Pumpkin Cheesecake

Mmmm pumpkin cheesecake.

I've been wanting to make this for so longggg and what better time than Thanksgiving itself?

I tried cutting down the sugar on this recipe because I kept seeing various recipes that called for a range of 1/2 cups to 2 whole cups of sugar in similar recipes and I was so confused! How could one recipe have 1/2 a cup and another one have 2 cups with the same amount of 4 blocks of cream cheese? I figured I would compromise and use 1 1/2 cups of sugar, which sounded reasonable.

Results? Although the cheesecake was good it wasn't great. The pumpkin flavor was just a bit lacking and I think it's because of the missing sugar. The original recipe is below, 2 cups and all so I suggest using the full amount so that the sugar can bring out the full pumpkin flavor. But I really did love the pepita brittle on top of this cheesecake! A nice added layer of texture (you can find the recipe here).

A mini cheesecake fresh out of the oven (although it looks pretty big here huh?):

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Yields: 2 large cheesecakes

Slightly adapted from this recipe, which can be found here.

Printable Recipe

For the filling:

4 8oz. packages cream cheese

2 cups sugar

3 tbsn. flour

2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp. salt

1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree

5 large eggs

1 tbsn. vanilla

For the crust:

1 cup pecans

2 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

To make the crust, preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray a 2 9-inch diameter springform pan with nonstick spray. Grind the cookie crumbs, pecans, and brown sugar until finely ground. Add butter and process to blend. Split the mixture evenly between each pan and press the crust into the bottoms. Bake until set and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Cool completely.

Keep oven at 350 F for the pie. Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in pumpkin, add eggs 1 at a time, beating on low speed to incorporate after each addition. Add flour, spice and salt and beat to blend. Beat in vanilla. Transfer filling to cooled crust. Bake until filling is just set in the center and edges begin to crack (filling will move slightly when pan is gently shaken), about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Cool 1 hour. Run knife around sides of pan to release the cheesecake. Chill cheesecake uncovered in pan overnight.