My creamy and delicious pumpkin cheesecake with a pecan praline topping is the perfect cheesecake for the fall season. It’s a delicious blend of creamy New York style cheesecake and pumpkin pie, topped with a sweet pecan praline topping.
I promise this will become one of your favorite pumpkin desserts!
And if you’re not a fan of the praline topping…..gasp, it’s easy enough to leave it off and just create a delicious Pumpkin Cheesecake. Even if you’re not a fan of pumpkin pie (like me) I promise you’re going to love this light creamy cheesecake with a perfect blend of pumpkin flavors that won’t overpower the cheesecake.
If you love pumpkin my pumpkin crunch cake is another of my favorite pumpkin desserts.
Fall is definitely my favorite season, with cool nights and all the deliciousness that comes with the season.
My Pumpkin Cheesecake is delicious by itself but it’s over-the-top delicious with the addition of my praline topping! And let’s not even talk about how ah-mazing your kitchen will smell while it’s baking.
What ingredients do I need to make a Pumpkin Cheesecake?
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make Pumpkin Praline Cheesecake. In Chef Speak this is called the “Mise en Place” which translates to “Everything in its Place”.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed up the cooking process, it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
If you want to change up the crust on the pumpkin cheesecake that’s easy enough to do. You can use ginger snaps, chocolate graham crackers or any of your favorite wafer cookies to make the crust for pumpkin cheesecake.
How do I make a graham cracker crust?
- Place the graham crackers in the bowl of a food processor and process them into a fine meal of graham cracker crumbs.
- Add the melted butter to the graham cracker crumbs and mix together to make the crust
- Press the mixture onto the bottom of the pan and 1-2 inches up the sides of the pan (I used a 9-inch spring form pan).
- Place on the center rack of a preheated 350-degree oven for about 15 minutes, until firm. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
How do I make a Pumpkin Cheesecake?
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl with your electric mixer) add the cream cheese and beat until smooth.
- Slowly add in the brown sugar, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as you mix it together.
- Add in the flour, cinnamon, allspice, salt, eggs, vanilla, and pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix). Mix for 2 -3 minutes until well blended and smooth.
*You can substitute pumpkin pie spice for the cinnamon and allspice.
- Pour the pumpkin mixture into the prepared crust and place in a preheated 350-degree oven for one hour.
- After the hour, turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in the oven for one additional hour
- Remove the cheesecake from the oven and allow it to cool completely on a wire rack
- Place the cheesecake in the refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours (overnight is better)
How do I make a Pecan Praline topping?
- in a saute pan or sauce pan add brown sugar, and corn syrup, and heat until the corn syrup is well blended into the sugar
- Add in the pecans and let the mixture brown slightly
- Add the dulce de leche (or caramel sauce) to the pan and continue to simmer until thickened
Pour the praline mixture on the top of the cheesecake spreading it evenly. Return the cheesecake to the refrigerator to allow the praline to cool and harden.
When ready to serve, carefully run a knife along the inside edge of the spring form pan and slowly release the spring.
For an added touch, garnish the pumpkin praline cheesecake with sugared cranberries.
Serve up this delicious pumpkin cheesecake with homemade whipped cream and watch the smiles around the table!
How to make whipped cream
It’s easy to make your own whipped cream by adding 1 cup of heavy cream, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and 1 tablespoon of sugar to a mixing bowl. Mix at a slow speed, gradually increasing the speed of the mixer over 6-8 minutes until you get stiff peaks. The cream and the mixing bowl should be very cold.
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Pumpkin Cheesecake with Praline Topping
Ingredients
Crust
- 20 graham crackers or digestive biscuits
- 6 Tbsp butter – melted
Pumpkin Cheesecake
- 32 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 ½ cup brown sugar firmly packed
- 3 tbsp flour
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ¾ tsp salt
- 5 large eggs
- 16 ounces solid pack pumpkin not pumpkin pie mix
Praline Topping
- 8 ounces chopped pecans
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 1 tbsp corn syrup
- 1 tbsp bourbon or vanilla
- 3 tbsp dulce de leche or caramel
Instructions
Crust
- place graham crackers in the bowl of a food processor and process into a fine meal. Place in a mixing bowl
- Add melted butter and mix together to make the crust
- Press mixture onto bottom and up the side of a 9-inch springform pan one inch to two inches.
- Place on the center rack of a preheated 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes, until firm. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Pumpkin Cheesecake
- In the bowl of your stand mixer add the cream cheese and beat until smooth
- Slowly add in the brown sugar, scraping down the sides of bowl
- Add in the flour, cinnamon, allspice, salt, eggs, vanilla and pumpkin. Mix for 2 -3 minutes until well blended and smooth.
- Pour the cheesecake mixture into prepared crust and place in a preheated 350 degree oven for one hour.
- After the hour, turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in the oven for one additional hour
- Remove the cheesecake from the oven and allow to cool completely on wire rack
- Place the cheesecake in the refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours (overnight is better)
Praline
- After the cheesecake has completely chilled begin making the praline topping
- in a saute pan or sauce pan add brown sugar, and corn syrup, heat until the corn syrup is well blended into the sugar
- Add in the pecans and let the mixture brown slightly
- Add the dulce de leche (or caramel) to the pan and continue to simmer until thickened
- Pour the mixture on the top of the cheesecake spreading it evenly. Return the cheesecake to the refrigerator to allow the praline to cool and harden.
- Serve with fresh whipped cream and enjoy!
Brianna
Is like a combo of cheesecake, Pumpkin pie and pecan pie! Definitely making this for Thanksgiving.
Healing Tomato
I love pralines cheesecake, but, you have taken it up a notch with this pumpkin version. Now, I must make this for Thanksgiving. It looks so easy that even a baking challenged person like me can make it.
Patti@PattyCakesPantry
This dessert has two of my favorites–pumpkin cheesecake and praline pecans. This is a definite winner, and I’m looking forward to adding it to my Thanksgiving table this year. Thanks for sharing such an awesome recipe.
Liz
I agree! Love pumpkin desserts!
Mikayla
My goodness, I just love cheesecake, pumpkin pie and pecan pie,,, this fabulous dessert combined all three in one. Definitely a new holiday favorite.
Sharon
This dessert has the best of both worlds. A creamy pumpkin cheesecake with a delicious praline topping. My family loved this dessert!
Brianna May
So tasty!
Lilly
This pumpkin cheesecake is superb! My entire family enjoyed it! Thanks for the recipe
Jeri
I love the praline topping on this cheesecake! It was so delicious!
Amanda Dixon
What a wonderfully delicious cheesecake! It’s perfectly rich and creamy, and I love these flavors for fall.
Rob
This was the perfect fall cheesecake!
Emily Flint
well, this was one delicious cheesecake!
Angela
We loved the praline topping on this cheesecake.
Lindsay Howerton-Hastings
This was so good! The praline topping was such a delicious addition.
Angie
I am certain that this Pumpkin Praline Cheesecake would disappear quickly at any holiday feast.
Sue
This was the perfect fall dessert!
Kayla DiMaggio
This pumpkin praline cheesecake turned out so beautiful and delicious! It was a showstopper!
Christine
I made this last year for Thanksgiving, it was such a hit that I made it again this year. Absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for sharing!
Chef Dennis Littley
You are very welcome! Thank you for the great review!
claire chitko
I am preparing this today….there’s still time if you would kindly state the size of the pan!!!!
Great ingredients…
Chef Dennis Littley
I used a 9 inch springform pan for mine.
Sandra Serrano
This looks absolutely delicious. Downloaded and may be making two pies…one for them and one for meeeeeeeee!
Chef Dennis Littley
I like how you think!
Karen
Isn’t there a certain way to bake cheesecake, though? Like using a water bath (I think that’s what you call it) and/or wrapping the outside of the pan with wet rags so the top stays even? I’ve read cheesecake horror stories but really want to try this. Thoughts?
Thanks for your time.
Hi from British Columbia, Canada!
Karen
Chef Dennis Littley
hi Karen
from what I’ve read the water bath system seems to work the best. I’ve used it with some success.