pumpkin-oreo-cheesecake

Pumpkin Oreo Cheesecake

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Cheesecakes

 Happy Halloween, all! How did you spend your Halloweekend? Mine consisted of what was 100% the best office Halloween party ever, dog-sitting a goofy Labradoodle named Baloo, and watching Stranger Things 2. Penn State may have suffered a crushing loss to Ohio State this weekend, but I would still say it was a pretty good Halloweekend in my book. 

I’ve never been a big fan of Halloween as I don’t like dressing up – buying a costume seems like a waste of money and making your own is just so much work. I have ALWAYS loved giving out candy, though. When I was younger, I loved handing out candy before we went out and as soon as we got back. Once I got too old for good old trick or treating, I would sit on the porch with my mom and pass out candy to all the little monsters. My freshman year of college, I managed to get our house egged and had to call the police, but that’s a story for a different night.

When we moved to our neighborhood last year, I found out the hard way that kids don’t tend to go trick or treating in 3-story apartments when it’s hard to tell who’s actually giving out candy and who isn’t. It’s been a slight rain on my Halloween parade, but I’m just telling myself that I have to go EXTRA big in the candy when I finally live in a Halloween-friendly neighborhood. I did get to make up for it by taking on responsibility for all the food for our office party on Friday. I may have ordered too much food and baked too many desserts, but I would say the #FXFamily gave it a 10/10 so I’m pretty proud of my accomplishment.

So turning back to tonight’s recipe, this Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake packed with gooey Oreo cookies is the stuff of Fall time dreams. I thought I hit a home run with the Pumpkin Oreo Ice Cream, but this will certainly be the spice-y superstar of any of your family gatherings this holiday season. Pro Tip: Pair it with some Ben & Jerry’s Cinnamon Buns Ice Cream and you’ll never want to stop eating your dessert.

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Pumpkin Oreo Cheesecake

Ingredients

Oreo Crust

  • 20 Oreo Cookies finely ground
  • 1/4 cup butter melted
  • 1/4 tsp. salt

Pumpkin Cheesecake

  • 32 oz. cream cheese room temp
  • 2 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1/4 cup ricotta cheese
  • 2 cups pumpkin puree
  • 6 eggs room temp
  • 2 tsp. vanilla ex
  • 1 1/2 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
  • 10 Oreo Cookies + more for topping roughly chopped

Chocolate Ganache

  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 3/4 cups heavy cream

Homemade Whipped Cream

  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla

Instructions

Oreo Crust

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and lightly great a 12-inch springform pan.

  2. In a small bowl, mix together the Oreo cookies, melted butter and salt. 

  3. Spread the mixture evenly across the bottom of your springform pan using the bottom of a measuring cup to create an even layer.

  4. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until slightly browned. Set aside and let cool.

  5. After you remove the pan, place a 9x13 baking dish filled with water into the bottom rack of the oven.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat your cream cheese until smooth. About 3 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl often - you want to make sure you have a smooth cheesecake!

  2. Incorporate the sugar followed by the pumpkin and ricotta cheese (or similar ingredient). Mix in the spice and vanilla.

  3. Add in the eggs one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl well after each addition.

  4. Once well-combined, remove from your stand mixer and fold in your crushed Oreos. 

  5. Spread the batter evenly across your Oreo crust and tap lightly on the counter top to remove any bubbles.

  6. Bake for about 1 1/2 hours or until the center of the cheesecake is set. When you tap the pan, the cheesecake should jiggle as a whole.

  7. Do NOT remove the cheesecake from the oven! Instead, turn the oven off and crack the oven door, letting it cool down for about 1 hour.

  8. After that, remove the cheesecake from the oven and let sit at room temperature for another hour before refrigerating to set. Chill for 3-5 hours or overnight.

Chocolate Ganache

  1. For the chocolate ganache, place 1 cup of chocolate chips (I used dark) in a bowl and set aside.

  2. In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream until simmering but not boiling.

  3. Pour over the chocolate chips and cover for 1-2 minutes. Whisk together until the chocolate is smooth and let it cool.

  4. The ganache will thicken as it sits, so wait until it is a spreadable temperature before pouring on the cheesecake.

Homemade Whipped Cream

  1. Make sure your bowl and whisk are properly chilled before beginning.

  2. Whip your heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla.

  3. Whip the mixture until stiff peaks form and your whipped cream reaches the texture you desire. Place into a piping bag and decorate your cheesecake as desired!

  4. Add some extra Oreos and ENJOY!

Recipe Notes

  1. You can sub the ricotta cheese with any similar ingredient! Sour cream and greek yogurt would work as well. I've just found ricotta cheese produces the creamiest results!

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