A Merry-almost-Thanksgiving to you and yours. Talk about baking down to the wire.
Indeed.
There’s totally still time for this. It’s easy. It’s peasy. It’s lemon squeezy. Make it today. Chill it tonight. Serve it tomorrow.
Done.
The crust is super simple. You need 2 cups of crunchy gee eff cookie crumbs. Like Graham Crackers, which are on page 214 of My Cookbook, or use my recipe for GF Nilla Wafers. Or buy some crunchy gee eff cookies from the market. There’s lots of those around these days. Hallelujah. Add some melted & cooled butter to them, then press them into a pan.
Listen, I need to talk to you about cheesecake and springform pans. I didn’t want to use mine here. And since I’m the boss of my kitchen, I didn’t have to.
I didn’t want to wrap the whole bottom in foil, and I didn’t want to worry about leakage.
So I used this USA Pans 9″ pie pan. I have to travel with this cheesecake, and a pie pan makes for easier traveling. But look at that top photo. My baby’s gonna to come right out of that pie pan. No muss, no fuss.
So you pour in the filling halfway. Then dot it with some melted bittersweet chocolate.
And swirl with a knife.
Top with the rest of the filling, and dot again with melted chocolate.
And swirl.
Then place the pie pan in a large roasting pan, and position it on the center oven rack. Pour enough hot water (hot from the tap is fine) into the roasting pan to reach about halfway up the side of the pie pan.
Bake for between 40 minutes and an hour (more for a springform pan, which will have more batter in it, less for a (more shallow) pie pan), until the sides are set but the center still shimmies a bit when shaken side to side. Then just turn off the oven, pop the oven door a bit, and let it sit, as is, for about another 30 minutes. It won’t crack. It will be, in a word, perfectamundo.
Chill. Serve.
Then chill out and enjoy Thanksgiving. Take a bow. You’ve earned it, ya crazy kid.
| Pumpkin Chocolate-Swirl Cheesecake |
- 2 cups graham cracker or nilla wafer cookie crumbs
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup sour cream, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsulphured molasses (blackstrap is my fave, but not necessary)
- 3 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten and at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup pure pumpkin puree
- 3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 1/4 cup milk or cream
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease well a 9- or 10-inch springform pan* and wrap the bottom tightly with aluminum foil.
- In a large bowl, place the cookie crumbs and melted butter and mix until the crumbs are all moistened. Press the crumbs into the bottom and halfway up the sides of the prepared pan. Set the pan aside.
- In a large bowl (preferably that of a stand mixer), place the cream cheese and sour cream and beat until well-combined. Add the sugar, molasses, eggs, vanilla, pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice, and mix until well-blended and smooth.
- In a separate small microwave-safe bowl, place the chopped chocolate and milk or cream. Zap in the microwave for 30 seconds, and stir well until melted, smooth and shiny. Zap again for another 15 seconds if the chocolate isn’t fully melted after lots of stirring.
- Pour half the cream cheese mixture on top of the crust. Place half the melted chocolate in dollops with a spoon (see photos) scattered around the filling. Swirl the dollops carefully with a butter knife (see photos). Top with the remaining cream cheese filling, and finish with the remaining chocolate, and then swirl once more (see photos).
- Place the cheesecake in the center of a large roasting pan and place it on the center rack of the preheated oven. Fill the roasting pan with hot water (from the tap) until the water reaches about halfway up the side of the springform pan. Close the oven door, and bake for about an hour, or until most of the cake is set, but the center is still somewhat loose when shaken from side to side. Turn off the oven, and crack the oven door a bit, leaving the cake inside. Allow to sit for about 30 minutes.
- Remove the cake from the oven and chill until ready to serve.
*If you use a 9 inch pie pan like I did, you’ll only need half the filling (but you can still use all the melted chocolate and the whole crust if you like — I did), and you’ll only need to bake it for about 40 minutes. The rest of the filling can be used for mini cheesecakes, or another 9 inch cheesecake. Or you could halve the cream cheese filling, right down the middle of each filling ingredient.
Love,
Me
P.S. Will you come back and visit me? I get so lonesome without you.
P.P.S. Have questions about Thanksgiving or gluten-free life or my cookbook? Come on over to the new Gluten-free on a Shoestring Community page. The gang’s all there. Ask, answer, and be thankful. Amen.
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Good Morning, Nicole! I am so excited you posted this because I just loathe pumpkin pie, but have to make it anyway for the family…now I can have my own dessert! Quick question though- will one batch of your graham crackers be enough, or should I double it?
Hi, Jennica,
Yeah, most pumpkin pie isn’t my favorite, either. I really like the recipe in the cookbook, but that’s pretty much it.
One batch of graham crackers is plenty. You’ll even have a few left over for snacking. :)
xoxo Nicole
Nicole….warmest Thanksgiving wishes to you and your family.
Thank you for insuring our GF Thanksgiving will be the best!
-Scott, me, GF Molly and my step-dog Harley
Who knew there was a step-dog, Pam?!
Warmest wishes to you and yours, too. Have a very happy one.
xoxo Nicole
I live in Norfolk, Va..where can I buy GF Graham Crackers??? I’ve looked in quite a few stores and no luck
Hi, Mary,
There is a recipe for GF Graham Crackers in my cookbook. If you don’t have the book, you can make and use the recipe for Nilla Wafers here on the blog. There’s a link to it in the post.
xoxo Nicole
This looks absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing :)
Wow, girl, you are killin’ it for the last few days. I can’t keep up.
How can I keep my girlish figure (NOT) with all these yummy recipes that I MUST try!?!?
You make being GF awesome!!
Tanya, you made my day. Thank you so much for this: “You make being GF awesome!!” You make blogging awesome. :)
xoxo Nicole
I wish I had the time to make this for this Thanksgiving but no worries, Christmas is just around the corner & this will be an awesome dessert to impress everyone with! Nicole, you are the bestest friend a gf gal could have!!! Thanks for all you do for all of us!!! Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Hi, Peggy,
I know! I went back and forth about whether or not to post this today, but there is still time! You’re right, though. The holidays do not end with Thanksgiving. ‘Tis the season! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your lovely family.
xoxo Nicole
USA Pan Pie Pan will work great for this as well! :)
You bet, Amanda. It’s linked to right in the post. :)
Nicole
Nicole!!! You’re my hero!!!
I’m so happy to have your recipe in time for the festivities!!! One question, do you think it would be ok to replace the sour cream with mascarpone like in your original cheesecake recipe? Thanks again!
~Maria
Okay? It would be heaven-sent! That would have been my preference, but I thought people might not have that on hand, and I knew it was down to the wire….
You’re very welcome. :) Happy Thanksgiving!
xoxo Nicole
Dear Nicole,
Mascarpone is a staple in the fridge ever since I first made your awesome (best ever!!!) cheesecake. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Gotta say you’re a very special reason to say Thanks this year!
~Maria
Dear Maria,
Right back atcha. I’m thankful for your graciousness. :)
Happy Thanksgiving!
xoxo Nicole
TY Nicole, Happy Thanksgiving! Xo
I just put this in the oven, I hope it comes out great, I may have slightly overfilled my pie dish but I am a total novice!! FYI the recipe doesn’t say when to put in the pumpkin puree so I just put it in with the sugar, eggs etc… I hope that was right!!
Oh, thanks for the recipe. I’m printing out as I type this comment ;) :) This is my first gluten free Thanksgiving :) :) I’m really excited. I’m still challenged in the baking department, but I purchased a gluten free pumpkin pie from Whole Foods ;) :) Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather :)
Hi, Heather,
I hope your first GF Thanksgiving turned out well. I’m sure it went off without a hitch!
xoxo Nicole
I made my pum-cake for Thanksgiving this year & I have a request to make it again for Christmas so there will be at least 2 desserts I can enjoy if I’m quick enough. Once others realize that my desserts taste as good as anything else on the table, it disappears quickly. Will be making the Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake & my pum-cake. Doing a happy dance!
So glad you’re having so much success, Peggy! I bet your desserts were better than anything else on the table. :)
xoxo Nicole
Hi, Jennifer, you’re absolutely right! The recipe was missing a step. Thank you! I have updated it — and yes, you did the right thing! So glad you didn’t leave it out. :)
It turned out delicious!! I made the crust out of smashed Chex cereal & it was great too. I had leftover batter so this morning I made them into muffins. Can’t wait to try them!!! :)
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