Pumpkin Cheesecake
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This pumpkin cheesecake is the ultimate sweet ending to your Thanksgiving feast—and no one will miss the pumpkin pie!
Pumpkin pie is a classic Thanksgiving dessert, but pumpkin cheesecake is just as festive and, honestly, even more delicious. This recipe combines the rich creaminess of classic cheesecake with the warm spices of pumpkin pie. Instead of the traditional graham cracker crust, I use a gingersnap crust to complement the spiced filling and bring out the pumpkin flavor. The homemade caramel sauce is optional, but absolutely worth making. Plus, it takes less than 10 minutes in the microwave!
While cheesecake might seem intimidating, it’s actually quite simple to make with only a few ingredients. The key is baking it in a water bath to ensure even cooking and prevent cracks. It might sound fussy, but it’s really not—just place the cake pan in a larger pan and fill the larger one with water. I’ll guide you through the whole process below. Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
“I love pumpkin, but not pumpkin pie. This cheesecake was the perfect answer! It was delicious and everyone enjoyed it.”
What You’ll Need to Make Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Gingersnaps – Ground to create a spicy, flavorful base that perfectly complements the pumpkin filling.
- Melted butter – Binds the crust together and adds a rich, buttery flavor.
- Pumpkin purée – The key to the filling, providing rich pumpkin flavor and moisture.
- Granulated sugar – Sweetens both the filling and crust, balancing the spices and enhancing the overall flavor.
- Ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves – Classic pumpkin pie spices that add depth and complement the pumpkin flavor.
- Salt – Balances the sweetness and enhances the flavors of the filling.
- Heavy cream – Adds richness and a creamy texture to the cheesecake filling.
- Cream cheese – The smooth, creamy base of the cheesecake that gives it its signature texture.
- Large eggs – Bind the filling, helping it set while adding richness to the cheesecake.
- Caramel sauce – Drizzled on top for a sweet, indulgent finish that pairs beautifully with the warm spices and pumpkin flavor.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by wrapping a 9-inch or 10-inch springform pan with a double layer of aluminum foil. It’s important to use heavy-duty foil because it comes in wider sheets and does a better job of preventing water from seeping into the pan. (If you’d like to try another technique that doesn’t require wrapping the pan in foil, get more guidance here.) Spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Next, make the crust: combine the gingersnap cookies, sugar, and melted butter in the bowl of a food processor.
Pulse until the crumbs are fine.
Transfer the crumbs to the prepared pan. Press the crumbs into an even layer, then bake for 15 minutes.
Set the crust aside to cool, and move on to the filling. Combine the pumpkin, sugar and spices in a medium saucepan.
Stir over medium heat until shiny, bronze, and thickened. This step, borrowed from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s recipe, both intensifies the pumpkin flavor and dries the pumpkin out.
Next, transfer the pumpkin mixture to a food processor and run for one minute to smooth and cool the mixture.
With the motor running, add the cold heavy cream. The mixture will look like this.
Add the cream cheese in large chunks.
Process until the batter is smooth.
Finally, add the eggs.
Pulse until just combined. It’s important not to over-mix — if you incorporate too much air into the filling, it will rise and crack or fall when it bakes.
Set the cake pan in a large roasting pan, then pour the pumpkin cheesecake filling into the cooled crust.
Next, pour hot water into the roasting pan until it reaches about halfway up the side of the springform pan.
Bake in a 325°F-oven until just set, about 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 hours. A properly cooked cheesecake will jiggle a bit when you nudge the pan, but if the center still seems liquidy, it’s not done.
Let the cheesecake cool in the water bath, then leave it out on a rack to cool to room temperature. Finally, cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least four hours or overnight. On that note, it’s a good idea to bake this pumpkin cheesecake recipe a day ahead of time or early in the morning on the day you plan to serve it.
For the homemade caramel sauce—which is optional yet oh so good—I recommend a very simple recipe from Cooks Illustrated, which takes less than 10 minutes to make in the microwave and requires no fancy equipment or candy thermometers. You can see the step-by-step instructions here.
When you’re ready to serve the cheesecake, warm up the caramel sauce, drizzle it over each piece of cheesecake, and top with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream and a light dusting of cinnamon, if desired.
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Pumpkin Cheesecake
This pumpkin cheesecake is the ultimate sweet ending to your Thanksgiving feast—and no one will miss the pumpkin pie!
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 7½ ounces gingersnaps (or 1½ cups finely ground gingersnap crumbs)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the Filling
- 1 15-ounce can pumpkin (such as Libby's)
- 1⅓ cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup heavy cream, cold
- 1½ pounds (three 8-ounce packages) cream cheese, room temperature
- 5 large eggs, room temperature
- Caramel sauce, for serving
- Special equipment: 9- or 10-inch springform pan; 18-inch heavy-duty aluminum foil
Instructions
For the Crust
- Preheat the oven to 325°F degrees and set a rack in the lower middle position. Wrap a 9- or 10-inch springform pan with with one large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil, covering the underside and extending all the way to the top so there are no seams on the bottom or sides of the pan. Repeat with another sheet of foil for insurance. Spray the inside of the pan with nonstick cooking spray. Pulse the gingersnaps, sugar, and melted butter in a food processor fitted with the metal blade until finely ground. Transfer the moistened crumbs into the prepared pan and press into an even layer. Bake until fragrant and set, about 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack while you prepare the filling.
For the Filling
- Set a kettle of water to boil (this will be used for the water bath). In a small, heavy saucepan, stir together the pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a sputter, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes, until thick, bronzed and shiny. Scrape the mixture into a large food processor fitted with the metal blade and process for 1 minute with the feed tube open.
- With the motor running, add the cold cream. Add the cream cheese (cut into chunks) and process for about 30 seconds, scraping the sides if necessary, or until smoothly incorporated. Add the eggs and process for about 5 seconds or just until incorporated (do not overmix!).
- Set the cake pan in a large roasting pan. Pour the batter into the cooled crust, and then pour enough boiling water into the large roasting pan to come about halfway up side of the cake pan. Bake until the cake is just set, 1½ to 1¾ hours. A properly cooked cheesecake will jiggle a bit when you nudge the pan, but if the center seems at all liquidy, it's not done. CAREFULLY remove the roasting pan from the oven and set on a wire rack. Run a sharp paring knife around the edges to loosen the cake from the sides of the pan. Cool until the water is just warm, about 45 minutes. Remove the springform pan from the water bath, discard the foil and set on a wire rack. Continue to cool at room temperature until barely warm, about 3 hours. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight.
For Serving
- Remove the outer ring from the springform pan. Slide a thin metal spatula between the crust and pan bottom to loosen, then slide the cheesecake onto a serving platter. (Alternatively, you can keep it on the pan bottom.) If there is condensation on the top of the cheesecake, blot it gently with a flat paper towel. Let the cheesecake stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes, then cut it into wedges. Warm up the caramel sauce in the microwave (it stiffens in the fridge). If it's too thick, add more heavy cream to thin it out. Drizzle the caramel sauce over each piece of cheesecake and top with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream if desired.
- Note: You'll need a large food processor -- preferably with a 14-cup capacity -- to make the filling (you can also use an 11-cup, but you may have a bit of leakage). If you don't have one, it's fine to use a Kitchenaid Mixer or electric beaters for the filling and a small food processor for the crust.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The cheesecake can be frozen for up to 3 months. To freeze: place the cake in the freezer briefly, unwrapped, to firm it up. Then double-wrap it tightly with aluminum foil or plastic freezer wrap, or place it in heavy-duty freezer bag. Thaw in the refrigerator the night before you plan to eat it.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (12 servings)
- Serving size: 1 slice
- Calories: 643
- Fat: 40g
- Saturated fat: 23g
- Carbohydrates: 66g
- Sugar: 54g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 8g
- Sodium: 397mg
- Cholesterol: 196mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Oh my goodness, can you please tell me how not to burn the crust after putting it in the oven a second time? I’m not sure what the heck I’m missing in the steps but my husband loves burnt toast, etc. so he was okay with this regardless. It tasted perfect and I’m making it again tomorrow as it seems to disappear before it even gets to the table. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Gaileen, Are you putting it too close to the bottom of the oven?
Did not use the Caramel sauce….but the cheesecake it’s was wonderful. Had family member who don’t like cheesecake go back for seconds.
Love your recipes! Your site is my go to : ) Can I freeze this cheesecake after baking?
Glad you like the recipes, Kim! Yes, the cheesecake can be made ahead and frozen. The crust will get a little soggy when defrosted. It will still be good– just not as crisp.
Hi Jenn, first I wanted to say that your exceptional recipes have unleashed the inner chef in me. I bought your cookbook and I am having a wonderful time making everything in there. I have never felt so compelled to cook in my entire life – many thanks for all your inspiring, scrumptious, and foolproof recipes! I made this yummy looking pumpkin cheesecake yesterday, as I would like to make it for Canadian Thanksgiving but wanted to make sure I could handle it. I did have some struggles. I found that when I added the cream cheese to the batter I had a hard time incorporating it (the cream cheese was room temperature and I divided it into smaller chunks), I had a lot of little white bits in there, I had to really beat the dickens out of it with my hand mixer for way longer than I should have, which was probably the reason it cracked while it baked. Should I try beating the cream cheese with a little of the heavy cream in a separate bowl before adding it to the batter? Would that help? Not sure what I am doing wrong? Also, I was wondering if the butterscotch sauce from your sticky butterscotch banana cake would work in this recipe? Although I liked the caramel in this recipe I felt that the butterscotch sauce was over-the-top delicious and I would like another reason to make it : )
I tried a slice of the pumpkin cheesecake this morning for breakfast,,, WOW!!! Holy cow was it good. 100% worth the effort. My family is in for a treat this Thanksgiving – thank you!
Hi Jen, So glad you’re enjoying all the recipes! If you don’t have a food processor, it’s much harder to get the batter smooth. But I think it’s an excellent idea to mix the cream cheese with some of the cream first. Also, be sure your eggs are room temperature; if they are too cold, they will chill the cream cheese and make it harder to incorporate. Finally, I definitely think the butterscotch sauce will work! Please come back and LMK how it turns out. 🙂
Success! Beating the cream cheese first with a bit of the heavy cream made it much easier to incorporate, so the top of the cheesecake didn’t crack this time – Yahoo! I also used room temperature eggs this time like you suggested (which was a detail that I missed the first time around). Thank you so much : )
So glad it worked out, Jen – thanks for following up! 🙂
Do you have any problems with the steam from the water bath condensing on the foil and dripping onto your cake. Or if the foil does not go over the top of the pan, does the steam drip down the inside of the foil and get the crust moist? I cannot solve this problem. Thanks for great photos and clear directions. Love the recipes.
Hi Jo, I haven’t had these issues. Are you using 18-inch heavy-duty foil?
Quick question – if I were to bake this in a
9 X 13 pan, is the water bath still necessary? I looked at your cheesecake bar recipe and no bath was used, just wanted to double check! The recipe looks amazing!
Hi Genie, I haven’t tried this in a 9 x 13-inch pan, but I think it would work. You’d need to make 1 ½ times the recipe (for both the crust and the filling) to have enough to fill a 9 x 13. I suspect the baking time would be about the same if not a tiny bit longer. Also, I do think you should use a water bath for this. (You can place the dish in a larger roasting pan with water. Just be careful taking it out of the oven. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it this way!
This cheesecake is the perfect dessert for my family on Thanksgiving! I love how was the crust is, and is usually my favorite part with using premade ginger snap cookies! Who knew you could make caramel in the microwave either, so easy! Jenn lays out each step meticulously so the instructions are easy to follow, and my cheesecake turns out perfect every time. She means it when she says tested and perfected!!
Soo good! Another winner!!
I made this for Thanksgiving and my family raved about it. They want me to make it every year!
I made this pumpkin cheesecake for the first time and it was delicious. I did precook the pumpkin to dry it out, and I added less sugar and more ginger to the crust and to the batter ( I used Nabisco ginger snaps and they are good!) I omitted the caramel and instead topped it with a traditional sour cream/vanilla/and touch of sugar topping which was baked for only 5 minutes at the end. I cooked the cake beyond the jiggle stage in a bain marie because I think some cheesecakes are too wet and doughy inside. This one was really yummy and even better on day 2,3 etc.