Blog » Pumpkin Cheesecake — A Thanksgiving Favorite
Pumpkin Cheesecake — A Thanksgiving Favorite
I believe we can all agree that pumpkin pie is a quintessential Thanksgiving dessert. In fact, when you think about Thanksgiving desserts, pumpkin pie is usually at the top of that list — and it’s at the top of my list as well.
I love pumpkin spices: rich and earthy nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, and ground ginger. I also love creating variations on traditional foods. When I found a recipe for pumpkin cheesecake a few years back, I was in ‘pumpkin’ heaven. What could be better? My favorite spices combined with cream cheese. Delicious!
You’ll find a plethora of pumpkin cheesecake recipes online. I wanted to present a basic recipe, as this is very easy to customize! You can serve this with caramel topping, nuts, whipped cream, or add bourbon and sour cream to the mixture — making the dish as easy or gourmet as you want. In keeping with the simplicity theme, I’m also using a store-bought graham cracker pie crust.
Crust:
9” store-bought graham cracker crust
Filling:
2 (8oz) packages cream cheese (room temperature)
2/3 can pumpkin puree (15 oz can)
3/4 cup light brown sugar (white sugar is fine)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice (can substitute with ground cloves if desired)
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Beat room temperature cream cheese until creamy.
Add brown sugar, spices and beat until smooth. Then add vanilla and eggs, continue beating until combined.
Add pumpkin puree and mix well.
Pour mixture into pie crust.
Bake for about thirty to forty minutes. You don’t want to over bake the cheesecake. Cool, cover with plastic wrap and chill for about 3-4 hours.
As a side note, I’m a bit heavy-handed when it comes to spices. If you feel the spices are a little strong for your taste, you can reduce the spices by half measure. Allspice can be overpowering so only using 1/8 teaspoon may work better for your palate. The pumpkin flavor is very mild with this recipe. You can use the full can of pumpkin, however, the entire mixture may barely fit in a 9” store bought pie crust. Even when using the entire can of pumpkin puree, the pumpkin flavor still isn’t very strong.
Bon Appétit!
Do you have a favorite variation on this recipe?