Primal Pumpkin Cheesecake

I hope everyone had a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!  I definitely did, and mine was complete with homemade pumpkin cheesecake.  I will warn you, this recipe contains CREAM CHEESE.  Therefore, it is NOT paleo….technically it’s primal.  However, I always say that there’s no paleo substitute (at least that I have found yet) that mimics pizza or cheesecake.  Once a year, this is a huge treat for me, and I can thank my mom for going to all the trouble.  Cheesecake can be kind of complicated to make, so I would never take the time myself.

She adapted her original vanilla cheesecake recipe that I posted years ago to a pumpkin version to fulfill all my pumpkin desires.😉 This cheesecake is not overly sweet, which is how I like it.  However, if you wanted a little more sweetness, making some homemade coconut whip to go over the top would be a wonderful addition.  I am all about tasting the delicious pumpkin pie spices and having that unmistakable creamy texture.  If you wanted it to be super cheesecake-like with a hint of pumpkin, you could decrease the amount of pumpkin or maybe do a cheesecake layer followed by a pumpkin layer on top.  Experiment to your hearts desire….and get it just the way you like it before Christmas!

In addition to my mom’s amazing pumpkin cheesecake, we had bacon Brussels sprouts, organic mashed potatoes, a baked ham that I paired with a mango chutney, and a couple nostalgic requests from my brother.  I told my mom she should try and doctor them to make them a little healthier and see how they turn out, but it’s hard to mess with something when people wait all year to have it exactly how they remember. ;)  I didn’t have any, but I certainly had enough of the other good stuff!

 

 

 

Pumpkin Cheesecake
Ingredients:
Crust:

1/2 cup almond meal

1 cup pecans, finely chopped

1/2 stick grassfed butter

1 Tbsp coconut sugar

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or plain ole cinnamon would work, too)

Filling:

3 packages of organic cream cheese (1 1/2 lbs)

1 15oz can pumpkin puree

3/4 cup coconut sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp tapioca flour

2 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice

4 eggs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Place all your crust ingredients into a food processor and blend until they begin to meld.  Press the crust onto the bottom of a springform pan and bake for 8 minutes.  (If you like a lot of crust, you could easily double it!)

Beat the cream cheese until smooth and then add the rest of the ingredients one by one in the order listed (eggs have to be last to ensure the cheesecake doesn’t crack, although it’s still edible if it does!). Pour over crust and place the pan in a water bath.  Bake for 45 minutes.  Then turn the oven off and leave it in for another hour.  Cool slowly.

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