No bake cookie butter pumpkin cheesecake

A delicious, low fuss and no bake dessert for the fall holidays full of pumpkin, cookie butter, brown sugar and pumpkin spice!

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While there is a time and a place for a more traditional pumpkin pie (I have pecan caramel and white chocolate pudding pumpkin pie recipes that are my two absolute favorites), I know that oven space can often be tight around the holidays and especially for Thanksgiving. This dessert gives you a perfectly buttery crust and all of the pumpkin spice you need, without needing any time in the oven. It also holds up really well in the fridge or freezer making it a perfect dessert to make ahead before the holiday stress might creep in.

Making dessert for a gathering or for a holiday can be stressful, I always feel pressure to make sure the dessert is just right. What I love about a no bake option is that you can safely taste along the way while you're preparing it. So for example, if you want to up the spice level you can add a little and taste as you go.

Every great cheesecake, even a no bake one, starts with an amazing crust. I chose to use part graham crackers and part speculoos cookies, but I've shared the gram measurements for both so it would be easy to swap in whatever cookies you'd like or to do all of one kind. I liked the mix of the two, it gave the perfect structure and just enough sweetness. If you're looking for a little extra spice in the crust you can always add some cinnamon to taste.

For the filling, first you'll whip heavy cream to stiff peaks. You want to be careful not to over whip it so move slowly with your hand or stand mixer at a medium speed. From there, you'll whip together your cream cheese and brown sugar, before adding in the rest of your filling ingredients, and finally folding in your whipped cream.

Then it will be time to assemble your pie. Half of your filling will go into your prepared crust and you'll make the center filling of your pie with a combination of melted cookie butter and extra cookie crumbles. I like to make sure this center gets to set before I keep going for easy spreading. Once you've filled in the rest of your pumpkin cheesecake filling it's time to decorate - you'll melt the rest of your cookie butter and swirl it however you'd like on top of your smoothed cheesecake. I used a spoon to do this, and then finished with some extra cookie crumbles.

If you don't plan to serve the cheesecake for a few days, you can cover your cheesecake and keep it in the fridge without completing the cookie butter swirl and cookie crumb topping and simply do that final step a few hours before serving! This will avoid any unwanted condensation on your cookie butter swirl and ensure the top cookie crumbs don't get soggy.

I used Biscoff brand speculoos cookies and cookie butter, and Libby brand pumpkin puree. This recipe is quite flexible though so use what is most accessible to you and follow the gram measurements! You'll also use pumpkin spice for the cheesecake filling. Pumpkin spice is a mixture of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves - I use a premixed pumpkin spice from Simply Organic, you can get it on Amazon or from a Whole Foods store, and many other stores or places online. You can also make the mixture at home if you choose with a mixture of those spices, but you should be able to find a premixed pumpkin spice at your local store.

For the best results, I highly recommend using the gram measurements provided

Ingredients:

Pie crust

• 8 tablespoons (113g) unsalted butter 

• 8 graham cracker sheets (120g)

• 12 speculoos cookies (93g)

• 2 tablespoons (24g) light brown sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Pumpkin cheesecake filling

• 2/3 cup (155g) heavy cream

• 16oz cream cheese, room temperature

• 1/3 cup (96g) light brown sugar

• 1/3 cup (86g) canned pureed pumpkin

• 3/4 cup (90g) powdered sugar

• 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice 

• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cookie butter center and topping

• 1/2 cup (120g) creamy cookie butter

• 4 speculoos cookies (23g)

Prep time: About 30 minutes

Chill time: 6 hours (or overnight)

Equipment:

• Food chopper or processor (or plastic bag and heavy tool for smashing)

• Hand mixer (or stand mixer with paddle attachment)

• Medium, large and small bowls

• 9 inch springform pan or pie dish

Instructions:

First make your crust.

Melt your butter and set aside.

Crush your graham crackers and speculoos cookies into a fine crumb pulsing in your food chopper or processor, or you can place into a plastic bag and crush with a flat heavy tool or rolling pin.

Add your crumbs into a large bowl and mix in your light brown sugar and salt. Then add in your melted butter and mix together using a spoon or spatula until your butter is evenly dispersed and your cookie crumbs are evenly damp.

Into your springform pan or pie dish, pour in your crust. Use a flat tool, like a measuring cup or offset spatula, to press your crumble down to form a crust. I recommend starting by forming the sides of your crust and then filling in the middle. Continue to press down firmly until you've formed and even crust with no open spaces. Place your formed crust into the fridge. Note: you can line your pan with parchment if you're worried about sticking.

Make your filling.

In a large bowl (or in your stand mixer if using that) whip your heavy cream to stiff peaks at a medium speed. Set your whipped cream aside.

In a separate bowl if using your hand mixer or in your stand mixer, add your cream cheese and light brown sugar. Whip at a medium speed until your light brown sugar is completely combined. Add in the rest of your ingredients, canned pumpkin, powdered sugar, pumpkin spice, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Continue whipping until completely combined and smooth. Use a spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of your bowl and whip one more time to ensure everything is evenly combined with no streaks of unmixed pumpkin.

Fold your whipped cream into your pumpkin cream cheese mixture, moving slowly until fully incorporated. Then add about half of your cheesecake filling into your chilled pie crust and spread evenly.

Melt 6 tablespoons (90g) of your cookie butter, you can do this in 5 second intervals in your microwave stirring each time until smooth and pourable. Pour your melted cookie butter onto your cheesecake and spread into an even layer reaching near your crust (I like to leave a little bit of space). Crush and sprinkle 3 speculoos cookies across your melted cookie butter layer. Place your pie into the freezer for 15 minutes.

Once the cookie butter layer has at least partially set, carefully add the rest of your pie filling and spread evenly and flat all the way to the edges. Melt another 2 tablespoons (30g) of your cookie butter and decorate the top of your pie however you'd like. I used a spoon to swirl on my melted cookie butter. Crush one additional speculoos cookie and sprinkle across the top.

Place your cheesecake into the fridge to chill. I recommend covering it with plastic wrap once your topping is set (just so you don't mess up your decoration!) and let your cheesecake chill for at least 6 hours or overnight before slicing in - and then enjoy!

Your pie will stay fresh in the fridge for at least 5 days in an airtight container. After this it will still taste delicious but your crust may start to lose it's crunch. The pie freezes incredibly well though, so I recommend slicing and freezing (wrapped in plastic wrap, stored in an airtight container or bag) to have any time - you can then enjoy straight from the freezer, or defrost in the fridge or out on the counter. Also to note, if you know it will be a few days between preparing and serving, I recommend doing the final swirl of cookie butter and crumble topping the same day you serve.

Carb and serving info:

Carbs in full pie: 473

Carbs per serving (1 of 12 slices): 39

Carbs in pumpkin cheesecake filling only: 199

Carbs from cookie butter + extra cookie crumbs: 85

Carbs in crust only: 189

Carbs from speculoos cookies in crust: 69

Carbs from graham crackers in crust: 96

Note: Carb information is calculated based on the specific ingredients I used to cook with to help guide my own insulin to carb ratio when dosing before I eat my home cooked recipes.