It’s no secret I’m a pumpkin pie hater. I usually make an Apple Pie, or our Pumpkin Cheesecake for Thanksgiving, but I was intrigued by this one because it’s not a pumpkin flavored cheesecake- it’s a regular cheesecake with toffee bits, topped with a pumpkin pie. I learned I can totally handle pumpkin pie when it’s mixed with creamy cheesecake. The best of both worlds! So if you’ve got some haters and some lovers in your Thanksgiving group this year, give this one a shot; it just might please everyone!
Ingredient and Equipment Notes
- Cream Cheese – Regular or full fat is fine. Avoid fat free.
- Springform Pan – If you don’t own a springform pan, now is the time to get one!
- Use Room Temperature Ingredients – One trick when making any kind of cheesecake is to have all of your ingredients at room temperature, or even slightly warm. Soften chilled cream cheese in the microwave until you can easily stir it with a spoon. Place your eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5-10 minutes to take the chill off. That way everything will blend together; if you add cold eggs to semi cold cream cheese, you get a big bowl of lumps. Admit it; you’ve been there.
- Toffee Bits – Make sure when you’re at the store you grab regular toffee and not the chocolate covered ones. Not that chocolate covered toffee can really ever be a bad thing, but, ya know…
How to Make a Layered Pumpkin Pie Toffee Cheesecake
- Start with the crust, which is your basic butter and graham cracker crumb mixture. If I have to choose between regular pie crust and graham cracker crust, the graham wins every time.
And press it into the bottom of a springform pan.
2. That goes in the oven to bake for a few minutes, and while it does you can mix up your cheesecake layer.
When your cheesecake layer is all mixed up (cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and vanilla) you’ll mix in some toffee bits.
3. Spread the cheesecake layer over the baked crust and set it aside.
4. Give the bowl you were working in before a quick rinse and then whip up your pumpkin pie layer. In goes pumpkin, eggs,
cream, sugar,
and a few spices.
Then very carefully, and slowly pour the pumpkin layer over the cheesecake. You want to avoid pouring it all out in one big gush because it will mess up your layers. It actually works best to pour it out of the side of the bowl, not from the spout as you see me doing here. (Do as I say not as I do).
5. And that baby goes into the oven for 2 hours. Yes, two. We’re cooking low and slow here folks. When the edges are set, but the center is still a little jiggly, just turn off the oven and crack the door, but leave the pan in the oven for about 30 minutes. If you have little ones at oven height, you can leave the door shut. Just walk by and crack it periodically during the 30 minutes to let a little heat out.
After it comes out and cools completely, run a knife around the edge of the pan, but leave it in the pan. Cover it with plastic wrap and chill for at least 6 hours or preferably overnight. You could probably even freeze this. I know because I didn’t have 6 hours so I popped it in the freezer and it mostly froze! I left it at room temp for a few minutes before serving and it was great.
6. When you’re ready to serve it, plop some whipped cream on top. I’m generally a proponent of using fresh sweetened whipped cream for this sort of thing, but you could also use Cool Whip, or the kind in a spray can.
Not gonna lie, I totally got my spray-can on with this one.
Inside you’ll be all set up to have a bit of 50/50 cheesecake and pumpkin pie.
Pretty good combo if you ask me!
Related Recipes
Looking for other Turkey Day desserts? Check out some of these Our Best Bites favorites:
Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan-Gingersnap Crust
Easy Pumpkin Crumble
Classic Apple Pie
Crumb-Topped Apple Pie
Apple Pie Ice Cream
Caramel Apple Bread Pudding
FAQs
Can I make this ahead of time? Yes! Make this up to two days before, simply wait to top/ decorate until right before serving. It would likely even be great if frozen and then thawed.
Did You Make This?
I’d love to hear from you! Snap a picture and tag me on Instagram, and then come back and give this recipe a rating!
Print
Layered Pumpkin Pie Toffee Cheesecake
- Total Time: 8+ hours
Description
A delightful layered dessert with a classic graham cracker crust, toffee cheesecake on the bottom and pumpkin pie on the top. Sure to please everyone!
Ingredients
CRUST
2 cups cinnamon graham cracker crumbs (just short of 2 sleeves)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
CHEESECAKE LAYER
2 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 bag toffee bits (reserve half for topping)
PUMPKIN PIE LAYER
1 15-oz can pumpkin (or use homemade, it’s 1 3/4 cup)
3/4 cup whipping cream
2/3 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie seasoning
1/8 teaspoons salt
3 eggs
FOR SERVING
Cool Whip or sweetened whipped cream
reserved 1/2 bag toffee bits
Instructions
Heat oven to 300 degrees. Spray a 9 or 10″ springform pan with cooking spray. In a small bowl, mix crumbs and butter. Press in bottom of pan. Bake 15 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
In large bowl, beat cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Beat in 2 of the eggs. Stir in 1 cup of the toffee bits. Spread over crust. Clean out your bowl (or by all means grab another one).
Mix pumpkin, whipping cream, 2/3 cup sugar, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, salt and remaining 3 eggs just until blended. Slowly and carefully spoon over cheesecake layer.
Bake for 2 hours or until edge of cheesecake is set at least 2 inches from edge of pan but center still jiggles slightly when moved. Turn oven off; open oven door at least 4 inches. Leave cheesecake in oven 30 minutes. Run spatula around edge of pan. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate 6 hours or overnight. Run spatula around edge of pan; remove side of pan. Pipe whipped topping or whipped cream around edges of cheesecake; sprinkle with remaining toffee bits.
Notes
For best results, allow cream cheese and eggs to come to room temperature prior to making this dessert. If you’re short on time, microwave cream cheese until stir-able and leave eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5-10 minutes before using.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Chill Time 6+ hours:
- Cook Time: 2 hours
Questions & Reviews
Funny about the chocolate toffee bits being everywhere but not the plain ones. In San Diego, I can only find the chocolate-covered ones between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but the plain kind are in the stores all year. 🙂
Do you ever bake your cheesecakes in a water bath? Did the pumpkin pie layer get a bit overdone around the edges? I wonder if a waterbath would prevent that – or maybe it wasn’t a problem at all. It just seems like 2 hours is such a long time for the pumpkin part (but totally necessary for the cheesecake.)
It looks amazing, and since I’m not a big pumpkin pie fan, I’m for sure gonna have to make this!
This one actually doesn’t need a water bath, because the pumpkin pie layer is on top, it sort of protects the cheesecake. In fact, it was the pumpkin layer that was borderline undercooked on mine, and the edges aren’t overcooked at all on any of the layers.
Thanks!
But does the cheesecake taste like cheesecake or cream cheese? I’m not a fan of cream cheese and only like flavored cheesecakes where you can’t taste the cream cheese. I’m also not a huge fan of pure pumpkin pie, I usually make one that has pudding & cool whip in it to lighten the pumpkin flavor. Yes, I’m weird.
It’s a cheesecake Michele; not quite sure what else to tell ya! lol
i tasted the batter before i cooked it and i didnt really taste like cream cheese because of all the sugar and vanilla.
Totally going to try this one! My two favorite desserts in one. Yum!
Would this be okay without the toffee bits? I really dislike toffee, but love the idea of the layered pumpkin pie and cheesecake.
What’s wrong with you, girl?! Lol Seriously though, you can totally leave out the toffee and it would be just as delicious.
I love cheesecake!! And the pumpkin-toffee is an amazing touch.
That’s just plain evil. How am I supposed to stick to my diet now???? 😉
You totally just made my day! Now to find a dear friend from the states to send me some toffee bits before turkey day. 🙂
I will SO impress my in-laws when I serve this on Thanksgiving! Not being one to try a new recipe when expecting company, I’d better give this a trial run sometime soon. My husband will love me.
This looks so incredible! I actually wrote a paper on checkout lines and why grocery stores should stop tormenting us moms…maybe I need to start a petition 🙂
Wow….just….wow…..
This looks sooo good. I think I’ll have to make it for this Sunday.
Oooh, that looks SO good! I think the fam might mutiny on me if I didn’t make my pumpkin pies, but I might have to try this before (or after) the actual holiday.
Sara, do you think this would be good with a ginger-snap crust instead of graham?
Absolutely!
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? freakin AMAZING. I shall make it. NOW!
I am SO glad you posted this. I saw this same recipe while in line at the grocery store with my toddler and didn’t have time to write it down and I haven’t seen it since! You are definitely on my favorite persons list right now.
I wish you had written the recipe for the (candy corn colored) Cheesecake Mousse I made for our Halloween party! The recipe mentioned thawing the Cool Whip but said nothing of the cream cheese, just beat until ‘smooth’. The whole thing was full of chunks (tasty, but embarrassing). Afterward I realized that it should have been heated first just like you said.
That was the funniest post I’ve read so far…I could SO relate because I do exactly the same things to get out quicker…It was like you read my mind and put it in words…a good laugh..thanks!
Wow, to be on your list of taste testers.=)
Sounds like you need to tell your stores to offer family friendly check out lanes. They don’t have toys, candy, or magazines. They put fruit, healthy snacks and they are usually set away from the lanes most used so they are not that busy. By the way this looks yummy. Going to have to try it.
We DO need those! I’ve heard of those, but have never seen them anywhere I shop. Honestly the thing that bothers me the most isn’t the candy and silly toys- it’s the naughty magazine covers!
Fred Meyers actually have the family friendly checkouts here in the area Sara. They are in the middle of the others and there are still candy, but it’s further away, it’s a wide aisle checkout so you can also get the kid car carts through easier. Most stores are putting blocks in front of the magazine covers that are risque, if yours doesn’t, talk to the manager.
Totally agree about the naughty magazine covers! Whenever I shop with my kids (one’s 6, the other 7 and both boy’s)I flip all naughty ones around. By the time I leave, everyone is embarrassed because my boy’s keep asking all these question’s about what they’ve seen, and why did I turn that around. Ugh!
This sounds amazing! I just stocked up on the bits o brickle and I’m pretty sure I now know what one bag will be turning into soon!
My husband doesn’t like either pumpkin pie OR cheesecake. Can you imagine? I think this looks fabulous but I fear I would be the only one to eat it and that would make it terribly difficult to keep losing my baby weight. I’ll have to figure out who I can invite for Thanksgiving that won’t be a pumpkin pie purist but will be willing to eat enough of this so I don’t have 90% of it left after the guests go home.
I cannot wait to make this for Thanksgiving!! Luckily I have some toffee bits leftover from the best cake ever (chocolate mousse crunch cake)!!
I also DESPISE the checkout. My son must touch EVERYTHING…it is the most stressful part of grocery shopping.
Haha, the wonderful check out! I figure if they’re dumb enough to put all that stuff down there, my kids can play with it to their little hearts content as long as they know that it does not go home with us. It actually works out pretty well for me.
Cheesecake Factory will probably be stealing your recipe.
Your post made my day. While I do coupon, I do not buy a zillion of a single item. I buy one or two…but I also avoid those same lines. 🙂 And, I totally browse the magazines when I do not have my three children with me, as well.
This pie looks amazingly awesome. I pinned it and cannot wait to make it!
Lol, I think the majority of couponers are like you; I just avoid the kind you see on TLC! haha
So true!
What a delicious idea! Our family favorite for Thanksgiving is an ice cream pumpkin pie, because most of the boys don’t care for regular pumpkin. However, we DO love cheesecake, and I like regular pumpkin pie, so we’ll definitely give this a try – maybe even before Thanksgiving Day itself! Thanks for sharing.
I used to always crush up whole Heath bars because I could NEVER find the pieces that you ladies use in your recipes… until last night. They FINALLY made their way over to Germany and when I saw them I got SO excited (my husband was probably embarrassed) and knew I had to stock up. I think it’s a sign! This will definitely be our Thanksgiving dessert this year! Holy yum.
Oh yay! You know, even here in the states it’s hit and miss with the plain ones. The chocolate ones are usually everywhere but not all stores carry the plain ones. I’m always excited when I see them as well!
Screw Pumpkin Pie!
This is what I am making for Thanksgiving! YUM!
Do you bake it at 300 for the two hours? or is it a lower bake setting?
Yep, just leave it at 300 🙂
I have never been able to stomach pumpkin pie, so I am definately going to be trying this one for Thanksgiving this year. It’s at our house and I just assigned the desserts to me. Hahaha