The holidays are here which means there will be many gatherings of friends and families and food will definitely be involved. Between shopping, wrapping gifts and braving traffic, the last thing you want to do is stress over what to make and spend too much time in the kitchen. This pumpkin cheesecake recipe is so simple and easy and quick. And you can make it the night before which leaves you with more time to shop. Don’t forget to pick up something sparkly for yourself. ;)
Ingredients:
- 2 pkg. (8 oz. each) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened (I used one regular and one low fat to make it a little healthier)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1 can of pumpkin puree
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (I used a little more because I love cinnamon)
- Dash of ground cloves (optional)
- Dash of ground nutmeg (optional)
- 1 graham cracker pie crust (9 inch)
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 325°F
- Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended.
- Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended.
- Pour some of the batter onto the crust (about 1.5-2 cups) so it only fills it halfway. Spread evenly. (Make sure crust is sitting on top of a pan so it’s easier to transport in and out of the oven)
- Stir in pumpkin and spices into remaining batter
- Pour pumpkin batter on top of cheesecake batter. Carefully spread.
- Bake 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.
- Serves about 12 (maybe more depending on how you slice it)
Other options:
- To save time (and energy), I just used a round pie crust and cut them into squares. You can use a baking pan, too. The simplest way would be to take the pre-made pie crust, take it apart and firmly press the crumbs onto the bottom of the pan. Or you can make your own crust.
- I topped the bars with crème fraîche with a little sugar mixed in and sprinkled cinnamon and nutmeg. I felt the slight sourness and lightness would be a nice balance to the heavy sweetness. Whipped cream would be great, too, of course (I’m just not a big fan of whipped cream). You can find crème fraîche at Trader Joe’s.
(Recipe adapted from here)
This cheesecake was a big hit at our Thanksgiving dinner and even people who don’t like cheesecake rave about it. It’s such a simple recipe, looks fancy schmancy and it’s a good base for other types of cheesecakes. Nutella, anyone? ;)
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