Pumpkin Cheesecake Focaccia
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This no-knead pumpkin cheesecake focaccia is made with pumpkin puree and a cinnamon sugar swirl, all topped with tangy cheesecake filling & crushed graham crackers!
Equipment
Ingredients
Pumpkin Focaccia
- 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (one packet)
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- ¾ cup warm water (between 105-115°F or 40-46°C)
- 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 cups bread flour
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1½ teaspoons salt (use fine sea salt or table salt)
- 4 tablespoons melted butter (for greasing the baking dish)
Cinnamon Swirl Filling
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Cheesecake Topping
- 8 ounces full-fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature (one block)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 9 graham crackers, crushed (one sleeve; makes about 1¼ cups)
Instructions
Mix & Stretch-and-Fold the Dough
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the active dry yeast, brown sugar, and warm water. Set aside for 10 minutes, until it's foamy on top. (If it's not foamy, check your yeast packet, as it might be expired.)
- Mix the pumpkin puree, olive oil, and vanilla extract into the foamy yeast mixture.
- Add the flour, pumpkin pie spice, and salt and mix for a minute with a large wooden spoon or silicone spatula until it forms a soft, sticky dough.
- Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap or a dinner plate for 30 minutes.
- Stretch and Fold 1: Use your hand to scoop a handful of dough from underneath, up one side, up out of the bowl as far as you can stretch it without tearing, then fold it over itself on top. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat another stretching of the dough up and folding over itself. Repeat rotating the bowl and stretching & folding the dough twice more, until you've completed four stretch-and-folds.
- Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap or a dinner plate for 30 minutes.
- Stretch and Fold 2: Repeat the process for four stretch-and-folds. Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap or a dinner plate for 30 minutes.
- Stretch and Fold 3: Repeat the process for four stretch-and-folds. Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap or a dinner plate for 30 minutes.
- Stretch and Fold 4: Repeat the process for four stretch-and-folds.
- Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap or a dinner plate for 1 hour until it doubles in size and looks bubbly on top.
Shape, Fill, and Proof the Dough
- Cinnamon Swirl Filling: In a small bowl, combine ½ cup of brown sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. Set aside.
- Spread four tablespoons of melted butter on the bottom and up the sides of a 9x13 metal baking dish.
- Dump the dough from your mixing bowl onto the center of the baking dish and press it down flat into all the edges and corners.
- Sprinkle the cinnamon filling evenly on the dough, leaving a 1-inch border around the edges. Pick up one of the short edges and fold the dough in half, and gently press the edges to seal the cinnamon sugar inside. Gently swivel the dough 90 degrees in the baking dish, so the long edges of the dough match up with the long edges of the baking dish, then gently press it out again to all the edges.
- Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature for 1½ to 2 hours, or until the dough has really puffed up and jiggles when you shake the baking dish.
Make the Cheesecake Topping
- In a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the softened cream cheese until it's creamy, after 2-3 minutes. Add the powdered sugar and cornstarch, and mix again until it's light and fluffy, after 1-2 minutes.
- Add the salt, vanilla extract, and egg yolk then mix again on low speed until it's smooth and fully combined.
Add Cheesecake Toppings and Bake
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (218°C).
- Pipe the cheesecake filling over the dough. Sprinkle the crushed graham crackers on top.
- Use your fingers to dimple the dough, pressing the cheesecake topping & graham crackers into it. Aim to have your fingers spread out by 1-inch and press halfway down into the baking dish.
- Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 375°F (190°C), and bake for another 35-40 minutes, or until the bread reaches at least 200°F (93°C) when a kitchen thermometer is inserted into the middle.
- Let it cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
The cheesecake filling is really thick, but you don’t want to spread it on top, or else all the air will get knocked out of the dough. Use a piping bag with a large round nozzle or a ziplock bag with the corner cut off to pipe the filling in ribbons all over the dough. You want some gaps without filling to allow steam to escape from the bread as it bakes.
Keep a close eye on the bread after you reduce the oven temperature. If the graham crackers on top start to get too dark, tent a large piece of foil over the top of the baking dish, so it can continue baking without burning on top. And because of the cheesecake topping, it’s really easy to underbake this focaccia, so the best way to know when to pull it from the oven is by checking the temperature.
It can be hard to see under the graham crackers, but try to insert your thermometer into a section without the cheesecake filling, and just go straight into the bread, pressed in far enough to gauge the lower third of the dough’s temperature.
Notes
- Storing: Because of the cream cheese topping, this focaccia needs to go in the fridge once it’s cooled. Cover the baking dish tightly with plastic wrap or move slices to an airtight container. And leftovers stay moist and delicious when served at room temperature.
- Equipment: Use a metal pan here. It runs hotter than ceramic or glass and sends more heat to the bottom of the dough so it bakes fully under the weight of the cinnamon sugar filling and cheesecake topping.
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