Quilt Group September 2022 Mary Ann and Barbara

                                 Bring Your Favorite Halloween Quilt  

 Pumpkin Cheesecake

2 cups crushed gingersnap cookies (abt. 15 normal sized cookies)

¼ cup melted butter

3   8-oz. pkgs. cream cheese, softened

¾ cup sugar, divided

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

3 eggs

1 cup pumpkin puree

1-2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, combine the cookie crumbs and butter.  Mix well. Press onto the bottom and about 1 inch up the sides of a 9-10-inch springform pan.   In a large bowl, cream together the cream cheese, ½ cup of the sugar, and the vanilla.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well each addition.  Remove 1 cup of the batter and set aside.  To the rest of the batter, add the remaining sugar, pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice.  Beat well.  

Spread half of the pumpkin batter onto the crust.  Top with a few spoonfuls of reserved batter.  Top with the remaining pumpkin batter.  Run a knife through the batter in a swirl pattern to get a marbled effect.  

Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until almost set (just slightly jiggly.)  Let cool a bit then refrigerate for 4 hours.

Prep. Time: 30 minutes plus gingerbread cookie baking time.  Baking time: 45-50 minutes.  Serves 12.