Marbled Chocolate Cheesecake Pumpkin Pie is classic pumpkin pie made a little more rich with cream cheese and even more over the top with a chocolate swirl. Perfect for switching things up at your Thanksgiving.
This pie is about survival.
I’m kidding and being very dramatic but no lie, this pie took us about twenty million tries to get right but it survived! Or more like, we survived. It was one of those recipes that went way past my “three-fail rule.” Meaning, if we fail three times when trying a recipe, we abandon it all-together. But that rule went out the window because I liked the idea and flavor so very much.
We finally got it working like a fine-tune machine. At first it was too thin and kinda watery. Then the chocolate swirl wasn’t the right texture. And then we changed the chocolate and that got messed up. There were a lot of variables going on and we kept changing them and we kept getting messed up results. But we finally got it working and it was 100% worth it!
This fine thing is like a pumpkin cheesecake and a pie had a baby…but with chocolate swirled throughout. The bitter chocolate is so welcome within the constructs of creamy cream cheese flavor. It’s so good.
Ingredients you’ll need for Marbled Chocolate Cheesecake Pumpkin Pie:
- Graham Crackers. For the crust, along with butter, sugar, and a pinch of salt.
- Pumpkin. I use canned pumpkin because it’s by far the easiest thing and more consistent for recipes.
- Cream Cheese, For the cheesecake base.
- Sugar and Spices. The usual: cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger.
- Eggs help everything hold together.
- Heavy Cream and chocolate make up the chocolate portion.
How to Make Marbled Chocolate Cheesecake Pumpkin Pie:
- Make the crust. Combine graham cracker crumbs with the butter, sugar, and salt and press it into a tart pan.
- Bake to set it. Bake the crust, just for 5 minutes to help create a barrier for the filling.
- Beat the cream cheese. Make sure to start with cream cheese and sugar, mixing until it’s smooth to prevent lumps in the pie.
- Add the rest. All the pumpkin, eggs, and spices go in and are mixed just until it comes together.
- Make the swirl. Heat up the heavy cream then add the chocolate and set aside to let the heat melt the chocolate.
- Swirl! Add all the pumpkin cheesecake filling to the crust then dollop the chocolate all over and swirl.
- Bake and cool. Bake just until the filling is set then remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature. Let chill for at least a few more hours in the fridge so it can properly set.
- Serve. I like to serve mine just like classic pumpkin pie: with a big dollop of soft whipped cream.
Tips and Tricks:
- Switch up the crust. Replace the graham crackers with another cookie like a nilla wafer or chocolate wafer cookie to add a different flavor.
- Skip the swirl. If you’re not into the chocolate pumpkin combo (trust me on it!) You can always skip the swirl and just move forward with the recipe as is for a pumpkin cheesecake tart.
Marbled Chocolate Cheesecake Pumpkin Pie Recipe
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 cup of graham cracker crumbs from about 5 cookies
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted
- 2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Pumpkin Pie Filling:
- 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
- 4 ounces cream cheese about 1/2 of a package, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- Pinch of cardamom
- Pinch of cloves
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup pure pumpkin puree
Chocolate Swirls:
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons melted semi-sweet chocolate about 2 ounces
- Whipped cream for serving
Instructions
To make the graham cracker crust:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. To a small bowl, combine the graham cracker crusts, melted butter, sugar and salt. Transfer to the tart shell and press mixture into the sides and bottom of the tart shell. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and continue with the remainder of the recipe. Keep the oven at 375 degrees F.
To make the filling:
- 1. To the bowl of a stand-up mixer, with the paddle attachment, add the sugar and cream cheese. Beat until very smooth and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, eggs and pumpkin puree. Beat one last time until smooth.
To make the chocolate swirl filling:
- Scoop out 1/3 cup of the pumpkin pie filling and transfer it to a small bowl, along with the heavy cream and melted chocolate. Mix until smooth.
- Pour the remaining filling into the crust and smooth out until it reaches the edges of the pie crust. Drop small dollops of the chocolate mixture onto the top of the pie. Run a knife through the dollops, creating a swirl effect. If at first it looks janky, keep going. I added more dollops as I went, too, filling in the gaps and it helped!
- Transfer to the oven to bake for 15 minutes to 18 minutes, until just barely set in the center—a little wiggle is good!
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool until room temperature, about 1 hour. Transfer to the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight. Serve with whipped cream!
Notes
Nutrition
Did you make the recipe? Let me know on Instagram!
Looking for more pie recipes? Here are some of my favorites:
I made this last year and loved it! The only problem I had was that the crust was kind of crumbly and fell apart a little bit, so there were little bits everywhere. What did I do wrong/how do I fix that for this year?
Hmm…I think adding an extra tablespoon of butter to the cookie crumb crust would be solve the problem!
I was very excited to make this pie. Given I love pumping & cheesecake. I loved how easy this pie was but I have to be honest, it wasn’t my favorite. I think I needed more pumpkin and/or more cheesecake. That said, it was a Thanksgiving hit with my friends! They loved! I’m not sure if I would make again for myself, but I recommend trying & sharing. Thank you!
Are you using a tart pan with a removable bottom here?
Yes, I use a removable bottomed-pan, but you can use a regular pie dish too!
Three of my favorites. I can’t wait to try….but not sure how/why I missed it last year?? I’m sure it would have been on my baking list. Thank you!
I tried this recipe today, it is amazing! I found your blog recently and tried your Harissa Meatball with spaghetti squash, cornbread dumpling, enchiladas recipes in two weeks and they were all great! Thank you! You are awesome Adrianna.
Oh you picked some of my favorite recipes. I love those harissa meatballs. And cornbread dumplings. YAY! So glad you found me xoxo
this looks amazing!!