I absolutely love making cheesecakes on special occasions and holidays. I even insist on cheesecake for my birthday. Now I do love a good homemade cake every now and then, but cheesecake is just so perfect and versatile. There’s hundreds of different ways to make cheesecake with different ad-ins toppings and crusts.
So to make a festive holiday cheesecake, I made this one with the inspiration of our favorite holiday treat, gingerbread. I aded delicious spices into the cheesecake filling and used a wonderful gingersnap cookie crust. This cheese is not only beautiful but also delicious.
To start this cheesecake, just grind up store-bought or leftover homemade gingersnap cookies in your food processor with a little melted butter for the crust. After everything is incorporated, press the mixture into a 9 inch pie plate to form the piecrust.
Next combine the cream cheese, sour cream, eggs, sugar and spices in a large bowl. Then mix well, pour it in the pie crust pie crust and back at 325° for about an hour.
To save time, you could alternatively use a pre-made graham cracker crust. But taking a few minutes to make a homemade crust makes this pie so much better! The combination of the spices in the cheesecake filling and the gingersnap crust are perfection. This cheesecake is sure to impress your friends and family.
Yield: 8 servings
For the crust:
For the cheesecake filling:
For garnish:
Heat oven to 325°. Add gingersnap cookies and melted butter to food processor. Process until cookies are fine and the butter is fully incorporated. Press cookie crust into a 9 inch pie plate.
Combine all ingredients for the cheesecake filling in a large bowl. Use a hand mixer on low to combine ingredients. Mix well and pour into gingersnap crust.
Bake for 60 – 70 minutes, or until chesecake is set in the middle.
Serve garnished with fresh whipped cream and sprinkled with gingersnap crumbs.
This recipe was developed for Kraft.com.