White Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie

            Happy late Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday and got to spend it with your family and friends.

            I did a whole lot of baking for the holiday, even though I also had to work on Wednesday, Black Friday, Saturday and Sunday (oh, the joys of retail). We celebrated Thanksgiving with my boyfriend’s family and my dad’s side of the family on Thanksgiving and my mom’s side on Sunday. Lucky for you, I made a million pies for the big days, two of which you have already seen on my blog, the White Chocolate Banana Cream and the Creamy Apple Crumb. Now, I have two variations of pumpkin pie to share with you.

            The first is White Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake. I have really been on a pumpkin kick this fall, and I am always willing to try a cheesecake. I thought these two married perfectly. I found the original recipe here.

·         Easiness---9---For a cheesecake, this is as easy as it gets (unless you use a box mix, of course).

·         Yumminess---8---It needs more spice in my opinion, but that could just be me.

·         Repeat---10---Next year!!!

INGREDIENTS

·         Make the crust I used in this recipe, bake at the same time as the cheesecake

·         2 (8 oz.) packages of cream cheese

·         1 cup sugar

·         3 eggs, beaten

·         1 tsp vanilla extract

·         5 ounces white chocolate, melted

·         ¾ cup canned pumpkin

·         1 tsp ground cinnamon (could use 2)

·         ¼ tsp ground nutmeg (could use ½)

DIRECTIONS

·         Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla, beat on low until combined

·         Add in pumpkin, spices and melted white chocolate. Beat on low until combined.

·         Pour filling into the crust. Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes, or until center is set.

·         Cool for at least an hour before serving.

Peanut Butter Cheesecake

          Ok, you are all going to go absolutely crazy over this recipe. Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cheesecake. Yeah, you read that right. It’s a light, fluffy, peanut butter cheesecake with a yummy chocolate brownie crust and a chocolate topping. Doesn’t get much better than this. I found a recipe here that I used as a guide, but I changed it a lot.

·         Yuminess---10---I don’t think I even need to describe how good this tastes.

·         Easiness---7---While cheesecake is delicious to eat, it is very annoying to make. I hate that it has to chill for hours before it is able to be eaten.

·         Repeat---10---SOON!!

 

INGREDIENTS

·         1 box fudge brownie mix (make according to directions)

·         4 packages (8oz. each) cream cheese, softened

·         1 ½ cups sugar

·         ¾ cups creamy peanut butter

·         2 tsp vanilla extract

·         3 eggs

·         ½ cup peanut butter chips

·         1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

·         Make brownie mix according to package. Pour ½ of batter into a 10” springform pan (spray with pam). Bake for 15-17 minutes at 350°. Cool on a wire rack for about 15 minutes. Cover the bottom of the springform pan in foil to prevent leaking.

·         In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add peanut butter and vanilla; mix well. Add eggs; beat on low just until combined. Pour over the crust (I like to wrap the inside of the springform edgs in parchment paper to prevent it from sticking to the edges)

·         Bake at 350° for 50-55 minutes or until center is almost set (you want it to jiggle a little bit). Remove from the oven; let cool for 30 minutes.

·         In a microwavable bowl, melt the semisweet chocolate chips and spread over the top of the cheesecake once it is cool. Sprinkle with the peanut butter chips.

·         Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving. Keep refrigerated.