Hi, my name is Jessica, and Allison graciously allowed me to do a guest post for her (thank you Allison!). I do not have a blog (as of yet) but I’ve been reading healthy living and food blogs for over a year, such as Green Dog Wine and I’m addicted!!

I have been inspired to take up running (which I now love) and really think about the food I am putting in my body. I’ve also been inspired to start my own blog! I haven’t created it yet because I am still trying to think of a name but I thought this guest post would be a great place to start!

Anyways, I decided that I wanted to write about all things pumpkin. I love pumpkin and this time of the year, I just can’t get enough pumpkin flavored goodies!

From pumpkin spice lattes…

to pumpkin granola…

to pumpkin butter and Barney Butter sandwiches…

to pumpkin butter in my oats…

to the ultimate…

Pumpkin Cheesecake! Cheesecake is my favorite dessert of all time and Pumpkin Cheesecake is pretty much the best thing in the world, in my opinion. This is a recipe, courtesy of Paula Deen (original recipe can be found HERE!!) that is the best Pumpkin Cheesecake I have ever had and is pretty much impossible to mess up!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe

Recipe courtesy of Paula Deen

Ingredients

Crust:

1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

3 tablespoons light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 stick melted salted butter

Filling:

3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature

1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin

3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

1/4 cup sour cream (I used nonfat yogurt)

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

2 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For crust:

In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon.

Add melted butter.

Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.

For filling:

Beat cream cheese until smooth.

Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.

Pour into crust.

Spread out evenly and place oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Enjoy!!!

It is ok if it cracked a little during the cooking process. Most people cook cheesecakes in a water bath (cover the spring form pan in aluminum foil, put it inside of a larger pan, and pour hot/almost boiling water until it is halfway up the sides of the spring form pan and let it bake like that in the oven) which should prevent cracking. I chose to skip the water bath because the recipe did not call for it and I have had mishaps with water baths but that method would most likely prevent the cracking. My opinion is that while presentation is important, the taste of the cheesecake is what really matters. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy the recipe!

What are your favorite pumpkin treats?