Layered Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie |Cooking With Amanda

Another year has flown by and here we are again... it's holiday season! That's good and bad for me. I absolutely love holiday baking and the communion around food and fork with the people that mean so much to me. But I almost hate the stress that I inevitably put on myself to do everything required. I go all out. I buy too much and always cook too much, but when it's all said and done I really wouldn't change a thing. Thanksgiving leftovers are the best anyway, right?

So, yes... there's pumpkin here. Are you completely and totally sick of it yet? When I was doing my recipe research for this post, I initially wanted to steer away from pumpkin. I went over tons of recipe options and just decided it's traditional for a reason. So, yes, we have pumpkin, but it's a little updated to give some needed interest.

There are a lot of ingredients, but if you know me and my style of cooking at all, you know I am a huge proponent of making a recipe your own in any way you can. In this layered pumpkin cheesecake pie, I snuck in some of my favorite ingredients; toffee chips, salted toffee sauce, coconut, but that doesn't mean you have to.

In fact, please leave out what you don't care for (even all of those things if you want) or add your faves. For example, I used pecan pieces but maybe you love walnuts? Knock yourself out! Sick to DEATH of salted caramel or toffee? Scrap it or just don't salt it. Love butterscotch instead of chocolate chips? Use those. You get the picture.

Let me break down what I did. I used chocolate wafer cookies for the crust. I love those cookies. You know, the sandwich variety. Especially as a cheesecake crust. It doesn't even require baking ahead of time. Always a plus.

I then made up a quick and super simple cheesecake batter and layered it as my first layer. On top of that I put in a little surprise. Mini chocolate chips, shredded, sweetened coconut, toffee chips and some pecans. I've been making a warm chocolate cheesecake for years that uses a similar method. It's pretty amazing. Take a look to see how it works out and shows up as a little inside surprise. Next I layered on a small amount of pumpkin pie filling. It's a thin layer but I think the perfect amount.

I've read ALL over from very reputable food sources that using canned pumpkin is the way to go rather than fresh. The work involved in preparing fresh pumpkin isn't worth it and the result isn't even as good. I use good quality canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling, and it consistent every time. It's also cheap. Just FYI.

After I baked-off the pie I topped it with a salted toffee meringue and torched it (you could brown it on broil if you don't have a torch) then topped it with all the same favorite little goodies I put inside. Please, by all means, if you want to save time use store bought caramel topping.

If you're going all out, check out my salted caramel recipe - it can be made days ahead and used for almost everything and just leave out the cream cheese. It's also pretty amazing. :)

This sweet little pie gets served warm and it is melt-in-your-mouth perfection! Not too pumpkin-y and the ingredients on the inside are not only a fun little surprise they also provided a great textural quality.

You could make this pie the day before serving. I would prepare the meringue an hour before serving, heat the pie just to warm through then add meringue and brown.

I truly hope you all have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving holiday.

Print Save

Layered Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie Recipe

Embed

Ingredients

For the Crust:

25 chocolate sandwich cookies
teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, melted
3/4 cup chopped pecans, for the crust

For the Cheesecake Filling:

12 ounces cream cheese, 1 1/2 bars
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sour cream, optional

Optional Inside Layers:

3/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1/3 cup toffee bits

For the Pumpkin Layer:

1 15 ounce can pumpkin
1/4 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons sour cream
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Salted Toffee Meringue Layer:

3/4 cup water
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
5 whites egg whites, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Optional Toppings:

mini semisweet chocolate chips
sweetened shredded coconut
chopped pecans
salted caramel

Directions

Preheat oven to 450°F.
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse sandwich cookies until it resembles fine soil. Add salt, pecans and drizzle melted butter. Mix to combine. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch pie plate and set aside.
In a medium bowl blend together cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add sour cream, egg and vanilla and blend just until combined. Pour into pie crust.
Top with your choice of mini chocolate chips, pecan pieces, shredded coconut and/or toffee chips. Set aside.
In a medium bowl whisk together ingredients for pumpkin layer until smooth and pour into pie.
Bake for 15 minutes at 425°F.
Reduce heat to 350°F and continue to bake another 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes away clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly on a rack while preparing meringue.
In a medium sauce pot over medium heat add water and 1 1/2 cups sugar and swirl pan allowing sugar to dissolve.
Increase heat to high, bringing mixture to a boil and cook without stirring for approximately 8-9 minutes or just until liquid begins to smoke slightly and becomes an amber color. Add in salt and swirl to combine. Remove from heat and allow to cool 5 minutes.
Place reserved egg whites and cream of tartar in a large mixer bowl and mix until soft peaks begin to form. Gradually add in remaining sugar and mix until peaks become more firm and glossy.
Add warm salted toffee mixture in a slow stream with mixture on medium speed. Allow to mix another 2-3 minutes.
Mound meringue on top of pie and swirl with knife or spoon to make trenches for toppings and caramel sauce. Brown edges of meringue with culinary torch or place under broiler until it reaches desired color.
Optional: Drizzle with salted caramel sauce, pecans, coconut, toffee chips and chocolate chips.
Serve warm and enjoy!!