This show-stopping dessert combines two favorites: pumpkin pie and cheesecake! Not to be confused with a pumpkin flavored cheesecake, this is a layer of creamy cheesecake with toffee bits, topped with a smooth and perfectly spiced pumpkin pie. The best of both worlds! This has become a holiday tradition for so many people. Try it once and it might be your new tradition as well!
Ingredients and Equipment Needed
- Springform Pan – If you don’t own a springform pan, now is the time to get one! You can use a 9 or 10 inch. I prefer a 9″ because I like the thickness of the finished dessert, but a 10″ will work as well. Your dessert will be slightly thinner than mine.
- Crust
- Graham cracker crumbs – I use cinnamon-sugar graham crackers in this recipe, but regular grahams work just as well, I just add a bit of brown sugar and cinnamon to the mix.
- Cheesecake
- Cream cheese – Regular or full fat is fine. Avoid fat free.
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Eggs
- Toffee bits – Such as Heath Bits ‘O Brickle or Skor bits. Make sure when you’re at the store you grab regular toffee and not the chocolate covered ones.
- Pumpkin Pie Layer
- Canned pumpkin
- Whipping cream
- Granulated sugar
- Ground cinnamon
- Pumpkin pie seasoning
- Salt
- Eggs
- For Serving
- Sweetened Whipped Cream or cool whip.
- Toffee bits
How to Make a Layered Pumpkin Pie Toffee Cheesecake
- Start with the crust, which is your basic butter and graham cracker crumb mixture. Simply press it into the bottom of a springform pan.
- That goes in the oven to bake for a few minutes, and while it does you can mix up your cheesecake layer: cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, eggs, and a few toffee bits.
- Spread the cheesecake layer over the baked crust and set it aside.
- To save yourself unnecessary dishes, 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, a pinch of salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice.
- 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, or over the back of a spoon.
- Then it goes into the oven for 2 hours. Yes, two. We’re cooking low and slow. 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.
- 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.
- 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 if you’re serving it right away.
How to Garnish your Layered Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake
There are lots of options to garnish this dessert. I love putting my whipped cream in a piping bag and piping dollops of whipped cream around the perimeter with an extra sprinkle of toffee.
- Another fun option is a chunk of toffee (as seen in the above photo and below). In the fall time, I buy pumpkin seed brittle at both Williams-Sonoma and Trader Joes and it’s a fun “extra” touch if you want to make this dessert look over the top!
- A drizzle of caramel sauce is delicious on top as well.
Storing and Other Tips
- Store finished pumpkin pie cheesecake in the fridge, tightly covered. Consume within 3-4 days for the best results.
- 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. Try to plan ahead and have things completely thawed out of the fridge.
- This is a great make-ahead dessert, which is especially helpful on busy holidays. Feel free to make it a day ahead and keep well covered in the fridge, or freeze it for up to a month. When doing either of these options, I prefer to add the whipped cream topping fresh right before serving, though if you really needed to, you could also freeze it with the whipped cream.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make this ahead of time?
Yes! Feel free to make it a day ahead and keep well covered in the fridge, or freeze it for up to a month. When doing either of these options, I prefer to add the whipped cream topping fresh right before serving, though if you really needed to, you could also freeze it with the whipped cream.
How long will fresh whipped cream hold its shape before serving?
If you’re worried about your whipped cream falling flat between decorating and serving, you can always make Stabilized Whipped Cream. It contains a little gelatin to help the whipped cream hold its shape. Heavy whipping cream with a high fat content will also hold up better than regular whipping cream or whipped cream from a can, each of which would need to be served pretty much immediately.
My dessert cracked- what happened??
I’ve never had this dessert crack on me, but others have reported it did! We are not using a water bath, as most traditional cheesecakes do, but I’ve never had a problem with cracking. The good thing is that it doesn’t affect the taste at all! Just top with a little extra whipped cream to cover the cracks 🙂
Layered Pumpkin Pie Toffee Cheesecake
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!
Servings slices
Equipment
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 cups cinnamon graham cracker crumbs (200g) just short of 2 sleeves
- ½ cup butter, melted
Cheesecake Layer
- 16 oz cream cheese softened, 2 standard blocks.
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 1 bag toffee bits, divided
Pumpkin Pie Layer
- 15 oz can pumpkin or use homemade, it's 1 ¾ cup
- ¾ cup whipping cream
- ⅔ cups sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie seasoning
- ⅛ teaspoons salt
- 3 large eggs
For Serving
- Sweetened whipped cream
- reserved ½ bag toffee bits
Instructions
Crust
- Heat oven to 300℉. Spray a 9" springform pan with cooking spray. A 10" pan will also work, it will just be a shorter dessert overall. I prefer the 9" if you have one.
- In a small bowl, mix crumbs and butter. Press in bottom of pan and up about ½-1" the sides. Bake 15 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
Cheesecake Layer
- In large bowl, beat room temperature cream cheese, ½ 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.
Pumpkin Layer
- Mix pumpkin, ¾ cup whipping cream, ⅔ cup sugar, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, salt and remaining 3 eggs just until blended and smooth. Slowly and carefully spoon over cheesecake layer.
Cook and Chill
- 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 a crack. Leave cheesecake in oven 30 minutes.
- Run a sharp knife around edge of pan. Cool 30-60 minutes at room temperature. Cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight.
- To serve, run knife around edge of pan again; remove side of pan. Pipe sweetened whipped cream* around edges of cheesecake; sprinkle with remaining toffee bits. Slice and Serve!*You most likely bought a pint of whipping cream for this recipe and used part of it in the pumpkin layer, pour the rest in a bowl with a big spoon of powdered sugar and a splash of vanilla and whip it up for the topping.
Notes
-
- Store finished pumpkin pie cheesecake in the fridge, tightly covered. Consume within 3-4 days for the best results.
-
- 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. Try to plan ahead and have things completely thawed out of the fridge.
- This is a great make-ahead dessert, which is especially helpful on busy holidays. Feel free to make it a day ahead and keep well covered in the fridge, or freeze it for up to a month. When doing either of these options, I prefer to add the whipped cream topping fresh right before serving, though if you really needed to, you could also freeze it with the whipped cream.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice, Calories: 481kcal, Carbohydrates: 47g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 31g, Saturated Fat: 18g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 8g, Trans Fat: 0.4g, Cholesterol: 149mg, Sodium: 309mg, Potassium: 186mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 37g, Vitamin A: 6972IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 74mg, Iron: 1mg
Calories: 481kcal
Did You Make This Recipe?Snap a picture, and hashtag it #ourbestbites. We love to see your creations on our Instagram @ourbestbites!
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…..