Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake

By request, a pumpkin cheesecake! Halloween is already here, but this would be good for Thanksgiving, too.

You've got two versions here. A more normal version with a cookie crust and a lower carb version with a nut crust. Both are pretty high calorie, despite the artificial sweetener instead of sugar. Beware, but eat up.


Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake

Serves 8


Crust

1 cup crushed ginger snaps
1/2 cup slivered almonds, finely chopped or ground
4 tbsp melted butter

or, alternately...

1/2 cup slivered almonds, finely chopped or ground
1/2 cup pepitas, finely chopped or ground
3 packets Splenda
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
4 tbsp melted butter


Filling

2 lbs cream cheese or neufchatel cheese *
3 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pie filling)
18 packets of Spenda and/or Equal, divided
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp bourbon or vanilla extract

* Neufchatel cheese makes a slightly less dense cheesecake. I like it better for this particular cheesecake.


Directions

Soften cream cheese by leaving it at room temp for 30 minutes prior to mixing.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For best results, grind the nuts and/or seeds in a food processor or clean coffee grinder. If that's not possible, chop them as finely as possible with a knife.

Mix all crust ingredients together. Press the crust mixture into the bottom of a spring pan or pie plate. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, taking care not to burn it.

Remove crust from oven and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl or using a mixer, mix cream cheese, bourbon or vanilla, 12 packets of sweetener until smooth. Add one egg at a time, mixing each in very well.

Scoop about one cup of this white cheesecake filling out and set it aside for later.

Add pumpkin, ginger, and the remaining sweetener to the filling in the mixing bowl (not to the stuff you set aside) and mix well. Carefully pour and spread the pumpkin cheesecake filling over the crust.

With a spoon, drop blobs of the reserved white cheesecake filling onto the pumpkin cheesecake filling. When all the white filling has been added, use the spoon to gently swirl the cheesecake to give it a swirled, marbled look.

Bake the cheesecake for 45-55 minutes. Just until the center of the filling has set up. Remove from oven and run a sharp knife around the edge to separate the cheesecake from the pan. Allow the cheesecake to cool before removing the pan rim. Chill for several hours or overnight before serving.

Note: You can make this in a pie plate or even small ramekins or desert bowls. If you do the ramekins or small bowls, they cook a lot faster. Start checking at 25-30 minutes. I made four mini-cheesecakes and they took about 40 minutes.


Nutrition

Assuming a serving size of 1/8th of the cheesecake. Nutrition calculated using neufchatel cheese rather than cream cheese

Cookie crust version, Calories 383, Fat 28g, Carbs 23g, Fiber 2g, Protein 11g

Nut crust version, Calories 336, Fat 29g, Carbs 8g, Fiber 2g, Protein 12g