped it to roll it in the chocolate chips before setting it out, but it worked! I buttered my hands to keep them from sticking too badly when I shaped it into the ball and that helped. I served it with apples, as well as graham crackers and gingersnaps, and I think I liked the apples best, especially a sweet-tart apple like Honeycrisp or Johnathan. It was a bit addicting, and loved by all who had it!
Ahh i’m so glad to hear this was a hit! I love bringing it to any get together in the Fall because it is always a hit! Thanks Jana! 🙂
Could I make it the night before and it still be good?
Yes! Just don’t add the toffee bits until before serving 🙂
Did you mean chocolate chips or toffee bits the night before?
I’m saying if you make the ball ahead of time, don’t coat it in the toffee bits or chocolate chips until ready to serve the next day 🙂
What size can of pumpkin are you referring to? There are many different sizes and I don’t want to mess it up.
It says 1/3 cup not an entire can 🙂
I just made this for a party I’m going to tomorrow and it’s simply amazing! I will be making this for years to come. Thank you for sharing!
So happy to hear that! Thank you for the comment Deb 🙂
I can’t WAIT to try this — looks scrumptious. I will say I’m not making this leap due to your baby’s endorsement of it — I mean, if he’ll eat pebbles and band aids….. LOL
Hahaha! Yes fair enough 🙂 Hope you love it!
sure would love to print the pumpkin cheeseball recipe but when i hit the print button it doesnt do anything…….UGH!!!!!!
I’m so sorry Cindie. I’ll have my web developers look into it. In the meantime, you might want to try a different browser or you could copy and paste the recipe into a word document and print it that way.
I made this for a church potluck, and it was an absolute hit!!! So many of the ladies asked me to share the recipe, I couldn’t write it down that much! I’m printing it off today for them. 😀 Thank you for so many delicious recipes!
This looks SO good! Just as good as the brownie one you did! Gotta try it! 🙂
well doesn’t this just look stinkin’ adorable?!?! dying to dredge a cookie in it for dipping 😉