• Pumpkin Cinnamon Cheesecake

    pumpkin_cinnamon_cheesecakeAs the weather is changing I’m leaning towards recipes that call for pumpkin, apples, cranberries and the like and am craving time in the kitchen to make lots of warm food for my family.  Along those lines, this Pumpkin Cinnamon Cheesecake is a winner.  This gluten free dessert doesn’t last long around the boys and their friends.

    With so many healthy and nutritious ingredients, this pie style cheesecake could almost be part of the main course, though I prefer to save it for an after dinner treat in our house as I enjoy the dessert and tea ritual at the end of a meal (the boys love to make tea every evening and are now old enough to hold the kettle of hot water after it has boiled; they are growing up).

    For those of you looking for a standard pumpkin pie, I do have a recipe for that dish in my gluten free cookbook, The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook. While the recipe below is lactose free if made with the right type of yogurt, the Pumpkin Pie recipe in my book is completely dairy free and is another family favorite.

    Pumpkin Cinnamon Cheesecake

    1 medium pie pumpkin, acorn squash or butternut squash (how-to roast squash)
    1 quart whole milk yogurt, strained overnight or up to 24 hours (discard whey)
    ½ cup agave nectar
    1 tablespoon vanilla extract
    1 tablespoon lemon juice
    1 tablespoon cinnamon
    ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt

    1. Fill the bottom of a baking dish with a little less than ¼ inch of water
    2. Cut pumpkin in half, remove seeds, and place face down in baking dish
    3. Roast pumpkin in the oven for 45-55 minutes until soft
    4. Allow pumpkin to cool and scrape flesh into a bowl, then measure out 2 cups
    5. In a cuisinart, combine 2 cups pumpkin, strained yogurt (minus the whey which was strained out), agave, vanilla and lemon juice and process until smooth, about 1-2 minutes
    6. Process in cinnamon and salt
    7. Pour batter into a 9-inch tart pan
    8. Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes, until firm
    9. Remove from oven, cool and serve

    Serves 8
    Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Robyn O’Brien, another local author.  She penned an amazing book that is on my must read list called The Unhealthy Truth and gave me a copy to give to one of you.  Leave a comment for this Friday Freebie before next Wednesday and I will draw one of your names out of a Yankees hat to determine who wins.

    Oh and don’t forget about Nourishing Days Food Roots for October! Submit a post about what you’re doing to find your food’s roots.
    recipe printed from Elana’s Pantry: http://www.elanaspantry.com/pumpkin-cinnamon-cheesecake/