My Favorite Thanksgiving Dessert – Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe

My favorite part of Thanksgiving has always been the dessert. I can’t wait for the turkey dinner to be done so that I can eat dessert. In fact, I almost never overeat Thanksgiving dinner, just so that I have more room for the dessert. My favorite dessert on Thanksgiving is pumpkin pie. I must confess, that it isn’t just my favorite dessert on Turkey Day, it’s my favorite all year round.

The dessert for me that comes in as a close second is cheesecake. It is so thick, and rich, and delicious. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. I was so excited when I was browsing the web recently and I found a recipe that combines my two favorite recipes into one. Here it is:

Pumpkin Cheesecake

16 ounces soft cream cheese

1/2 cup pumpkin purée

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

dash cloves

2 large eggs

1 9-inch graham cracker pie crust

Put the cream cheese, pumpkin, sugar, vanilla, and spices into a bowl and mix at medium speed until well blended. Next, you want to add eggs and again mix until blended. Finally, pour the mixture into the graham cracker crust. Bake the pie at 350° F for 35 to 45 minutes. You can cook the cake longer if it isn’t set by the end of the 45 minutes. Once the cake has set, you want to remove it from the oven and then let it cool. Refrigerate the pie for three hours at the very least, but overnight is preferable. You can serve with a dollop of whipped cream if you like, but it’s also great without it.

Joy Larson is a mother of four boys, graduate of The University of Montana, animal lover and writer.