Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust
1 1/4 cups Ginger Snap Cookie crumbs
4 Tablespoons butter

Filling

3 eight-ounce packages of cream cheese

1 small can pumpkin puree

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons orange peel

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

4 medium eggs

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions:

Crust

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Butter springform pan (I have been known to just spray with vegetable spray.)
• Mix cookie crumbs and butter together in a small mixing bowl.

• Dump mixture into springform pan and press out to cover the bottom.

• Bake 10 minutes and cool.

Filling

• Heat oven to 300 degrees.
• Soften cream cheese.
• Beat cream cheese in a large mixing bowl.

• Add pumpkin and whip till well blended.

Isn't that just beautiful?

• Add granulated sugar and beat till fluffy.

• Add brown sugar and continue beating.

• Add vanilla and orange peel.

• Beat in one egg at a time.

• Pour over crumb crust and bake at least 50 minutes.

• Cool to room temperature.
• Chill for at least three hours but no longer than 10 days.
• Loosen the edge of the cheesecake from the pan before removing the side piece.

This is especially delicious at Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Pecan Pound Cake

1 yellow cake mix
1 box vanilla pudding mix
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
3 eggs
1 can pumpkin
1 cup chopped pecans

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Mix cake mix and vanilla pudding mix together in a large mixing bowl.
• Add vegetable oil, water, and eggs and mix well.
• Mix in pumpkin. 
• Fold in pecans.
• Spray bundt pan and pour mixture into pan.
• Bake 45 minutes.

This tastes like a sweet bread.  You could top with a dollup of whipped cream cheese.  I got this recipe from a teacher-friend, Amanda Lemmons.  She makes it with bananas instead of pumpkin.  She says she has also used a chocolate cake mix with the bananas to make chocolate-banana cake.  I have added pureed strawberries before and glazed witha powdered sugar glaze.  I have also replaced the pumpkin with apples and glazed with a caramel glaze before.  It is a versatile recipe and a baked cake freezes well!

Fall Treat!