Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust to Wow the Crowds
Yes, we are a bit fanatical about pumpkin around here – in everything from granola to muffins to cornbread. But sometimes you need a showstopper of a dessert for your holiday table – more than a tart or a pie. With no further ado, here is our Pumpkin Cheesecake with a Gingersnap Crust.
This dessert has its roots in my old Bon Appetit days when a pumpkin cheesecake was new and outrageous. My point of resurrecting it was once again to show that you don’t have to give up your tried and true faves.
FODMAPing
A friend of mine has made a pumpkin cheesecake every fall for at least one of her family get-togethers and now that she is following a low FODMAP diet, she wanted to be able to continue the tradition.
Okay, that person is me, but seriously, I really wanted to taste this again and I was actually excited about creating a low FODMAP version.
Low FODMAP Food is Everywhere
Pre-low FODMAP I used gluten filled gingersnap cookies for the crust, but truthfully, that was the easiest part to FODMAP. Tate’s Bake Shop Gluten-Free Ginger Zinger Cookies are an absolutely incredible product.
They have a very clean ingredient list: Crystallized Ginger, (Ginger, Sugar), Rice Flour, Butter, Brown Cane Sugar, Cane Sugar, Eggs, Vanilla Extract, Salt, Baking Soda, Xanthan Gum and Water, making them a perfect occasional low-FODMAP treat.
They are incredibly crispy, which is perfect for a crumb crust and their name says it all – they are zingy with ginger! The hot ginger flavor complements the rich creamy dairy of the filling very well.
We Love Green Valley Organics
For the cream cheese and sour cream, you need access to Green Valley Organics brand for both. They make incredibly high-quality lactose-free products and they are a brand well worth seeking out.
You will see us using them in recipes all the time, so find a vendor or ask your supermarket manager to bring them in.
Bake Slow and Moist
The cheesecake is baked in a water bath; make sure to follow to directions for wrapping the springform pan in aluminum foil to prevent water from getting into the pan. As with most cheesecakes, a sit in the refrigerator overnight allows for neatest slicing, so plan ahead.
Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust
Our Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust takes advatnage of Tate's gluten free ginger cookies and Green Valley Organics cream cheese and sour cream. Source these products out before starting!
Low FODMAP Serving Size Info: Makes 1, 9-inch (23 cm) cheesecake; 18 servings
Ingredients:
Crust:
- 1, 7- ounce package Tate’s Bake Shop Gluten-Free Ginger Zinger Cookies or enough low-FODMAP cookie crumbs of choice to measure 1 ⅓ to 1 ½ cups 315 ml to 360 ml
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
Cheesecake:
- 4, 8- ounce (227 g) containers Green Valley Lactose Free Cream Cheese, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (149 g) sugar
- 1 cup (269 g) canned pumpkin purée
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 large eggs at room temperature, whisked very well in a bowl
- 1 cup (227 g) Green Valley Lactose Free Sour Cream, at room temperature
Preparation:
-
For the Crust: Position rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 375°F/190°C. Coat the inside of a 9-inch (23 cm) springform pan with nonstick spray. Double wrap the outside of the pan with extra-wide aluminum foil, bringing the foil all the way up and around the sides of the pan to the top edge; set aside.
-
Grind the cookies to a fine crumb in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Alternatively, place in heavy zip top bag and crush well with a rolling pin. Use a rolling and a smashing action to get the job done. Stir in melted butter to evenly moisten crumbs. Press crust mixture firmly into an even layer covering the bottom of the prepared pan.
-
Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. You want the cookies to dry out a bit. Remove crust from oven and set aside on rack. Turn oven down 325°F/165°F.
-
For the Cheesecake: Meanwhile, prepare the cheesecake batter. Lactose-free cream cheese acts differently from regular cream cheese so please follow our technique: place one container of cream cheese in a mixing bowl and blend on low speed with an electric mixer until creamy and smooth. Add sugar, pumpkin purée, spices and vanilla and blend very briefly on low speed. Pour in eggs a little bit at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate and no more. Mixture might be very liquid at this point; that’s okay. Add remaining cream cheese and beat just until combined, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. If the cream cheese is resisting being combined with the initial mixture, use a large balloon whisk and combine by hand using a folding action. Make sure mixture is well combined but do not over mix. Gently whisk in sour cream by hand. Scrape cheesecake batter over crust.
-
Place aluminum foil wrapped pan in a large roasting pan. Add very hot tap water to roasting pan to come up sides of springform pan about 1-inch (2.5 cm). Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 5 minutes. Cake should be set along the edges and slightly giggly in the center. Turn oven off, leaving cake in oven for 15 minutes more. Remove from oven. Dip the tip of a small paring knife in warm water and use it to run around the top edge of the cake (going down about ½ inch/12 mm) to loosen it from the pan; this will prevent the sides from pulling away from the pan, which can create cracks. Remove cake pan and remove foil. Refrigerate overnight or up to 48 hours. Dip a small icing spatula in warm water, shake dry, and run all the way around the outer edge of the cake going all the way down to the bottom to loosen cake from pan. Release springform, remove and place cake on a display plate.
-
Cake is ready to serve or may be refrigerated until serving time, preferably within the day. Cheesecake is best served cold. Use a long, thin bladed knife dipped in hot water to make cuts and wipe clean between cuts. The cake can be refrigerated for up to 3 days, although the crust will lose its crispness.
Notes:
Tips
- Some recipes take well to tweaking and adjustments, both from a FODMAP point of view as well as taste and texture. This recipe is NOT such a recipe. Please use the ingredients called for for best results.
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more. For a more detailed explanation, please read our article Understanding The Nutrition Panel Within Our Recipes.
So is 1/18 of the cheesecake a low fodmap serving? Or two??? 🙂
Hi Kaylee. one-eighteenth of the cake is one serving. It sounds like a little, but I promise you that it is rich enough to satisfy! Enjoy!
Do you have a no-bake pumpkin cheesecake option?
No we do not, and lactose-free cream cheese does NOT act like regular cream cheese at all so I recommend against trying to just substitute it in recipes developed as no-bake.
If you can tolerate lactose, will the recipe work with regular cream cheese and sour cream ?
The recipe has been tested as written. I can tell you (as you probably read in the recipe) that the LF cream cheese is completely unlike conventional in the way it acts and its texture. You could try but I cannot guarantee success. I would follow conventional directions and you will have to beat the regular cream cheese quite a bit until smooth and creamy and not follow this technique.
Can this be made ahead & then frozen?
You could try. You will most likely lose crispness in the crust