Thanksgiving is just a week away, friends! Today’s post is about a family favorite: the recipe for the best pumpkin cheesecake pie you will ever try. This pie has been part of our Thanksgiving table every year for the past decade. I first posted about it six years ago, but this year I wanted to revisit it and reshoot it.
A great flavor combination
If you love a traditional pumpkin pie, and also love a good cheesecake, this recipe blends those two desserts into one! The creamy texture of a cheesecake combined with warm pumpkin spices, makes for an unbeatable flavor combination and a pie without the heaviness of a traditional cheesecake. Served with a dollop of whipped cream, this pie is The Perfect Ending to your Thanksgiving celebration.
An easy pie to make
If you are planning to bake a pie, and are still unsure which one to make, you should give this heavenly pie a try. The crust comes together easily and the addition of cornmeal gives it a wonderfully different texture. While the crust chills in the refrigerator, mix together the ingredients for this incredibly delicious filling. This year I formed little decorative leaves with the leftover dough to add to the presentation, but it not necessary as the pie is just as tasty with just a bottom crust. Just roll out the dough, fill it, and bake it–it’s easy as…well, as easy as that!
Thanksgiving Planning
To make Thanksgiving planning a bit easier, a couple of year ago I put together a popular post (based on your feedback) that you might want to check out: Countdown to Thanksgiving Timeline In that post I have a few suggestions that might help with your planning too! If you scroll down in that same post, you will also see some of my Favorite Thanksgiving dishes that I will be making again this year!
- For the crust:
- 3 TBSP. ice water
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1⅓ cups all purpose flour
- ¼ cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 TBSP. sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½” pieces
- The filling
- 6 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup golden brown sugar, (packed)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 cup canned pure pumpkin
- ¾ cup half and half
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp. ground ginger
- 1 tsp. grated lemon peel
- ¼ tsp.salt
- For the crust
- Whisk the ice water and egg yolk in small bowl to blend. Mix all purpose flour, yellow cornmeal, sugar and salt in food processor. Add the chilled butter. Using on/off turns, process until mixture resembles coarse meal. Drizzle egg yolk mixture over. Using on/off turns, process until moist clumps form, adding more ice water (by teaspoonfuls), if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball. Flatten dough into disk; wrap disk in plastic and refrigerate 30 minutes. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated.)
- While the dough is resting, position rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 350°F. Roll out dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper to 12” round. Remove top sheet of the paper. Invert the dough, paper side up, into 9” diameter glass pie dish. Remove the second piece of parchment paper from the dough. Crimp dough edges decoratively.
- For the filling
- Using a hand held electric mixer, beat the cream cheese in large bowl until fluffy. Add the sugar and brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and egg yolk 1 at a time. Add remaining ingredients and beat until well blended. Pour filling into prepared crust.
- Baking time
- Bake pie until filling is slightly puffed and just set in center, about 55 minutes. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely. Cover pie and refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep pie refrigerated.) Serve pie cold or at room temperature, with some whipped cream on top.
The Best Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie
Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving!
To all of you who have been following my blog since its beginning and to all my new readers too:
I am very grateful that you have signed up to receive my weekly posts and for following along with my culinary adventures. I am very thankful that you take your time to read my posts, try my recipes, and leave your comments!
Beautiful. Can’t wait to make this. As I am not a pumpkin fan I am substituting butternut squash. Great job on the leaves. Happy thanksgiving to you, your family and all your blog followers.
Thank you so much Cynthia! So happy to know that you are going to try it.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and Paul too!
It looks so delicious, I’ll try it too. Thank you for the recipe, I am sure it will taste very good.
It is my family’s favorite! I hope you like it too:)
This pie is incredible and will replace your traditional pumpkin pie on your holiday table once you try it! I had it last Thanksgiving and searched out the recipe again for this year for ingredients. This was a HUGE crowd-pleaser at my house and will sure to be again this year. Thank you, Chef!
Thank you SO much for sharing! I am so glad to know that this has replaced the traditional pumpkin pie at your holiday table!
Very nice Blog, thanks for the recipes.
Thank you so much for your comment!