Pumpkin Cheesecake

Yes another pumpkin recipe!!! I guess I got carried away with all the pumpkin puree I had so might as well make another pumpkin recipe! This recipe is very creamy and I tweaked it to make it not too sweet but still had that nice pumpkin spice to it. I used regular cream cheese for this but you can be healthy and choose fat free! Trust me it tastes better than it looks LOL I am not a food photographer at all but I will get better hopefully! This recipe is inspired by Paula Deen via Food Network & is for a 10-inch circle pan but I used a 9inch pan and made 6 mini cheesecakes as well. You can also do 24 mini cheesecakes. See pictures below.

Crust:

• 1 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 2 tablespoon light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 stick melted unsalted butter (melt in microwave for 30 secs)
• You can use store brought graham cracker crusts from the store. I would recommend to give your crust an egg white wash by using a cooking brush and brush a light layer. Put it in oven a 375 degrees for 5 minutes to get that nice golden crust.

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Directions (if you’re making it from scratch): 

1. Add all the ingredients together and stir until even.
2. Spray your pan with nonstick baking spray.
3. Pour into pan and press down flat. I like to have the crust flat in the middle and raised up slightly higher on the perimeter (edge)
4. Take the oven temperature down to 350 degrees. Put crust in for 5 minutes so that the crust can set before mixing it with the cheesecake batter.

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Cheesecake Filling:

• 24oz cream cheese (leave out at room temp or microwave at 5 secs interval until soft)
• 1.5 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup white sugar (I have brown sugar pictured but the consistency of white sugar is better than brown sugar for the cheesecake batter)
• 3 eggs & one egg yolk
• 1/4 cup sour cream (or whipped cream is fine)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon flour (I used whole wheat)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 drop of orange food color (optional just for a brighter orange color)

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Directions:

1. Oven should already be preheated to 350 degrees.
2. With an electric mixer, whisk the cream cheese with a moderate speed until smooth, about 3-4 minutes. I used the setting 2 on the Kitchenaid.
3. Add the pumpkin puree, sour cream, sugar, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, pumpkin spice, and ground cloves to mixture.
4. Slowly egg in one egg at a time and continue to mix. Add in egg yolk and vanilla.
5. Add the baking powder and flour and whisk until it is even. Make sure you use a rubber spatula to manually mix every 30 secs to make sure you get all the batter that is on the side of the bowl and on the whisk.
6. Pour in your pan or crust or mini crusts.
7. Bake for 1 hour.
8. Let it sit for 20 mins at room temperature.
9. Cover it with plastic wrap and let chill in the freezer for 4-5 hours. The longer you let it chill, the better the cheesecake will be texture wise!
10. Serve with whipped cream or your favorite ice cream and don’t forget to share 🙂

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