Pumpkin Cheesecake

Oh. My. God. How is it that I have been baking for years, and had never tried this until this past Thanksgiving?
As you can probably guess, I spend quite a lot of time searching through my favorite blogs and cooking websites looking for recipes. People always made pumpkin cheesecake around fall, and I always thought it looked SO good! This past October, we went out for dinner to an Italian restaurant in the neighborhood. We were with some guests from Brazil who had never had cheesecake before, so of course we decided that we had to order them a slice. When we asked the waitress, she said that they had just gotten their pumpkin cheesecakes. It was meant to be! :)
When it came time to plan the desserts for Thanksgiving, I decided that instead of pumpkin pie (we always do one pumpkin, one pecan, and one apple), I was going to make a pumpkin cheesecake. My dad, the pumpkin pie lover in the family, "reluctantly" agreed. I turned to a valuable source: Food Network! This recipe was so easy and quick, which is great, especially when there are so many other things to be made. I made it gluten-free for my mamma by substituting gluten-free shortbread for the graham cracker crumbs. It was delicious! Don't tell anyone, but I may have had it for breakfast the next day... shh...
It may be past Thanksgiving and Christmas, but no time is wrong for pumpkin desserts. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cheesecake (from Food Network)
Ingredients
Crust:
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick melted salted butter
Filling:
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For crust:
In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.

For filling:
Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.

Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place in oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.


*As you will notice if you click on the link, this is a Paula Deen recipe. Trust me, I know all about the whole diabetes scandal, but honestly, who cares what she decides to keep private? Yes, most of her recipes are full of fat, but no one said her show was meant to be about healthy eating. This recipe = yum!