This Pumpkin Cheesecake is the Thanksgiving dessert recipe of your dreams! It is so creamy, with the perfect balance of sweetness and spice. The crust is made with gingersnaps and browned butter, which give the cheesecake so much depth. Making a perfect cheesecake may sound intimidating, but it is simple! Read below for my tips on perfecting your cheesecake technique.
What pan should I use?
The best pan for making cheesecake is a spring-form pan. This will allow you to easily separate the cake from the pan once it’s baked and chilled. This recipe makes enough crust and filling for a 10″ spring-form pan. I only have an 8″ spring-form pan, so I was able to make 1 full 8″ cheesecake plus 12 mini muffin-tin cheesecakes with this recipe!
Making the perfect crust
The crust for this cheesecake recipe uses gingersnaps, brown sugar, browned butter, and cinnamon. The browned butter is optional (you could just use melted butter), but it’s really easy to do and the flavor is incredible.
To make browned butter, place your butter in a small saucepan and melt over medium heat. After the butter is melted, continue to cook it over medium – medium low heat for about 5 minutes until the milk solids start to separate and turn golden brown. Be careful not to burn it, once it browns it will burn pretty quickly so keep an eye on it. You will be left with an amazingly fragrant browned butter.
Add the browned butter to a bowl with your crushed gingersnaps, brown sugar, and cinnamon and mix well until combined. Press the mixture into the bottom of your spring-form pan and refrigerate while you make the filling.
The trick to a perfectly smooth & level cheesecake
The biggest challenge in making cheesecake is avoiding cracks and imperfections in the top. This won’t affect the taste of the cheesecake, but it’s easy to avoid by using a water bath. This helps the cheesecake bake more evenly and gently. The added humidity in the oven also helps keep the texture of the cheesecake super velvety and creamy.
Before adding your filling, wrap the bottom of your spring-form pan tightly in foil, making sure it is sealed and no water can get into the pan. Once the cheesecake is ready to bake, place the wrapped spring-form pan into a deep roasting pan. Carefully add enough hot water to the roasting pan to come up to about half way up the cheesecake, and carefully transfer to the oven.
Another important step: once your cheesecake is done baking, turn off the oven and LEAVE THE CHEESECAKE in the oven for about an hour to cool. If you open the oven door right away, the sudden change in temperature can cause the cheesecake to crack. The wait will be worth it, I promise!
Once the cheesecake comes to room temperature, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours, but ideally overnight. The longer it sits the better the texture and flavor.
These tricks take a little more time, but are so worth it to get a beautifully smooth, flat. creamy cheesecake.
This Pumpkin Cheesecake is a labor of love but still simple to make! It will be the star of your Thanksgiving dessert table, hands down.
Pumpkin Cheesecake with Browned Butter Gingersnap Crust
Ingredients
- For the Crust
- 1.5 Cups Gingersnaps, Crushed
- 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
- 1/3 Cup Browned Butter (See notes)
- 1 Tsp Cinnamon
- For the Filling
- 3 Blocks Cream Cheese (8 oz each), Room Temperature
- 1.5 Cups Brown Sugar
- 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- 3 Eggs
- 1 15oz can Pumpkin Puree
- 1/2 Cup Sour Cream
- 1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 Tsp Ground Ginger
- 1/4 Tsp Freshly Grated Nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Prepare your 10″ spring-form pan by tightly wrapping the bottom with foil, making sure there are no tears or holes for water to seep through. Lightly grease inside of pan.
- To make the crust, add crushed gingersnaps, brown sugar, cinnamon, and browned butter (see notes) to a bowl. Mix to combine until crumbs are evenly moistened. Press crumbs into prepared spring-form pan. Refrigerate while preparing the filling.
- To make the filling, add cream cheese and brown sugar to a large mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat until the mixture is smooth.
- Add vanilla, then add eggs one at a time, beating between each egg until mixture is smooth. Repeat until all eggs are incorporated.
- Add pumpkin puree, sour cream, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg and beat one more time until mixture is completely smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated.
- Pour the filling into the prepared pan on top of the crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.
- Place spring-form pan into a large roasting pan, and gently pour enough hot water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the cheesecake pan, being careful not to splash water into the cheesecake.
- Transfer roasting pan to the oven and bake for 1 hour until the sides of the cheesecake are set but the middle is still a bit wobbly.
- Turn off the oven and let the cheesecake cool with the oven door closed for an additional hour.
- Remove cheesecake from oven and let come completely to room temperature before wrapping tightly in plastic wrap.
- Chill cheesecake in the fridge for a least 2 hours, but ideally overnight before serving. Carefully release the outer ring of the spring-form pan, garnish with whipped cream and extra gingersnaps if desired.
Notes
- To make the browned butter, place your butter in a small saucepan and melt over medium heat. Once butter is melted, keep cooking over medium – medium low heat until the milk solids begin to brown at the bottom of the pan. Now you have browned butter! Once it reaches this stage it can burn quickly so keep a close eye to it.
- If you don\\\\\\\’t want to make browned butter, you can just use regular melted butter for the crust.
- This recipe makes enough crust and filling for a 10\\\\\\\” spring-form pan. I only have an 8\\\\\\\” pan so I was able to get 1 full 8\\\\\\\” cheesecake plus 12 mini muffin-tin cheesecakes!
Nutrition Facts
Pumpkin Cheesecake with Browned Butter Gingersnap Crust
Serves: 12 Slices
|
Amount Per Serving: 1 Slice
|
||
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 393 | |
| % Daily Value* | ||
| Total Fat 27.9g | 41.5% | |
| Saturated Fat 17.2g | 85% | |
| Trans Fat | ||
| Cholesterol 80mg | 26.7% | |
| Sodium 275mg | 11.5% | |
| Total Carbohydrate 32.1g | 10.7% | |
| Dietary Fiber 2.3g | 8% | |
| Sugars 21.7g | ||
| Protein 5.8g | ||
| Vitamin A | Vitamin C | |
| Calcium 101mg | Iron 2mg | |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
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