Pumpkin Cheesecake
No need to wait until Thanksgiving to make this wonderful cheesecake, whip it up as soon as the calendar turns over to October!Plan Ahead Note: the cream cheese needs to be softened to room temperature along with the eggs and the cheesecake is best if it is refrigerated overnight before serving.
Ingredients
Crust
- ¾ cup cinnamon-flavored graham cracker crumbs
- ¾ cup chocolate graham cracker crumbs
- 5 Tablespoons butter melted
- 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
Cheesecake
- 4 8 oz. pkgs. cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 eggs at room temperature
- 1 15 oz. can pumpkin
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Topping
- 1 16 oz. container sour cream
- 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- pinch pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat oven to 325°.
- Prepare crust by stirring together the graham cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar until well blended.
- Press mixture into a lightly greased 9" springform pan, pressing the crumbs up the sides about 1".
- Bake at 325° for 10 minutes. Let stand at room temperature.
Cheesecake
- Prepare the filling by beating the cream cheese, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla at medium-low speed with an electric mixer in a large bowl just until smooth.
- Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating at low speed just until yellow disappears after each addition.
- Process the pumpkin in a food processor for 1 to 2 minutes or until very smooth.
- Stir together lemon juice and 1 ½ cups pumpkin puree, reserving the remaining puree.
- Add pumpkin-lemon juice mixture to cream cheese mixture, and beat at low speed just until blended.
- Pour into prepared crust. Bake at 325° for one hour or until center of cheesecake jiggles.
Topping
- Prepare the topping by stirring together the sour cream and 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar, reserving ⅓ cup sour-cream-sugar mixture.
- Stir together remaining sour cream mixture, a pinch of pumpkin pie spice, and reserved pumpkin puree.
- Remove cheesecake from oven and gently spread the sour cream-pumpkin mixture over cheesecake.
- Dollop with reserved ⅓ cup sour cream-sugar mixture; gently swirl with knife.
- Return cheesecake to oven and bake at 325° for 5 more minutes. Turn oven off. Let cheesecake stand in oven with door closed, 15 minutes.
- Remove cheesecake and let cool completely on wire rack, about 2 hours. Refrigerate 8 to 12 hours.
Notes
Recipe from Southern Living Magazine.