The Great Pumpkin

Oh I love pumpkin.... I like the bars with cheesecake icing, pumpkin pie, I have a fabulous recipe for pumpkin black bean soup. Now that Fall is upon us, it is time for me to break out the pumpkin recipes. Sometime this summer I was wandering around cooking blogs and came across this recipe. I saved into a word document and promptly forgot the source. I am not trying to plagarize - this is not my recipe, it is really only slightly modified from the recipe I copied. I made it last weekend when Meghan visited us for dinner and was craving some comfort food. It is very good, comes together quickly, is rich and satisfying.

Chocolate Crusted Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust:

9 oz (half package) Oreos, crushed

1/4 c. sugar (I actually used a little less, I chafed against the idea that Oreos needed more sugar)

6 T. butter, melted

Pumpkin mixture:

1-1/2 c. canned pumpkin

1/2 c. brown sugar

3 eggs, slightly beaten

5 oz evaporated milk

1 t. vanilla

Cheese mixture:

1/2 c. sugar

1 T. cornstarch

1-1/2 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. ginger

1/4 t. nutmeg

1/4 t. cloves

(Or you could use a tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice and it would probably be about the same as the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves)

½ t. salt

24 oz softened cream cheese

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix together the three crust ingredients. Press mixture firmly into the bottom of a greased 9x13-inch pan. Bake until crust is set, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool crust completely.

In a bowl, stir together the five pumpkin mixture ingredients. Set aside.

In the mixer, mix all the cheese mixture ingredients EXCEPT the cream cheese. When mixed, add the cheese and beat on high speed until smooth.

With mixer running at low speed, add pumpkin mixture to the cheese mixture and mix until combined and smooth.

Pour mixture into pan.

Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes, or until center of cheesecake is just set (it won't look done except around the edges). Remove from oven and cool 30 minutes. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for a few hours.