Eggnog Cheesecake

Eggnog Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust For the crust: 12 oz. gingersnaps, crushed to a fine crumb 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 tsp cinnamon 6 Tbsp salted butter, softened or melted For the filling: 4 (8 oz.) bricks cream cheese, softened to room temp. 4 large eggs, at room temp 1 1/2 cups eggnog 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar 3 tbsp all-purpose flour 1 tsp rum extract 1/2 – 1 tsp cinnamon (to taste) For the topping: 1 can of whip topping,or cool whip cinnamon, as desired Start by preheating your oven to 325°F To make the crust. I used my blender to crush the gingersnaps, then poured them into a bowl and added the sugar, cinnamon and melted butter. Mix it all up until the crust is all soaked with butter! Pour the crushed cookies into a 10″ spring-form pan and up the sides at least an inch. I have two little tricks when making a cheesecake crust. First, I line the bottom (removable) circle with a piece of parchment cut to the exact circle size. I didn’t photograph this, but doing it allows you to get the cheesecake completely out of the spring-form pan and off the bottom piece without damage. Second, I use my favorite juice glasses to press the crumbs into the corners and up the sides of the pan and to press them down in the bottom! It makes the crust very compact and “clean”. Now, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until very light and fluffy. Then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition and scraping down the sides as needed. Next you’ll need to add in the eggnog and mix until smooth. After that, add the sugar, flour, rum extract, and cinnamon. And yes… mix again until smooth and creamy. (that’s the last time to mix, by the way… and I promise those pics are of different steps) Now pour that dreamy mixture into your crust and you’re ready to bake it! Bake for 1 hour, then turn the oven off and crack the oven door. Leave the cheesecake there for another hour. After that, you can move it to a cooling rack to come to room temp or cover it and move it directly to the frig. After it’s cooled and chilled for 6-8 hours, you can finally enjoy the fruit of all of your labor! Serve with a generous topping of cool whip and a sprinkle of cinnamon.