Where pumpkin pie and cheesecake meet

Pumpkin pie is about as old as American cookbooks. The first known cookbook written by an American, Amelia Simmons’ American Cookery in 1796, already had recipes for “pompkin” pudding baked in a crust, with spices like mace, nutmeg and ginger. Pumpkin pie had become a regular part of Thanksgiving dinner by the early 1800s, so when Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863, the pie was already there, and it never left.

Most of that pumpkin comes from one state. According to the University of Illinois Extension, Illinois grows around 90% of the nation’s canned pumpkin, and it isn’t the carving kind. Baking pumpkins are tan on the outside with dense, bright orange flesh inside. So the can in your pantry is a different pumpkin than the one on your porch.

American cheesecake has its own story, built on cream cheese that New York dairymen were making by the 1870s. Put the two together and you get a dessert that tastes like the holiday but eats like something richer. Nobody knows who baked the first pumpkin cheesecake, and I’m not going to pretend I do. It just makes sense.

Keto Thanksgiving desserts at our table

Thanksgiving is the one meal of the year where the sides and desserts outnumber the main. That’s a lot of sugar sitting on one table. You deserve to bring a dessert that everyone wants a slice of, keto or not, than a sad plate of something “for the diet people.”

Worried the non-keto crowd won’t go for it? Don’t be. A cheesecake has an easy job, honestly. Cream cheese, cinnamon and a crunchy crust do most of the convincing. I’m always playing with bold spice blends, so here’s my nudge: the cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg in the filling are what make it taste like the holiday, so use fresh jars if yours have been in the cupboard since last fall.

If you want cheesecake the rest of the year, our easy keto cheesecake is the same idea with a vanilla filling and a raspberry swirl. And if you want to start this one from a real pumpkin instead of a can, our Instant Pot pumpkin purée is the easy way to do it. Homemade purée is wetter than canned, so let it drain in a fine strainer for an hour before you measure it.

How this keto pumpkin cheesecake stays under 5 net carbs

A traditional pumpkin cheesecake has a graham cracker crust, white sugar in the filling and often a can of sweetened pumpkin pie filling. Every one of those is carbs. Here, the crust is almond flour and pecans held together with butter and a little sweetener. Pecans are one of the lowest-carb nuts, so they add crunch and that toasted, almost praline flavor without costing much.

The filling uses a powdered erythritol and monk fruit blend in place of sugar. Powdered matters, because granulated sweetener can leave the filling gritty. A golden or brown-style blend gives it a little of that brown sugar warmth, if you have one. For vanilla, use vanilla powder or a glycerin-based vanilla.

The pumpkin is the only real carb in the filling, so it’s measured: three-quarters of a cup, plain purée, not pie filling. That’s enough for real pumpkin color and flavor and still keeps the whole cheesecake under 5 grams of net carbs a slice across 14 slices. The cream cheese and four eggs also give each slice 7 grams of protein. The exact numbers are on the recipe card.

The other part is how you bake it. Cheesecake cracks when it bakes too hot or cools too fast. So it bakes at 325°F in a water bath, which keeps the edges from setting long before the middle. It’s done when the edges look set, the center still jiggles a little when you nudge the pan, and an instant-read thermometer in the middle reads 160°F (71°C), the FDA’s safe temperature for dishes made with eggs. A lot of bakers pull cheesecake closer to 150°F for a softer middle. If that’s how you like it, make it with pasteurized eggs. Then turn the oven off, crack the door and leave it there for an hour. Then a little time on the counter, and into the fridge.