Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe *YUM*

This pumpkin cheesecake is better than ANY pumpkin pie, ever. It has been quite a few years since I made this but I am now convinced that I will never bake an ordinary pumpkin pie again (well unless my kids demand it.) I remember eating this a few times at Thanksgiving over at my Auntie's house when I was a teenager. It is fun to make it for my teens to eat. You have to share this cheesecake. Only make it if you can share it. :)


Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust:
1 c. crushed graham crackers (plain, cinnamon sugar or even ginger snap cookies)
1/2 c. chopped nuts (pecans)
1/3 c. butter, melted
1/4 c. sugar

Filling:

4-8oz cream cheese at room temp.
6 eggs at room temp
2 c. pumpkin (not pie mix)
1 3/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 F.
Mix together crumbs, nuts, butter & sugar.
Pat into a 10 in. springform pan, pressing on bottom and up sides. This will not cover all the sides.
Mix cream cheese just until smooth and then add in remaining ingredients.
Beat until JUST blended. Don't over mix because it adds too much air into the batter.
Pour into springform pan.
Bake for 1 hr 15 min.
Turn off oven and let cake sit in oven for 1 hour.
Remove from oven & cool.
Cover with foil.
Chill overnight.

Kitchen Notes
I use a food processor to crush up my crackers and coarsely chop up the nuts.

Do not over beat your batter. Just mix together until just blended. If you don't you will add in too much air. This won't affect the taste of the cake but it will make the cheesecake crack on top while baking. Cracks are fine, just not as pretty.

Drizzle cake with melted chocolate before serving or top with whipped cream. If your cake is cracked on top and you want to cover it, add a layer of whipped cream, chocolate, cream cheese icing,etc on top.

 Cracked because I DID over mix. I had forgotten to add in the eggs (don't ask :) so then I had to mix them in which did create too much air in the cake. Trust me, it DID NOT affect the taste!

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