Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Praline Recipe (2024)

Published: by Chef Dennis Littley

4.99 from 63 votes

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My creamy and delicious pumpkin cheesecake with a pecan praline topping is the perfect cheesecake for the fall season. It’s a delicious blend of creamy New York style cheesecake and pumpkin pie, topped with a sweet pecan praline topping.

I promise this will become one of your favorite pumpkin desserts!

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Praline Recipe (1)

And if you’re not a fan of the praline topping…..gasp, it’s easy enough to leave it off and just create a delicious Pumpkin Cheesecake. Even if you’re not a fan of pumpkin pie (like me) I promise you’re going to love this light creamy cheesecake with a perfect blend of pumpkin flavors that won’t overpower the cheesecake.

If you love pumpkin my pumpkin crunch cake is another of my favorite pumpkin desserts.

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Praline Recipe (2)

Fall is definitely my favorite season, with cool nights and all the deliciousness that comes with the season.

My Pumpkin Cheesecake is delicious by itself but it’s over-the-top delicious with the addition of my praline topping! And let’s not even talk about how ah-mazing your kitchen will smell while it’s baking.

Table of Contents:

What ingredients do I need to make a Pumpkin Cheesecake?

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Praline Recipe (3)

Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make Pumpkin Praline Cheesecake. In Chef Speak this is called the “Mise en Place” which translates to “Everything in its Place”.

Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed up the cooking process, it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.

If you want to change up the crust on the pumpkin cheesecake that’s easy enough to do. You can use ginger snaps, chocolate graham crackers or any of your favorite wafer cookies to make the crust for pumpkin cheesecake.

How do I make a graham cracker crust?

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Praline Recipe (4)
  • Place the graham crackers in the bowl of a food processor and process them into a fine meal of graham cracker crumbs.
  • Add the melted butter to the graham cracker crumbs and mix together to make the crust
  • Press the mixture onto the bottom of the pan and 1-2 inches up the sides of the pan (I used a 9-inch spring form pan).
  • Place on the center rack of a preheated 350-degree oven for about 15 minutes, until firm. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

How do I make a Pumpkin Cheesecake?

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Praline Recipe (5)
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl with your electric mixer) add the cream cheese and beat until smooth.
  • Slowly add in the brown sugar, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as you mix it together.
  • Add in the flour, cinnamon, allspice, salt, eggs, vanilla, and pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix). Mix for 2 -3 minutes until well blended and smooth.

*You can substitute pumpkin pie spice for the cinnamon and allspice.

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Praline Recipe (6)
  • Pour the pumpkin mixture into the prepared crust and place in a preheated 350-degree oven for one hour.
  • After the hour, turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in the oven for one additional hour
  • Remove the cheesecake from the oven and allow it to cool completely on a wire rack
  • Place the cheesecake in the refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours (overnight is better)

How do I make a Pecan Praline topping?

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Praline Recipe (7)
  • in a saute pan or sauce pan add brown sugar, and corn syrup, and heat until the corn syrup is well blended into the sugar
  • Add in the pecans and let the mixture brown slightly
  • Add the dulce de leche (or caramel sauce) to the pan and continue to simmer until thickened
Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Praline Recipe (8)

Pour the praline mixture on the top of the cheesecake spreading it evenly. Return the cheesecake to the refrigerator to allow the praline to cool and harden.

When ready to serve, carefully run a knife along the inside edge of the spring form pan and slowly release the spring.

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Praline Recipe (9)

For an added touch, garnish the pumpkin praline cheesecake with sugared cranberries.

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Praline Recipe (10)

Serve up this delicious pumpkin cheesecake with homemade whipped cream and watch the smiles around the table!

How to make whipped cream

It’s easy to make your own whipped cream by adding 1 cup of heavy cream, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and 1 tablespoon of sugar to a mixing bowl. Mix at a slow speed, gradually increasing the speed of the mixer over 6-8 minutes until you get stiff peaks. The cream and the mixing bowl should be very cold.

More Dessert Recipes You’ll Love!

  • Classic Pumpkin Pie Recipe
  • Classic Pumpkin Roll Recipe
  • Original Pumpkin Crunch Cake
  • Bourbon Pecan Pie with Chocolate Ganache

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Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Praline Recipe (15)

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4.99 from 63 votes

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Praline Topping

My Pumpkin Cheesecake is definitely a fall dessert, even though it would be delicious any time of the year. The creamy texture and praline topping go so well with the light pumpkin flavor.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time2 hours hrs

Total Time2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Servings: 16

Calories: 302kcal

Author: Chef Dennis Littley

Ingredients

Crust

  • 20 graham crackers or digestive biscuits
  • 6 tablespoon butter – melted

Pumpkin Cheesecake

  • 32 ounces cream cheese softened
  • 1 ½ cup brown sugar firmly packed
  • 3 tablespoon flour
  • 2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoon allspice
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 5 large eggs
  • 16 ounces solid pack pumpkin not pumpkin pie mix

Praline Topping

  • 8 ounces chopped pecans
  • cup brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon corn syrup
  • 1 tablespoon bourbon or vanilla
  • 3 tablespoon dulce de leche or caramel

US CustomaryMetric

Instructions

Crust

  • place graham crackers in the bowl of a food processor and process into a fine meal. Place in a mixing bowl

  • Add melted butter and mix together to make the crust

  • Press mixture onto bottom and up the side of a 9-inch springform pan one inch to two inches.

  • Place on the center rack of a preheated 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes, until firm. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

  • In the bowl of your stand mixer add the cream cheese and beat until smooth

  • Slowly add in the brown sugar, scraping down the sides of bowl

  • Add in the flour, cinnamon, allspice, salt, eggs, vanilla and pumpkin. Mix for 2 -3 minutes until well blended and smooth.

  • Pour the cheesecake mixture into prepared crust and place in a preheated 350 degree oven for one hour.

  • After the hour, turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in the oven for one additional hour

  • Remove the cheesecake from the oven and allow to cool completely on wire rack

  • Place the cheesecake in the refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours (overnight is better)

Praline

  • After the cheesecake has completely chilled begin making the praline topping

  • in a saute pan or sauce pan add brown sugar, and corn syrup, heat until the corn syrup is well blended into the sugar

  • Add in the pecans and let the mixture brown slightly

  • Add the dulce de leche (or caramel) to the pan and continue to simmer until thickened

  • Pour the mixture on the top of the cheesecake spreading it evenly. Return the cheesecake to the refrigerator to allow the praline to cool and harden.

  • Serve with fresh whipped cream and enjoy!

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 302kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 58mg | Sodium: 255mg | Potassium: 146mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 30g | Vitamin A: 105IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 58mg | Iron: 1.6mg

Tried this Recipe? Pin it for Later!Mention @askChefDennis or tag #askChefDennis!

More Dessert Recipes

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About Chef Dennis

Chef Dennis Littley is a classically trained chef with over 40 years of experience working in the food service industry. In his second career as a food blogger he has made it his mission to demistify cooking by sharing his time-tested recipes, knowledge, and chef tips to help you create easy-to-make restaurant-quality meals in your home kitchen. Let Chef Dennis help you bring the joy of cooking into your home.For more details, check out his About page.

Reader Interactions

Comments

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  1. Kait

    Thank you for your suggestion of moving the springform up when I topped the cheesecake with the praline- it worked like a charm

    And the cheesecake came out beautifully. Everyone commented on how delicious it was! (And it was devoured while the pies from a fancy bakery went untouched.) Thanks so much for the great recipe!!!

    Reply

  2. Amy B.

    Chef Dennis, do you think Biscoff cookies would work for the crust…?

    Reply

    • Chef Dennis Littley

      absolutely, Biscoff cookies would make a delicious crust for pumpkin cheesecake.

      Reply

      • Amy B.

        Thank you so much! 🙂

      • Amy B.

        One more question – does this recipe benefit from a water bath?

      • Tina

        If using a biscoff for the crust, what cup measurement do I need to use?

      • Chef Dennis Littley

        about 1 1/2 cups of crumbs

  3. Candice

    I’m wondering if I can substitute pure maple syrup for the brown sugar and if so do I need to reduce another ingredient?

    Reply

    • Chef Dennis Littley

      I have never made that swap, but I asked a friend of mine about it and she said to use 3/4 cup of maple syrup for every cup of brown sugar. So 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar would be about one cup and a tablespoon of maple syrup.

      Reply

      • Kait

        My cheesecake mix went right to the top of my springform… did I do something wrong? I’m concerned that the praline won’t fit in the pan.

      • Chef Dennis Littley

        it will be fine. If it does go all the way to the top of the pan, let the cheesecake cool and run a knife along the inside of the pan to release it. Release the springform and slide the pan up enough to hold the praline topping. If the spring wont close, you can wrap foil around it to hold it closed. This will give you the room to add the praline. If it doesn’t work, don’t worry, just spoon the praline on the top as it cools it will hold better and the topping will be good

  4. Elena Lopergolo Bush

    Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Praline Recipe (21)
    I made the Pumpkin Cheesecake with Praline Topping it is delicious. I will continue to make it. Thank you for sharing your receipt.

    Reply

  5. Chris

    Sometimes I wish I had a stand mixer, like to make this cheesecake. Bummer.

    Reply

  6. Natalie

    Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Praline Recipe (22)
    Such a beautiful cake. Seasonal, looks festive and delicious. I love that praline topping. I’m definitely making this cake for Thanksgiving.

    Reply

  7. Nicole

    Definitely sharing and adding to my menu

    Reply

  8. Jamie

    Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Praline Recipe (23)
    The praline is so delicious with this cheesecake! It’s perfect for fall and my whole house smelled amazing while making it. We loved it.

    Reply

    • Shery Sullivan

      Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Praline Recipe (24)
      Another of your recipes I can’t wait to make. I’ll definitely add the praline. Thanks again, Chef

      Reply

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