This pumpkin cheesecake recipe was inspired by Our Best Bites. I’ve changed up the gingersnap crust a bit and use our homemade Buttery Ginger Cookies instead. I make homemade caramel sauce to drizzle on the top. Pumpkin Cheesecake is a family fav…

This cheesecake recipe was inspired by Our Best Bites. I’ve changed up the gingersnap crust a bit and use our homemade Buttery Ginger Cookies instead. I make homemade caramel sauce to drizzle on the top. (We use the same sauce when we make caramel apples.) Pumpkin Cheesecake is a family favorite every Thanksgiving, even when we travel, we bring our pans so we can make this rich, delicious dessert!

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Pumpkin Cheesecake

For the Crust:

10 ginger cookies, quartered

6 TBSP butter, softened

3 TBSP brown sugar

1 1/3 cup pecan halves

Blend these together in the food processor until it becomes crumbs. Press into a spring form pan along the bottom and at least an inch up the sides. When I need to transport the cheesecake, I usually do the crumb all the way up the sides for a bit more security.

For the Filling:

3 (8 oz) blocks of cream cheese

3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree

3 eggs

1 1/4 cup white chocolate chips, melted

1 cup sugar

1 TBSP heavy cream

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp cloves

Cream together cream cheese and sugar (for a smoother cheesecake, soften up the cream cheese in the microwave or out on the counter for awhile before blending). Add in everything else except for the eggs, heavy cream and white chocolate.

Melt the white chocolate in 30 second increments, stirring in between. Add heavy cream when it’s almost melted to thin it out just a bit. Be careful not to over cook the white chocolate or it gets clumpy and grainy. While your mixer is beating, drizzle white chocolate in until it is all combined.

Add the eggs and mix again. Pour into the crust.

Now you want to wrap the bottom (don’t cover the top of the cheesecake) of your pan in several layers of aluminum foil. For this kind of a cheesecake, we need to water bath it. I do this by sticking my wrapped up cheesecake, that is snugly inside the spring form pan, into my big roasting pan. Then I pour boiling water into the roasting pan until it is about half way up the side of the spring form pan.

Bake at 350 F degrees for 65-80 minutes. When you jiggle the pan and the cheesecake holds together like jello, it should be ready. You don’t want it shifting around too much. Take it out of the water bath to cool.

Once it cools completely, then stick it in the refrigerator. This is a soft cheesecake, so it will need to chill for at least 12 hours before you eat it. I usually end up giving it closer to 24 hours.