Gingerbread Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust

This easy gingerbread cheesecake is a great Fall pie to enjoy with your family. Wonderful Christmas dessert but homemade now you can make it whenever you’d like! With gingersnap crust or Graham Cracker Crust for Cheesecake from scratch every bite will remind you of the holidays.

Gingerbread Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust

We used this type of 3 ingredient pie crust for this one. Now if you really wanted to make it more of a one note flavor you could follow the same directions but use gingerbread cookies in your food processor to make the crumbs instead. I mean Nilla wafers work too, any crunchy cookie will really do to tweak the taste overall.

You could use our Cake Mix Gingerbread Men baked crisp or make small versions of these and use as a garnish on top of each piece placed into a dollop of frosting. That is oh so cute and a fun activity to allow your kids to decorate each one so each serving looks a bit different. 😉

Now this is more work than let’s say making our Gingerbread Dump Cake. From scratch with packages of softened cream cheese it will take a bit over an hour to bake, cool, bake again and then cooling in the fridge for a few hours is necessary so it can set properly.

Ingredients

• 6 tbsp butter melted
• Brown sugar
• Cream cheese 3 – 8 oz packages, softened
• 1/3 c molasses
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Vanilla
• Ginger ground
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 eggs room temp.

Gingerbread Crust for Cheesecake

• 12 sheets gingersnap cookies crushed
• ¼ c sugar
• 6 tbsp butter melted

On top you could make homemade whipped cream with a pinch of Homemade Gingerbread Spice inside that too to further flavor that element. Incorporating a bit into a tub of defrosted Cool Whip works too for an easier version.

If we want to make a few things at the same time with the same flavors, we’ll typically make a batch of Air Fryer Gingerbread Cookies too.

How to Bake a Gingerbread Cheesecake in the Oven

1. To make the crust you; Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grind the cookies in a food processor until they are fine crumbs.
2. Add to a bowl and pour melted butter and sugar and stir until mixed.
3. Press firmly into the bottom of a 9” springform pan in an even layer.
4. Place in the oven and bake for 8 minutes until lightly browned.
5. Once it is cool, wrap the bottom of the pan in 2 layers of aluminum foil to prevent water from leaking in and making the crust soggy later when baking in the water bath.
6. Then you are going to bake the Philadelphia Cream Cheese Cheesecake Recipe
   • Beat the cream cheese and sugar together until creamy with a hand or stand mixer. Add the molasses, vanilla, lemon juice, salt and spices and mix. Add in the eggs, one at a time until well combined.
   • Pour over the cooled crust and place the springform pan into a larger roasting or baking pan. Add hot water until it reaches up to the middle of the springform pan.
   • Bake for 1 hour, or until the middle is set.
7. Remove carefully and take the pan out of the water and allow to cool on a rack before covering the top with plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge.
8. Chill in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours before serving. Then slide a knife around the edge and remove the outer ring. Gently slide cake off to remove bottom pan.

How to use a Water Bath for Making a Cheesecake

1. Prepare the Springform Pan – Make your cheesecake filling according to your recipe’s instructions. Place it in the springform pan, over the crust if you’re using one.
2. Wrap the Pan with Aluminum Foil – To prevent water from leaking into the pan and making the crust soggy, wrap the bottom of the springform pan tightly with aluminum foil.
3. Preheat Your Oven – Preheat your oven to the temperature specified in your recipe.
4. Place the Pan in a Larger Pan – Set the foil-wrapped pan inside a larger baking pan or roasting pan. The larger pan should be deep enough to hold the springform pan without spilling water.
5. Boil Water – Boil a kettle of water or heat water on the stove until it’s hot but not boiling.
6. Pour Hot Water – Carefully pour the hot water into the larger pan until it comes about halfway up the sides.
7. Bake – Place the entire setup in the preheated oven. The hot water in the larger pan will help regulate the temperature and prevent it from cracking.
8. Cool – Once done, carefully remove it from the oven, and then take the pan out of the water bath. Let it cool on a wire rack at room temperature for a while before refrigerating it for several hours or overnight to set completely.

How to bake into bars

If you wanted to make this to slice into squares like our Philadelphia Cheesecake Bars you could use an 8×8 pan lined with parchment paper instead.