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This pumpkin cheesecake recipe is easy and has just the right amount of pumpkin flavor. It tastes exactly like a cheesecake that crossed paths with a pumpkin pie – the best of both worlds. The only thing difficult about this cheesecake is waiting for it to cool down so you could eat it!
This pumpkin cheesecake is delicious by itself but is just over-the-top impressive when you add some of that caramel sauce and rum-infused whipped cream. This is the perfect holiday dessert. It’s inspired by Fall, makes your home smell incredible, and will have your dinner guests humming with delight.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (from about 12 whole graham crackers)
6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) melted, unsalted butter
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling:
3 (8-ounces each) packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups (about 9 oz by weight) packed light brown sugar
15 oz canned pumpkin pie mix (use half of the 30 oz can)
4 large eggs
1/4 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour *measured correctly
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or make your own)
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp real vanilla extract
Optional Pumpkin Cheesecake Toppings:
1 cup of cold heavy cream beat with 1 Tbsp sugar and 1/2 tsp rum or vanilla
Pumpkin pie spice to dust
Toasted pecans
Caramel sauce – this 8-minute recipe will rock your cheesecake
How to Make a Pie Crust:
Preheat Oven to 350˚F.
1. Pulse graham crackers in a food processor until fine crumbs form.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, 1 Tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 6 Tbsp melted butter. Transfer into a 9-inch springform pan with 3″ tall walls and use a large spoon to press crumbs into the bottom of your springform pan, and going about 1/2″ up the sides of the pan. Bake at 350˚F for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool to room temp.
How to make the Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling:
Preheat Oven to 350˚F.
1. In the bowl of your mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the 3 packages of softened cream cheese and 1 1/2 cups brown sugar on med speed until light and fluffy and without lumps (5 min), scraping down the bowl once to make sure you don’t have chunks of cream cheese. Tip: brown sugar is considered “packed” when it holds it’s shape as it comes out of the measuring cup.
Have a taste of this cream cheese frosting. It would make a super yummy frosting actually! Just don’t eat too much. You need it for your cheesecake.
2. In a separate bowl, using a whisk, stir together 15 oz pumpkin pie mix, 4 large eggs, 1/4 cup sour cream, 2 Tbsp flour, 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice, 1/4 tsp salt and 1 Tbsp vanilla extract. Mix until well combined. Add this mixture to the cheesecake filling and continue mixing on low speed just until well combined, scraping down the bowl as needed.
3. Transfer filling into pre-baked crust and bake on the middle rack at 350˚F for 1 hour. Turn off heat, prop the oven door open slightly with a wooden spoon and let cheesecake sit in the oven another 45 min. Then remove from the oven and let cool to room temp before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating. Serve when fully chilled (at least 4 hours in the refrigerator, or overnight).
4. Before serving, carefully remove cheesecake from springform pan by running a blunt knife along the sides of the cheesecake to release from the springform mold. Add desired toppings (see list above) and serve
To Make the Whipped Cream:
Tip: Freeze mixing bowl for 10 minutes to get the best whipped cream results.
1. In a cold mixing bowl, add 1 cup cold heavy whipping cream, 1 Tbsp sugar and 1/2 tsp rum or vanilla. Beat on high speed until fluffy and spreadable. Don’t over-beat or it will turn buttery. It only takes less than 2 min to make fresh whipped cream.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe

Ingredients
The Crust:
The Filling:
- 24 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
- 15 oz can pumpkin pie mix
- 4 large eggs
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp real vanilla extract
Optional Toppings:
- 1 cup cold heavy cream beat with 1 Tbsp sugar and 1/2 tsp rum or vanilla
- Pumpkin pie spice to dust
- Toasted pecans
- Caramel sauce
Instructions
How to Make the Crust: Preheat Oven to 350˚F.
- Pulse graham crackers in a food processor until fine crumbs form.
- In a medium bowl, stir together 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, 1 Tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 6 Tbsp melted butter. Transfer into a 9-inch springform pan with 3" tall walls and use a large spoon to press crumbs into the bottom of your springform pan, and going about 1/2" up the sides of the pan. Bake at 350˚F for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool to room temp.
How to make the Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling: Preheat Oven to 350˚F.
- In the bowl of your mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the 3 packages of softened cream cheese and 1 1/2 cups brown sugar on med speed until light and fluffy and without lumps (5 min), scraping down the bowl once to make sure you don't have chunks of cream cheese. Tip: brown sugar is considered "packed" when it holds it's shape as it comes out of the measuring cup.
- Have a taste of this cream cheese frosting. It would make a super yummy frosting actually! Just don't eat too much. You need it for your cheesecake.
- In a separate bowl, using a whisk, stir together 15 oz pumpkin pie mix, 4 large eggs, 1/4 cup sour cream, 2 Tbsp flour, 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice, 1/4 tsp salt and 1 Tbsp vanilla extract. Mix until well combined. Add this mixture to the cheesecake filling and continue mixing on low speed just until well combined, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Transfer filling into pre-baked crust and bake on the middle rack at 350˚F for 1 hour or until slightly wobbly in the center. Turn off heat, prop the oven door open slightly with a wooden spoon and let cheesecake sit in the oven another 45 min. Then remove from the oven and let cool to room temp before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating. Serve when fully chilled (at least 4 hours in the refrigerator, or overnight).
- Before serving, carefully remove cheesecake from springform pan by running a blunt knife along the sides of the cheesecake to release from the springform mold. Add desired toppings (see list above) and serve.
To Make the Whipped Cream:
- Tip: Freeze mixing bowl for 10 minutes to get the best whipped cream results.
- In a cold mixing bowl, add 1 cup cold heavy whipping cream, 1 Tbsp sugar and 1/2 tsp rum or vanilla. Beat on high speed until fluffy and spreadable. Don't over-beat or it will turn buttery. It only takes less than 2 min to make fresh whipped cream.
Nutrition Per Serving
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I needed – what I thought would be a quick – dessert to bring to a last minute Friendsgiving to make with ingredients I already had in the house. I will say the “total time” listed in this recipe as 1 hour 30 minutes is misleading, because it does not account for the chill time – but – I was already halfway through before I saw those instructions, so I went with it and figured the worst that could happen is that we’d be eating pumpkin cheesecake custard – which to be fair, not such a bad thing in the end. I followed the recipe exactly except I DID use a water bath (remember to use HOT water if you do this.) baked for 1 hour, cracked the door to the oven with the wooden spoon and didn’t even look at it – left it like that for another hour. I opened the oven to a perfect cheesecake – no cracks! Got it out of the oven and onto a cooling rack, still in the springform pan and left it like that for another 45 minutes until I had to leave – there was no time for refrigeration! I packed a pot full of ice and put the cheesecake on top and hoped – by the time dessert was served, the cheesecake was perfectly set and absolutely delicious and a huge hit. I would most definitely make this again! (But I’d recommend to the author to include cooling time at the top of the recipe to avoid panic from others who have also never made a cheesecake before)
Hey Lauren, great to hear that it was a success! Thanks so much or sharing your experience trying Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe. I’m so glad that you loved it!
Yes! The cooking time got me as well. I waited until Thanksgiving morning to make this and got a late start, so I was pretty stressed once I figured out there was much more to the process. Still tasted great!
Made this cheesecake for Thanksgiving..Never made a cheese cake before in my life..Absolutely everyone loved it! My son keeps telling me it is the best cheesecake ever! Thank you 🙂
I’m so glad it was enjoyed! Thank you for sharing!
Got many compliments on the taste and everyone loved this cheesecake! However, mine also came out with big deep cracks in the middle – twice. I baked it first time on Wed evening after reading all the comments and making sure I follow the recipe and temp instructions. Cracked 20 min after cooling in the oven. I thought may be I overmixed the batter. Next morning I re-did it and tried to mix less and still came out with deep crack…
Made exactly as written and it was the hit of my Thanksgiving get together! The whole thing was gone in 10 minutes and I’ve already been asked to make two for attendees’ upcoming birthdays! Doubt I’ll ever go back to pie this was phenomenal!
Hi Meg! That’s wonderful to hear. I’m so glad it was a hit!
Just made this tonight and it’s lovely! But I took it out of the oven when it was time and there’s a big crack in the middle of the cake. What would have caused this? I did open the oven twice while it was baking – but that was it. Is that what caused it?
Hi Jen, opening the oven while it’s baking is more than likely the culprit. Introducing cold air and so quickly will result in a crack. We recommend not opening the oven when baking a cheesecake.
I changed my rating because even though the cake had cracks, my guests loved it! I used pumpkin puree and my family loved the flavor.
Thank you for the update, Connie!
The flavor was good, but the crust was a little tricky to form and the cheesecake cracked.
HI Julianna, without more info it’s hard to say what went wrong but for the crust, make sure to use the correct amount of butter – if you use less, it doesn’t stay together well. Cracking is typically from either over-baking or cooling too quickly.
This was amazing. My first time making any cheesecake. We didn’t add any topping and it was delicious.
I’m so glad you loved it!
Made this for Thanksgiving today and it was a hit. Light texture and just the right amount of pumpkin flavor! Next time I want to cook the crust just slightly longer as it wasn’t as firm and crunchy as I normally like it. Also, it did crack. But, I filled it in with whipped cream and caramel. No harm no foul! Overall great recipe.
My son, not a cheesecake lover, ate almost the whole thing himself! This was the best recipe!!
Aaaw, thanks so much for this wonderful feedback.
So I have made this recipe 4 times now. Everyone LOVES the flavor BUT the bake hasn’t been perfect once. I followed the instructions to a T, the cheesecake baked up over the top of the pan & cracked all over the place during the bake process. The other 3 times I used a water bath & it looked perfect, but it still had a pudding consistency in the middle regardless of how long I baked it. However, I didn’t do the slow cooldown process when using the water bath, so I guess I will try it a 5th time & see how it comes out. Any suggestions to get the perfect bake would be much appreciated!
HI Melissa, are you using a convection oven and also does your oven have issues with not getting hot enough? An in-oven thermometer can help determine that. My own oven is under-heated by 25 degrees when it says it’s preheated so I have to let it heat longer. Also, with a water bath, make sure to use hot water in the pan.
Followed directions exactly. Put in 8″ square springform. Absolutely delicious!
Great to hear that it was a huge hit, Lisa!
I didn’t notice that pumpkin pie filling and pumpkin purée was different and I used the pumpkin purée without adding the sugar/extra spices,will is still be sweet enough? I am making’s a caramel sauce to go on top.
Hi shay, normally when using puree you will need to add sugar and other spices to balance the flavor. I bet the caramel on top will help it, I hope you love this recipe.
I was wondering I accidentally didn’t see my pure vanilla extract and used imitation vanilla but based what I read online doubled the amount since it’s not as strong. I also used the 15 ounce can of 100% pure pumpkin because it was the same brand and the pumpkin pie filling 30oz can…are those the same or different?
Last question is I followed the instructions, didn’t open until the end when I used a wood spoon to just crack it open and I still have a big crack. Any tips to avoid this next time? Usually I use water baths when baking cheesecake but my recipe doesn’t call for sour cream so followed this as stated.
Hi Kailee! Pure pumpkin and pumpkin pie filling are not the same. Pumpkin pie filling has added sugar and spices to it and pumpkin puree does not. cracking can be caused by a few things, over-mixing the batter which creates too much air, the temperature of ingredients, the oven heat being too high. A water bath is not necessary for this but you can still use one, it will just change the texture a bit.
This recipe tastes great but it’s designed without the use of a water bath and a very low baking time on the crust which makes it crumbly underneath. I decided to give it a shot after having used a classic Joy of Cooking recipe for the same dessert, and this cheesecake cracked enormously down the middle during the second soft cooking phase with the oven open. Other recipes usually call for a water bath, or if not, a tented cooling afterwards. So, overall, this is a very tasty cheesecake (followed the directions exactly, converted volume to weight for accuracy etc), but it’s too much work to end up with a cracked product. Go the extra mile with a different recipe calling for a water bath and a different cooling method next time.
Second time I make this and it’s so delicious! Big tip for everyone if you want it to have a flat top without it cracking or caving in is to bake it in a water bath. The pie looks store bought after doing this!!!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Yesenia!
This looks amazing. I just pulled mine out of the oven and it looks so good and I already know the batter was delicious! Haha. That being said, I did end up with a giant crack. I thought I followed the instructions exactly but upon reading other comments, I think it may be because I opened the oven when the initial timer went off to look at them and then closed it with a spoon propping it open. Should I have just opened it the tiny bit? Could that brief second of air be the culprit? I’m sure it is going to be amazing and I’m going to make the toppings so I am not worried about it, but this was my first “real” cheesecake and I’d LOVE to get better at it!!!! 😉
Hi Britney, introducing colder air quickly like that was likely the culprit, unfortunately. I hope you still love it!
Do I need to use a hot water bath with this cheesecake I’m making this for Thanksgiving tomorrow.
Hi Lori, There’s no need for a water bath with this cheesecake – it also changes the texture a little bit to bake in a water bath. Following the instructions will help prevent a crack – the slow cool down is very important for the cake to settle down without cracking.
I make this every year and my family and I absolutely love this recipe. Is there something I can do to go the cheesecake from cracking?
Hi Teairra, following the instructions will help prevent a crack – the slow cool down is very important for the cake to settle down without cracking.
Hi Natasha, I just made your pumpkin cheesecake tonight. Mine came out with deep cracks and it looks like custard.
Is this normal?
Hi Veronica! I’m sorry that was the case. Did you make any substitutions or skip any steps? It’s very important to allow the full cooling time in the oven as mentioned in step 4. Other factors are, the temperature of the ingredients, over mixing the batter, the oven running too hot. The cheesecake will continue to set as it cools and the texture will change. Every oven bakes different so it may require some adjusting. I highly encourage the use of an Internal oven thermometer (Amazon affiliate link) to ensure it’s calibrated.
I hope you’re able to salvage it and still enjoy the cheesecake. You can cover it with whipped cream to hide the cracks as well.
Thank you for your quick reply. I didn’t change anything, I followed the whole recipe. My biggest concern is that it looks like custard. I just hope it doesn’t have that texture when I cut it tomorrow
Do you have any suggestions for if we don’t have sour cream or want to run out and get it (don’t actually like sour cream)
Hi Chaz! I have not tested an alternative to advise.
I was wondering the same. What if I use regular purée pumpkin?
Hi Jackie, if using regular puree you will need to adjust and add sugar and spices to the mix. I hope you love this recipe.