Family Favorite Pumpkin Cheesecake

Fall is my favorite season. I love the kaleidoscopic display of fall colors, the crunch of leaves under your feet, the crisp air, and the scent of cinnamon and other spices wafting around bakeries and coffee shops. To me, they are all reminders to slow down and savor the season.

I also LOVE pumpkin flavored stuff. Well, I’m not so much a pumpkin spiced latte girl (keep the pumpkin out of my coffee please!), but I do love pumpkin in bread, muffins, pie, cupcakes, and of course cheesecakes!

My husband and I discovered this pumpkin cheesecake recipe years ago and decided to make it instead of a traditional pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving one year.

We loved it so much I now make it every Thanksgiving. It doesn’t take long to make and I usually make four cheesecakes, some for our family Thanksgiving get together, and some for my husband to take to work and share with his coworkers. You can easily halve the recipe if you only want to make two cheesecakes. :)

This is the first recipe I’m sharing on the blog, and it’ll probably be the last (I’d rather write than cook or bake and it’s obvious at our house, lol) but I don’t want you missing out on this pumpkin cheesecake goodness!!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Makes 4 pies Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Ingredients

4 Graham Cracker pie crusts 48 oz of cream cheese 2 cup sugar 4 tsp ground cinnamon 4 tsp ground ginger 2 tsp nutmeg 1 tsp allspice 31 oz pureed pumpkin 8 eggs Cool Whip (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice on medium, until smooth. Add canned pumpkin. Add in the eggs, one at a time on low speed. Pour into pie shells. Bake at 300 degrees until center is firm, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool in refrigerator. Top with Cool Whip and enjoy!

*Note: If you buy (or make) a gluten free crust then you'll have a cheesecake perfect for any gluten sensitive person in the family.

Let me know in the comments below if you decide to make this. I'd love to hear your thoughts!