Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe

baked pumpkin cheesecake topped with pecans and chocolate drizzle.

4.19 from 16 votes

Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe

This chocolate pumpkin cheesecake is a smooth pumpkin cheesecake made with chocolate bar pieces on the bottom, topped with pecans, and more chocolate syrup.

Prep Time20

Cook Time1 25

Resting and refrigerating time:7

Total Time8 45

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 629kcal

Author: Lyuba Brooke

Equipment

Ingredients

Crust:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
4 tbsp unsalted butter melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
4 oz chocolate bar broken in pieces

Cheesecake Filling:

24 oz cream cheese softened
1 cup white granulated sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground all spice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Topping:

1 cup pecans chopped
1/4 cup Chocolate syrup or hot fudge topping

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Before Baking:

Grease a 9-inch spring form, set aside. Preheat the oven to 325℉.
You will need a large roasting pan that’s bigger and longer than the springform pan. (You can even use the aluminum foil disposable ones).
If you are not sure about your springform holding up in water, you can wrap the outside of the springform pan in heavy duty aluminum foil from bottom up to the sides. Try to use a wide kind of foil so you would only need to use 1 solid sheet. (I recommend wrapping the outside of the springform in foil before adding the crust and cheesecake batter.)
Although, there is a chance that a small amount of water will leak in, this will NOT ruin the cheesecake.

Crust:

Mix the ingredients for the crust, very well, until all evenly incorporated. (Not the chocolate bar.)
Spray inside of the springform pan with some cooking spray, making sure you get the sides too. Press graham cracker mixture into the pan, evenly, all over the bottom and about half way up the side. (You can use a measuring up to press the cookie crumb mixture.)
Lay the chocolate pieces all over the crust, evenly.

Cheesecake Filling:

In a bowl of an electric mixer, beat cream cheese on medium-high speed until smooth and fluffy. Give it a good 2-3 minutes of beating to get is soft and smooth. Scrape sides and bottom on the bowl and beat for another minute.
Pour in the sugar as it's beating and then lower the speed and add the vanilla extract, sour cream, and pumpkin puree. Raise the speed again and beat until smooth.
Add the eggs, one at the time, beating after each addition. Stop to scrape bottom and sides of the bowl.
Lower speed and mix in spices and cornstarch. Make sure that all ingredients are well combined. Stop to scrape bottom and sides of the bowl and beat until all smooth.
Pour the cheesecake batter into the pan with crust. Sprinkle the pecans over the top.

Baking The Cheesecake:

Place a large roasting pan into the oven and place cheesecake springform inside the roasting pan. Carefully add hot water to the corner of the roasting pan, filling it about half way up the side of the springform.
Bake for about 85 minutes. Turn off the oven and open the oven door half way. Let cheesecake rest for 10 minutes and take it out of the oven. Take the foil wrap off the pan.
Let it rest for 10 minutes on the counter and then gently run a butter knife between sides of the cheesecakes and the springform to carefully separate it. (You don’t actually have to take the cheesecake out of the pan until ready to serve.)
Cool cheesecake for an hour and then cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.
When ready to cut and serve the cheesecake, drizzle the chocolate syrup over the top. (Note, if using hot fudge topping, you will need to warm it up to make it easier to drizzle and spread.)

Notes

Storing: Cheesecake will last up to 5 days in the refrigerator. Store it in the original baking pan and make sure to re-wrap the pan with plastic wrap air-tight after each time you take out a slice.
Freezing: There are instructions on how to freeze the cheesecake in the post!
Water Bath: DO use the water bath technique, it does strongly affect the texture of the cheesecake.
How To Tell If Cheesecake If Done: You can tell the cheesecake is baked when the edges are set and the center is slightly soft and jiggly. As it cools in the oven and on the counter, the center will continue to set more and become more firm. DO NOT insert a knife or toothpick into the center since that may cause the dessert to crack.
Cooling: DO cool the cheesecake is three steps: 10 minutes in the turned off oven, on the counter, and chill in the refrigerator.

Nutrition