Cheesecake.

It’s a beautiful thing, y’all. When I count my blessings, I count cheesecake twice. It’s basically the 8th wonder of the world if we want to get real here. At least, in my mind it is. 😉

You’d THINK a girl like me who loves cheesecake more than most would’ve been to The Cheesecake Factory a time or two. But nope! I really haven’t. Sadly, the closest I’ve gotten to The Cheesecake Factory is an episode of The Big Bang Theory. Weep not for me, my cheesecake lovin’ friends. I will go forth into the golden gates of cheesecake heaven one glorious day, and I will indulge. Hard.

In the mean time, I’ll just make my own! Now, I don’t know that this could hold a candle anywhere near to what The Cheesecake Factory cranks out, but this pumpkin layered cheesecake recipe is pretty ding dong good if I do say so myself! Right on time for Thanksgiving, too! 🙂

You may have seen me share my love of all things pumpkin before. It’s something I just can’t keep a secret! I recently shared a delicious recipe for Glazed Pumpkin Praline Mini Cakes, which would also be an AH-MAZING addition to the Thanksgiving dessert table. Just sayin’.

Right now, though, I’m all about this cheesecake. It’s pretty simple to make, and it only calls for 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree (which means you can totally use the remaining pumpkin puree to make those mini cakes I just shared.) #Yourewelcome

Here’s what you’ll need for this dish:

Ingredients:

• 2 packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 9 inch graham cracker crust pie shell

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Using a mixer, beat together cream cheese, vanilla and sugar in a large bowl until smooth. Then add in eggs.
3. Dip out 1 cup of cream cheese mixture and set aside.
4. Try really hard not to lick the spoon.
5. Pour remaining mixture into pie crust.
6. Using your reserved cream cheese mixture, blend in pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg.
7. Pour pumpkin mixture on top of cream cheese mixture in the pie crust.
8. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the center of the pie is mostly set.
9. Allow to cool completely, then refrigerate for 3 or more hours.
10. Enjoy!

Are you a cheesecake lover, too? Maybe you’re crazy about pumpkin like I am? Do you have another fabulous cheesecake recipe you’d like to share? I’d LOVE to hear about it!