Pecan Pie Cheesecake
A holiday menu will not be complete unless you serve this Pecan Pie Cheesecake! A toasted nutty graham cracker crust followed by a smooth and velvety cheesecake. Topped with a perfectly sweet caramel topping finished off with a layer of toasted pecans!
Ingredients
- 6 oz. graham cracker crumbs
- 1/2 c. toasted pecan halves
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter melted
- 3 pkgs. 8 oz. each cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 stick unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 c. granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 c. heavy cream
- 1 tsp. vanilla
Pecan Topping
- 1/3 c. basic homemade caramel
- 1 1/2 c. chopped toasted pecans
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 375; coat a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick spray and wrap entire outside of pan in foil; set aside.
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Combine graham cracker crumbs and toasted pecan halves in a food processor until fine. With processor running, drizzle in the melted butter. Press mixture into the bottom of the pan; bake 10 minutes. Cool crust completely before filling. Reduce oven to 325.
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Beat cream cheese, butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and salt in a large bowl until mixture is fluffy, periodically scraping sides of the bowl. Add eggs one at a time, fully beating to incorporate into batter after each addition. Add cream and vanilla; beat until ingredients are completely incorporated into batter.Pour filling over crust, smoothing the top of filling.
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Transfer cheesecake to a roasting pan; place in the oven. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan a third of the way up the sides of the foil-wrapped springform pan. Bake cheesecake until it reaches 155 and sides are set but center still joggles, about 1 hour. Turn off the oven; leave cheesecake inside for 1 hour with the oven door closed.
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Remove cheesecake from oven; cool to room temperature. Cover cheesecake with plastic wrap; chill 3-24 hours. Remove cheesecake from refrigerator 30 minutes before serving.
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Spoon caramel over cheesecake carefully and evenly and sprinkle with chopped pecans. If you have any remaining sauce, serve on individual slices.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- Make sure that your cream cheese, butter and eggs are all room temperature. This will ensure a velvety smooth filling. If you can leave everything out for at least 4-6 hours that would be ideal.
- The brand of cream cheese is very important. I will always and forever stand behind Philadelphia cream cheese (no, they are not paying me to say that). Off-brand cream cheese will not yield the same results as Philadelphia.
- How to Toast Pecans: Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray baking sheet with cooking spray. Toast pecans just until they become fragrant, about 5 minutes. Watch carefully as they can burn easily. I like to use my toaster oven for this step!
- Buy graham cracker crumbs pre-made. While you can easily make your own out of graham crackers, this recipe has enough steps as it is, no need to add additional steps (or dishes) for yourself.
- Keeping water from your cheesecake is nearly impossible in the water bath. Use a leak-proof springform pan if possible, use heavy duty aluminum foil instead of cheap or regular foil & for a guaranteed dry crust use an oven bag to surround your springform pan.
- If you don't have a roasting pan for the water bath you can use any pan that is large enough to fit your cheesecake. My roaster was being used for my turkey so I ended up using my Staub Cast Iron 13" Double Handle Fry Pan.
- Do not, I repeat DO NOT open the oven door at any point during cooking or cooling of your cheesecake. The longer you can leave the cheesecake in the oven the better. I ended up leaving mine in for two hours after it had baked without opening the oven door.
- You can of course use store bought caramel but I highly recommend my Basic Homemade Caramel recipe. There's plenty of time to make it once your cheesecake has gone into the oven to bake & it's definitely worth it!
- When spooning your caramel over the cooled cheesecake, leave a 1/2-1" border of cheesecake. The caramel will run & if you take it to the edge it will run over the side (which makes for messy presentation).
- Don't skip toasting the pecans for the topping, it's definitely worth the extra step. Toast all of your pecans at once since you'll need them for the crust as well as the topping.
Adapted from Adapted from Cuisine At Home, Issue No. 78 December 2009