Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients

Crust Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup ginger cookie crumbs, fine (2 cups for thicker crust)
• 1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
• 1/4 cup salted or unslated butter, melted (5 tablespoons for thicker crust)

Filling Ingredients

• 3 8oz packages cream cheese
• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice

Whipped Cream Ingredients

• 1 pint heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar

Directions

Prep

Bring all ingredients to room temperature and pre-heat your oven to 350°.

Making the Crust

1. Mix crust ingredients together. Press into the bottom of your spring-form pan. Tip: A heavy glass with a flat bottom or similar helps.
2. Bake for 5 minutes at 350. Set aside.

Making the Filling

1. Combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl, mix until smooth with an electric mixer.
2. Add pumpkin, eggs, and spices, to the cream cheese mixture and beat until smooth and creamy.

Baking

This is the most tricky step. It is very easy to overcook a cheesecake. You can tell that your cheesecake is done baking when the sides have set up but the center is still wobbly and wet in appearance. Overcooking will cause cracking and may affect the texture of your cheesecake.

1. Pour cream cheese mixture into pan and bake at 350°.
   1. 50-60 minutes for a 8″ spring-form pan.
   2. 30-40 minutes for a 9″ spring-form pan.
2. After about half way through keep a close eye to make sure you don’t overcook.

Cooling

1. Set cheesecake on wire rack and let cool completely (at least 2 hours).
2. Cover and chill overnight.

Whipped Cream Topping

1. Beat cream until soft peaks start to form.
2. Add sugar, extract, and spices.
3. Continue beating until desired consistency is reached. Do not overbeat.

Serving

Slice it up, add a whipped cream dollop to each slice, and watch your thighs grow in real time!