Hello, Fall? Is that you?
Is it too early for pumpkin? I hope not. I say not!
It’s September, almost October and pumpkin season is here (or really close around the corner!). What is the best dessert besides cheesecake? Pumpkin cheesecake! This is an adaptation of the famous “Cheesecake Factory Pumpkin Cheesecake.”
I used a gingersnap cookie for an extra kick of spice which was a great idea! (I will recommend using Nabisco though – tried to go Organic and be more healthy but there’s an extra chew in the cookie I used and I prefer without it). It’s’ usually recommended to use full fat cream cheese but I used 1/3 reduced fat and it turned out fine for me. If you want the full flavor, go all out with full fat! I eat cheesecake too often to do full fat all the time…
This cheesecake is the perfect start for full. Big bites of luscious cream cheese with the scent of fall in every bite. Yum!
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12 slices
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Ingredients
Gingersnap Crust
- 4-4.5 oz (about 1 and 1/4 cups) gingersnap cookies
- 1 Tbsp packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (56 g) unsalted butter, melted
Cheesecake Filling
- 3/4 cup (157 g) packed light brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 1/8 tsp ginger
- 24 ounces (3 packs of 8 oz) cream cheese I used 1/3 fat cream cheese - full fat is recommended but I fully enjoyed 1/3 reduced fat!
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 cup (244 g) pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp vanilla
Ingredients
Gingersnap Crust
Cheesecake Filling
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Pulse the gingersnaps in a food processor until crumbly or smash the gingersnaps in a ziplock bag until crumbly.
- Transfer the gingersnap crumbs to a medium sized bowl and add sugar. Whisk until combined and add melted butter. Stir until evenly mixed.
- Mixture will still be crumbly - do not worry. Prepare a 9 inch springform pan by lightly greasing it. Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake the crust until golden brown, just about 10 minutes. Set aside and let cool.
- In a small bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese on low speed until smooth (about 1-2 minutes).
- Slowly add the sugar mixture into the cream cheese bowl and beat until smooth. Add in egg one at a time and beat well until smooth. Add in pumpkin puree and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth again.
- Prepare the 9 inch springform pan of leaks by wrapping aluminum foil around the bottom.
- Pour the cream cheese mixture into the springform pan on top of the baked crust. To help with baking the cheesecake, add boiling water to a baking sheet or pan.
- Bake for about 60 minutes. If it starts to crack, it is over baked (oops, mine was slightly overbaked). Tip: Bake at 350 for 30 minutes and then reduce oven temperature to 325 until the edges seem to puff up but the center is slightly still not completely set.
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