Pumpkin Cheesecake

I’ve gone through many simple no-bake cheesecakes in premade graham cracker crusts. And they were good. But they were nowhere near as good as making one from scratch. And this one is about as perfect a pumpkin cheesecake that you will make. You’re welcome.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients
For the crust:
1-3/4 cup gingersnap cookie crumbs, from about 40 gingersnap wafers
3 tablespoons brown sugar
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled down
For the filling:
3 8-ounce packages regular cream cheese (not low fat or nonfat), at room temperature
1 15-ounce can pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
3 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 c. sour cream
1-1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
2 T. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare a 9″ spring form pan by lightly spraying with cooking spray.

For the crust, pulse the cookies in a food processor until the crumbs are uniform. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt and pulse to combine. Transfer to a medium bowl and add the melted butter. Combine thoroughly with a fork. When the mixture is evenly moist, crumbly, and holds together when you squeeze a handful, it’s ready. Press the mixture evenly over the bottom, and very slightly up the sides, of your spring form pan. Chill for 5 minutes, and then bake for 10 minutes. Let cool completely.

Prepare a water bath while the crust cools. Heat a kettle or pan of water to a soft boil. Have a larger baking dish or roasting pan ready to set the spring form pan inside of. Once the crust is cooled, set the spring form pan on a double layer of heavy duty aluminum foil and wrap the foil up around the outside of the pan.