Directions For the Gingersnaps
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a mixing bowl. Stir the mixture to blend evenly, and sift a second time into another bowl. Place the butter into a mixing bowl and beat until creamy. Gradually beat in the sugar. Beat in the egg, and dark molasses. Sift 1/3 of the flour mixture into the shortening mixture; stir to thoroughly blend. Sift in the remaining flour mixture, and mix together until a soft dough forms. Pinch off small amounts of dough and roll into 1 inch diameter balls between your hands. Roll each ball in cinnamon sugar, and place 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. To make into a crust, don't scoop, just roll out into flat disk, approximately 1/4" thick, and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until crunchy. Let cool, then crush in a food processor.
**This recipe makes more than what you will need for the crust amount, but if you don't want to do anything with the extra dough the day of baking, you can wrap tightly in plastic wrap and hold in a freezer for approximately 1 month.
Directions For the Gingersnap Crust
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Combine all three ingredients together. Spray pan with vegetable spray, press crust into pan, bake at 350 for 5-8 minutes. Let cool.
Directions For the Pumpkin Cheesecake
Cream the cream cheese and sugar together with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Slowly add lemon juice, vanilla extract and eggs until well combined. Add pumpkin puree, spices and salt. Slowly add in heavy cream. Pour cheesecake batter in cooked, cooled crust and bake at 250 degrees for 40- 45 minutes until cheesecake temperature is at 150 degrees and set. Let cool thoroughly before cutting.