It’s no secret I’m a pumpkin pie hater. I usually make an Apple Pie, or our Pumpkin Cheesecake for Thanksgiving, but I was intrigued by this one because it’s not a pumpkin flavored cheesecake- it’s a regular cheesecake with toffee bits, topped with a pumpkin pie. I learned I can totally handle pumpkin pie when it’s mixed with creamy cheesecake. The best of both worlds! So if you’ve got some haters and some lovers in your Thanksgiving group this year, give this one a shot; it just might please everyone!
Ingredient and Equipment Notes
- Cream Cheese –Regular or full fat is fine. Avoid fat free.
- Springform Pan –If you don’t own a springform pan, now is the time to get one!
- Use Room Temperature Ingredients – One trick when making any kind of cheesecake is to have all of your ingredients at room temperature, or even slightly warm. Soften chilled cream cheese in the microwave until you can easily stir it with a spoon. Place your eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5-10 minutes to take the chill off. That way everything will blend together; if you add cold eggs to semi cold cream cheese, you get a big bowl of lumps. Admit it; you’ve been there.
- Toffee Bits – Make sure when you’re at the store you grab regular toffee and not the chocolate covered ones. Not that chocolate covered toffee can really ever be a bad thing, but, ya know…
How to Make a Layered Pumpkin Pie Toffee Cheesecake
- Start with the crust, which is your basic butter and graham cracker crumb mixture. If I have to choose between regular pie crust and graham cracker crust, the graham wins every time.
And press it into the bottom of a springform pan.
2. That goes in the oven to bake for a few minutes, and while it does you can mix up your cheesecake layer.
When your cheesecake layer is all mixed up (cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and vanilla) you’ll mix in some toffee bits.
3. Spread the cheesecake layer over the baked crust and set it aside.
4. Give the bowl you were working in before a quick rinse and then whip up your pumpkin pie layer. In goes pumpkin, eggs,
cream, sugar,
and a few spices.
Then very carefully, and slowly pour the pumpkin layer over the cheesecake. You want to avoid pouring it all out in one big gush because it will mess up your layers. It actually works best to pour it out of the side of the bowl, not from the spout as you see me doing here. (Do as I say not as I do).
5. And that baby goes into the oven for 2 hours. Yes, two. We’re cooking low and slow here folks. When the edges are set, but the center is still a little jiggly, just turn off the oven and crack the door, but leave the pan in the oven for about 30 minutes. If you have little ones at oven height, you can leave the door shut. Just walk by and crack it periodically during the 30 minutes to let a little heat out.
After it comes out and cools completely, run a knife around the edge of the pan, but leave it in the pan. Cover it with plastic wrap and chill for at least 6 hours or preferably overnight. You could probably even freeze this. I know because I didn’t have 6 hours so I popped it in the freezer and it mostly froze! I left it at room temp for a few minutes before serving and it was great.
6. When you’re ready to serve it, plop some whipped cream on top. I’m generally a proponent of using fresh sweetened whipped cream for this sort of thing, but you could also use Cool Whip, or the kind in a spray can.
Not gonna lie, I totally got my spray-can on with this one.
Inside you’ll be all set up to have a bit of 50/50 cheesecake and pumpkin pie.
Pretty good combo if you ask me!
Related Recipes
Looking for other Turkey Day desserts? Check out some of these Our Best Bites favorites:
Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan-Gingersnap Crust
Easy Pumpkin Crumble
Classic Apple Pie
Crumb-Topped Apple Pie
Apple Pie Ice Cream
Caramel Apple Bread Pudding
FAQs
Can I make this ahead of time?Yes! Make this up to two days before, simply wait to top/ decorate until right before serving. It would likely even be great if frozen and then thawed.
Did You Make This?
I’d love to hear from you! Snap a picture and tag me on Instagram, and then come back and give this recipe a rating!
Layered Pumpkin Pie Toffee Cheesecake
5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star5 from 1 review
- Author: Slightly Adapted from Betty Crocker
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Chill Time 6+ hours:
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 8+ hours
Description
A delightful layered dessert with a classic graham cracker crust, toffee cheesecake on the bottom and pumpkin pie on the top. Sure to please everyone!
Ingredients
CRUST
2 cups cinnamon graham cracker crumbs (just short of 2 sleeves)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
CHEESECAKE LAYER
2 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 bag toffee bits (reserve half for topping)
PUMPKIN PIE LAYER
1 15-oz can pumpkin (or use homemade, it’s 1 3/4 cup)
3/4 cup whipping cream
2/3 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie seasoning
1/8 teaspoons salt
3 eggs
FOR SERVING
Cool Whip or sweetened whipped cream
reserved 1/2 bag toffee bits
Instructions
Heat oven to 300 degrees. Spray a 9 or 10″ springform pan with cooking spray. In a small bowl, mix crumbs and butter. Press in bottom of pan. Bake 15 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
In large bowl, beat cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Beat in 2 of the eggs. Stir in 1 cup of the toffee bits. Spread over crust. Clean out your bowl (or by all means grab another one).
Mix pumpkin, whipping cream, 2/3 cup sugar, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, salt and remaining 3 eggs just until blended. Slowly and carefully spoon over cheesecake layer.
Bake for 2 hours or until edge of cheesecake is set at least 2 inches from edge of pan but center still jiggles slightly when moved. Turn oven off; open oven door at least 4 inches. Leave cheesecake in oven 30 minutes. Run spatula around edge of pan. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate 6 hours or overnight. Run spatula around edge of pan; remove side of pan. Pipe whipped topping or whipped cream around edges of cheesecake; sprinkle with remaining toffee bits.
Notes
For best results, allow cream cheese and eggs to come to room temperature prior to making this dessert. If you’re short on time, microwave cream cheese until stir-able and leave eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5-10 minutes before using.
