Pumpkin Cheesecake
Source: Cooking Light, December 2000
Ingredients:
Crust -
- 56 reduced-fat vanilla wafers (about 8 ounces)
- 1 tablespoon butter or stick margarine, melted
- Cooking spray
Filling -
- 3 (8-ounce) blocks fat-free cream cheese, softened
- 2 (8-ounce) blocks 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Dash of allspice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- To prepare crust, place wafers in a food processor; pulse 2 to 3 times or until finely ground.
- Add butter; pulse 10 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal.
- Firmly press mixture into bottom of a 9-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray.
- Bake at 400° for 10 minutes; cool on a wire rack.
- Reduce oven temperature to 325°.
- To prepare filling, beat cheeses with a mixer at high speed until smooth.
- Add the granulated sugar and next 8 ingredients (granulated sugar through vanilla), beating well.
- Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Add pumpkin; beat well.
- Pour cheese mixture into prepared crust; bake at 325° for 1 1/2 hours or until almost set. (Cheesecake is done when the center barely moves when pan is touched.)
- Remove cheesecake from oven; run a knife around outside edge. Cool to room temperature; cover and chill at least 8 hours.
Yield:
16 servings (serving size: 1 slice)