Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake

For our wedding, Nick and I decided that a regular wedding cake wasn't what we wanted. Cakes are dry and boring and didn't fit with our Thanksgiving themed dinner. So we had pumpkin cheesecake for dessert. And it was amazing! This cheesecake was also yummy, although a little difficult to get out of the pan. A lot of the crust stayed in the pan, in fact, but it was still delicious. I can't wait to make it again!

Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake

38 ginger snaps

1/4 cup pecans

1/4 butter, melted

4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

2 cups pumpkin purée

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 eggs

1 cup whipped cream

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a food processor, crush ginger snaps and pecans. Mix with melted butter and press into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan.

Beat cream cheese and sugar with a mixer until blended. Add pumpkin, spice, and vanilla and mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each one just until blended. Pour into crust.

Bake 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes or until center is almost set. Loosen cake from the rim of the pan. Cool completely before removing the sides of the pan. Refrigerate 4 hours.

Top with cool whip and a dusting of nutmeg. Enjoy!