Delicious Pumpkin Cheesecake Your Family will Love

If you’re a fan of cheesecake and pumpkin, you will love this pumpkin cheesecake. Baked from scratch, it takes a little more effort, but it is so worth it! The perfect dessert for your Thanksgiving meal or fancy Sunday dinner.

 

This pumpkin cheesecake recipe is one of our go-to desserts for holiday meals. My family asks for it every year and it is always delicious!  I found the recipe years ago – before I ever even heard about blogs. I used to subscribe to a free email service called Menus for Moms and one year they sent me their Thanksgiving Menu.

Since I love cheesecake, I made it right away and it quickly became a family favorite. I make it almost every year. Cheesecake really isn’t that hard to make. It looks a bit intimidating, but it really isn’t. If you’ve never made a cheesecake – you should try! You will need a Springform Pan  – but that’s the only special equipment needed.

Delicious Pumpkin Cheesecake Your Family will Love

The recipe I’m sharing with you is adapted from one of the Menus for Moms recipes. I looked online for that menu but I couldn’t find it. Menus for Moms has changed to a paid subscription since I used to get their weekly menus, but I want to give them proper credit for this recipe. 🙂

Let’s make the pumpkin cheesecake crust

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Also grease your springform pan. I’ve also read that greasing the pan can prevent your cheesecake from cracking and I’m excited to find out if that’s true. But back to the crust – Crush up graham crackers in your food processor or blender. You could put them in a bag and use a rolling pin, but that’s too much work for me. 🙂 Then mix in the sugar and butter.

Press the graham cracker crust on the bottom of your greased pan and about 2/3 of the way upside. Then bake for 5 minutes and let it cool while you prepare the filling.

Now it’s time for the cheesecake batter

Beat cream cheese, vanilla and sugar until fluffy. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, and spices. Beat only until mixed. You don’t want to over-mix cheesecake batter as it adds air bubbles which have been blamed on cracks. Pour batter into your crust and bake for 60-70 minutes.

Tips for Baking Cheesecakes

Baking cheesecakes can be a little tricky. I add a pan of water under the cheesecake to help reduce cracks. I also move all racks to the bottom of the oven. You want the center of the cheesecake to be just set – it’s kind of hard to tell, but your finger shouldn’t go through the middle of the cheesecake if it’s cooked properly. Be careful that you don’t over bake it!

Let your cheesecake cool completely before you take off the springform pan. After it has come to room temperature, put it in the fridge (still with the ring attached). Leave it there for 24 hours before taking off that ring and make sure you run a knife around the outside before releasing it so your cheesecake looks prettier than mine. I used to stress about cheesecake cracks. Now I just cover them up so you can’t see them and run with it. 🙂

I decorated this cake with real whipped cream and chopped pecans. So, I’m not a super good decorator, but hey. It tastes delish! Learn from my mistakes – grease that pan and run the knife around the edge before you release and YOURS will be much prettier. 🙂

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