The perfect holiday dessert! This cheesecake has 2 layers - a delicious classic cheesecake layer and a pumpkin pie layer combining the best of both desserts. Your guests will love it.
Allow the cold ingredients to sit out at room temperature for at least an hour before making. 16 ounce cream cheese, 3 eggs, 1/4 cup sour cream, 2/3 cup sour cream. If you crack the eggs, keep one egg separate.
Lightly grease the bottom and sides of the springform pan if you are not using non stick. I prefer refined coconut oil for this as it will not add flavor to it.
Making the Crust
Place the graham crackers and brown sugar in a food processor. Blend until the crackers are fine crumbs.
12 graham crackers, 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
Add in the melted butter and blend again until it is mixed well.
5 Tablespoons butter
Pack the crust into the bottom of the springform pan as packed as you can make it.
The Cheesecake Layer
Cream the cream cheese for 1-2 minutes with a mixer on medium (hand or stand is ok) until smooth.
16 ounces cream cheese
Add in the sugar and mix for 1-2 minutes until it is smooth.
½ cup sugar
Add in the sour cream and vanilla. Mix together until it is smooth - about 1 minute.
¼ cup sour cream, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Follow exactly here -Mix the eggs in one at a time but only mix for 5-10 seconds for each egg, it will not be fully mixed.Stir gently with a spatula until it is just incorporated to prevent adding excess air to the batter.
2 eggs
Spoon batter carefully on top of the crust and spread out evenly.
The Pumpkin Layer
Mix together brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice and flour together with a whisk into a small bowl.
2 Tablespoons brown sugar, 1 Tablespoon flour, 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
In a separate bowl whisk sour cream and pumpkin puree until there are no sour cream clumps.
⅔ cup sour cream, ¾ cup pumpkin puree
Add in the egg and gently whisk until the egg is incorporated into the pumpkin mix.
1 egg
Add in the flour mixture and gently stir with a whisk until there are no clumps. NOTE - this will be very thin.
Pour over the cheesecake mixture.
The Baking
Be sure that the oven rack is in the center of the oven and that the oven is up to temperature at 325°F.
Bake the cheesecake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes. It should be a little darker on the edges then the center and the center should be just a little jiggly (not much tho.)
Remove from oven and allow to sit for an hour.Place in fridge uncovered for about 1-2 hours, until it is completely cooled. Then cover and keep in fridge for at least 4 hours before serving but overnight is preferred.
Notes
Nutrition facts are estimated and so is the serving size. We estimated 8 pieces but some people like smaller slices.For the sour cream/yogurt - You can use sour cream full fat or whole milk plain Greek yogurt without any adjustments. They both add the same texture and flavor to this pumpkin cheesecake.Flour - We use fresh pumpkin puree which is thinner then canned. If you are using canned pumpkin, you can leave the flour out.Cracks - Sometimes this pumpkin layered cheesecake will get cracks in the pumpkin layer after cooling. Both cheesecake and pumpkin pie shrink when setting so it can happen as they set together. Whipped cream can cover it and it will still taste amazing!It is important to not cover the cheesecake as soon as you put it in the fridge. The temperature difference will create moisture on your dessert. By allowing it to cool in the fridge first and then covering, you are preventing this from happening.