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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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My daughter, Kelly, made this for Thanksgiving dinner last night and it was EXCELLENT!!!
I made it and loved it can I also make it into mini cheesecakes using the same recipe?
Hi Liz! I’m glad you loved this recipe. I haven’t tested this in mini versions. Likely it will work, but I’m not sure how to adjust the baking time.
I made this for thanksgiving, so far so good! I forgot to use the vanilla extract(whoops) still turned out good. I had pumpkin puree instead of the mix, so I upped the pumpkin spice to 1tbsp and added 3tbsp of granulated sugar as well. Turned out great. The only thing is I had a giant crack, and followed direction to a tee! I’ve never had a crack before so, that was disappointing! I’ve also never made a cheesecake without water bath but decided not to because of comments that said it changes texture. Maybe I will try next time though and update on how that turned out. Thanks for the recipe!
Love this recipe! My favorite Thanksgiving dessert three years in a row! Just amazing!
Lovely recipe but it cracked… never had a cheesecake crack on me! 🙁
Hi Kay, the slow cool down mentioned in the instructions is very important. Also- avoid opening the oven door while the cheesecake is baking inside. Big cracks are often caused by drafts and temperature changes, and it’s best to avoid over-baking. This is the most common culprit of cracking.
Simply lovely dessert. Second time making it due to popular request😊
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!
After it’s baked and sat in the oven for 45 minutes is a knife inserted supposed to come out with batter?
Hi Nayeli, yes, since this is a cheesecake and not a fluffy flour cake it will come out dirty. What your looking for is a stable cake. Ensure it doesn’t jiggle. It will further set in the fridge as long as all steps were followed and no ingredients were substituted. I hope that is helpful!
Followed to a T, except I used about 2/3 of what was called in brown sugar.
Did the cooling method but it cracked.. water bath next time
Hi Natasha! I’ve made this cheesecake about six times, and every time I get a big crack in it. I looked at past comments, and even without opening the oven door I got a crack. Other cheesecake recipes I have do cook for a lot less time than your recipe. Is the one hour bake plus 45 min. cool down too long?
Hi Margaret! I’ve had good results with the cake and cool down time listed. Are you using a conventional oven? I would check your oven with an Internal oven thermometer (Amazon affiliate link) to ensure it’s not overheating. You may try adjusting the temperature a bit to see if that helps. Since every oven bakes differently, it may just require a bit of modification.
If I do a water bath for the cheesecake, Do I need to cook it longer?
Hi Joshua, this cheesecake doesn’t require it and keep in mind that if you are using a water bath, it will change the texture of the cheesecake overall. A fee of my readers have tried it however, I recommend looking through the recipe comments for their tips.
Can I use cocoa powder in place of the flour
Hi Sandy, I haven’t tested doing that so I can’t say for sure how that would affect the recipe. I also searched through the comments and no one has tried cocoa powder. One of our readers reported good results baking with 2 Tbsp of cornstarch instead to make it gluten free.
Cook time is severely off
Hi Marshall, can you share more details on what happened so I can help troubleshoot? Also, make sure to preheat the oven fully before baking and make sure to bake on regular bake mode and not convection and in the same size pan that is indicated in the recipe for best results.
Forgot the 5 stars on my previous comment!
I made this last year and it was amazing. I did use the water bath and had no cracking issues. One problem this year…..everyone is out of Pumpkin pie filling. I only have Pure pumpkin…how do I adjust recipe?????
I found some at Target yesterday, Jenny!
You should have recommend a water bath… the cheesecake cracked!!!
She wrote the recipe as how she always prepares it. Most of us went ahead and did the water bath anyway just in case…maybe you should have too if you were that concerned..
I made this cheesecake exactly as the recipe is written, but I got a huge crack in it! I did not peek into the oven while it was baking and I used the cool down method as written. Other recipes call for baking cheesecake in a water bath, and I will try that next time.
Hi Anne, the slow cool down mentioned in the instructions is very important. Also- avoid opening the oven door while the cheesecake is baking inside. Big cracks are often caused by drafts and temperature changes, and it’s best to avoid over-baking! This is the most common culprit of cracking.
Can the whipped cream be made in advance? Will it hold?
Hi there! It can be made 1-2 days ahead.
Hi Natasha! Thank for you for this recipe. I have now made it for several holidays at my family’s request. However, sadly, every time I’ve made it, it ends up with a big slit in the middle. I’m definitely not the best baker and I end up covering it with the caramel sauce so no one can tell, especially once you cut into it. But wondering if you had any suggestions or tips since I have been asked yet again to bring it for Thanksgiving 🙂 Thanks!
Hi Caitlyn. You are very welcome. I’m so glad you love it. Thank you for sharing and happy thanksgiving!
The slow cool down mentioned in the instructions is very important. Also- avoid opening the oven door while the cheesecake is baking inside. Big cracks are often caused by drafts and temperature changes, and it’s best to avoid over-baking! This is the most common culprit of cracking.
Hi Natasha! I made your cheesecake earlier this month to test for thanksgiving and it was absolutely amazing!
Quick question: am I able to freeze it and then let it thaw out to eat or can it only be refrigerated? I ask because I was planning on making it today and saving it for Thursday.
Hi Nickkie! You can refrigerate this for 3-4days. Most cheesecakes can be frozen as well for storing longer (1-2months). If you freeze, let it thaw in the refrigerator.
Hi Natasha! I would love to add the caramel sauce to my
Cheesecake do i do it prior to serving or while it’s chilling? Thank you!
I haven’t tested that in this recipe. But I do have a recipe for Mini Cheesecakes with Caramel Sauce.