Gingersnap Crusted Pumpkin Spice Latte Cheesecake

Give your pumpkin pies a break this #Thanksgiving with the BEST ever Gingersnap Crusted PSL Cheesecake. A warm buttery gingersnap crust topped with a thick, velvety, spiced pumpkin filling layered with coffee for the full #PSL effect. To make it look super professional, wrap the bottom of the pan in foil and bake in a water bath - this will make it smooth and it’ll look like it came straight from the bakery. If you can’t be bothered or, like me, realized after you had finished everything that you don’t have foil, bake it as is. It’ll have cracks, but you can cover them with whipped cream for your thanksgiving FEAST.

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Gingersnap Crusted Pumpkin Spice Latte Cheesecake

Prep Time: 25 minutes Cook Time: 1 hour 40 minutes Yield: 8-10 servings

INGREDIENTS

For the Crust

• 2 cups gingersnap cookie crumbs

• 7 tbs butter, melted

• 2 tbs sugar

• Flaky sea salt

For the Cheesecake

• 3 bricks (24 oz) cream cheese, room temperature

• 3/4 cup white sugar

• 1/4 cup brown sugar

• 1 & 3/4 cup pumpkin purée

• 1/4 cup sour cream

• 2 tbs flour

• 1 tbs cornstarch

• 2 tsp ground cinnamon

• 2 tsp pumpkin spice

• Flaky sea salt

• 4 eggs

• 2 tbs instant coffee powder

• 1-2 tbs boiling water

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Wrap the outside of a round springform pan in foil. I used an 8 inch pan. Combine all of the ingredients for the crust in a mixing bowl, and mix well until the butter has been fully combined. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan and bake for 10 minutes until slightly set. Remove the crust, set aside and reduce the oven to 325 F.

2. Prepare the cheesecake. In the bowl of a kitchen mixer, combine the cream cheese and white and brown sugars. With the paddle attachement, turn the mixer on low speed and mix until fully combined, a couple minutes.

3. Add the pumpkin purée, sour cream, flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, and a pinch of flaky sea salt. Beat again on low speed until all of the ingredients have been incorporated, and there are no lumps from the cream cheese.

4. While continuing to beat on low speed, add the eggs one at a time, waiting until fully incorporated before adding the next egg. I do the whole cheesecake on low speed because it reduces the amount of air beaten into the cake, which results in less cracks.

5. Once the cheesecake batter is velvety smooth, remove about 1 cup of batter and pour the rest over the cooled, prepared crust.

6. In a small bowl, combine the instant coffee and boiling water. Mix well until the coffee is fully dissolved, and stir it into the reserved 1 cup of cheesecake batter. Mix well until fully combined.

7. Pour the coffee infused cheesecake batter over top the rest of the batter. You can swirl it in, or simply pour it over top.

8. Put the springform pan into a large, deep roasting pan. Pour enough boiling water into the roasting pan (being careful not to spill any into the cheesecake) so that it comes up about halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. This is called a water bath, and it will prevent cracks from forming on top of your cheesecake. You can skip the water bath, but your cheesecake will end up with large cracks on the top.

9. Bake for 90 minutes, then turn the oven off and allow the cheesecake to sit in the oven for another hour without opening the door.

10. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and let it cool for a minimum of 2 hours (overnight is best) in the fridge before cutting and serving.

NOTES

• If you don't use a water bath for the cheesecake, you can cover the top with caramel or whipped cream