This Two-Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe Is the Best Thing You'll Eat This Fall

'Tis the season for all things pumpkin, from savory bread and muffins to sweet pies and lattes. This year, spice up your fall menu with the perfect pumpkin cheesecake recipe: This two-layer version is just as gorgeous as the swirled cheesecakes you're used to seeing in stores ... but less complicated to make and even more fun to eat. Before you get started, note these tips from our pros in the Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen: 

1. Mess-proof your graham cracker crust. To avoid coating your fingers in pesky graham cracker crumbs, tear off a square of plastic wrap, lay it over your pan, and press down on the plastic until your crust is packed just the way you want it. 
2. Bring on the alcohol. We like the taste that bourbon gives this recipe, but you could easily swap it for two teaspoons of another dark liquor (think: your favorite rum or whiskey) or even vanilla extract. 
3. Don’t forget the water bath. Baking your cheesecake in a water bath is so important because the moisture it generates in your oven is what keeps your dessert from cracking. To keep water from leaking into your cheesecake, though, we recommend wrapping the cake pan in aluminum foil before it ever hits the oven.