Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Crumble Top

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Pumpkin Cheesecake with a Pecan Crumble Top 

This PumpkinCheesecake with its Pecan Crumble Top just screams holiday dessert. Thecheesecake itself has that same dense silky texture we all love in a cheesecakebut it also has the flavor of a pumpkin pie thrown into the mix.  And the crust is made from those delicioushoney ginger cookies from my last video. The pumpkin puree in the recipe takes up the volume of two additionalblocks of cream cheese that would normally be needed to make a cake of thissize.  Essentially that trims a ton ofcalories and fat versus an ordinary New York cheesecake.  And the low fat cream cheese and sour creamsave even more calories.  But this isstill a pretty decadent dessert so you’ll want to try to keep from overdoing itwith this one.  I often live by thephilosophy that a smaller serving of a sinful dessert is far more satisfyingthan a larger serving of a mediocre dessert. And this one is so decadent it’s sure to make an impression at theholiday dessert table.

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Crumble Prep time: 30 min Bake time: 1 hour 15 min
Ingredients

• FOR THE CRUST:
• 3 cups gluten freeginger cookie crumbs 
• 4 tbsp butter, melted
• 2 tbsp sugar
• FOR THE BATTER:
• (3) 8 oz packages oflight cream cheese
• 1 ½ cups dark brownsugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup low fat sourcream
• 5 eggs 
• 15 oz can pumpkinpuree
• 1 tablespoon pumpkinpie spice
• FOR THE CRUMBLE:
• ½ cup gluten free Bisquick
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 4 tbsp cold dicedbutter
• ½ cup chopped pecans

Video Tutorial: 



Instructions

1. Preheatthe oven to 325°F (or 165°C) and line the exterior of a 10 inch spring form panwith foil then place it on a baking sheet to prevent any leaking into theoven. 
2. To make the crust,mix all of the crust ingredients together until the mixture resembles wet sandthen dump the mixture into the bottom of the pan and press the mixture firmlyalong the bottom and up the sides of the pan. A flat bottom glass with straight sides is useful for both the bottomand the sides.
3. Once the crust is formedbake it for 10 minutes then carefully remove it from the oven and let it cool.
4. To make the batter, in amixer, cream together the cream cheese, brown sugar and vanilla until light andfluffy.  Turn the mixer off, scrape downthe sides of the bowl, then add the sour cream and beat until thoroughlycombined. 
5. Add the eggs one at a timeuntil they’re all incorporated then scrape down the bowl again and add thepumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice then beat on medium speed for 5 minutesstopping the mixer periodically to scrape down the bowl. 
6. Pour the batter into theprepared crust and bake for 1 hour before adding the pecan layer.
7. To make the pecan crumble,stir together the gluten free Bisquick, brown sugar, and cinnamon until wellcombined then add the cold diced butter and using your fingers or a pastrycutter work the butter into the dry mixture until you have a coarse crumblytexture then stir in the pecans and set aside in the refrigerator until thecheesecake has baked for 1 hour.
8. Evenly sprinkle the pecan crumble over the cheesecake and raisethe oven temperature to 350°F (or 175°C) then bake it for an additional 15minutes.
9. Remove the cake from the oven, let it cool completely thencover it and refrigerate for at least 6 hours but overnight is better for theeasier slicing and serving.

Notes:  For the cookie crumbsI used 14 of the honey ginger spice cookies I made in a previous video whichwas 3 cups by volume and 10 oz by weight. You can substitute any other gluten free ginger cookie or grahamcracker.  If you’re not following agluten free diet you can use regular ginger cookies and also use all purposeflour instead of the gluten free Bisquick in the crumble topping.