Pecans, caramel and chocolate all wrapped up in a decadent cheesecake batter, what could be better?
A Turtle Cheesecake recipe that will cement your reputation as a baker extraordinaire.And it hardly seems fair really because while it may be show-stoppingly good, this Turtle Cheesecake is incredibly easy to make (but no one ever needs to know that now do they?)All they’ll remember is how unbelievable tempting and how utterly delicious your Turtle Cheesecake is.All they’ll think about is the creamy and smooth baked cheesecake, the Oreo chocolate biscuit base, the layer of luscious homemade caramel, the rich dark chocolate drizzle, even more caramel sauce and pecans.
Seriously – who could resist this? Who could forget this?
The only issue I see with this Turtle Cheesecake is that your friends and family may never request any other cake ever again!
Turtle Cheesecake with Caramel, Chocolate and Pecans
Yield: 16 – 24 servings
- 12 oreo chocolate sandwich cookies, about 1 cup finely crushed, gluten free cookies work fine
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- 3/4 cup caramel sauce, I used this homemade caramel sauce
- 3 (8 ounce) packages of cream cheese
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 3 eggs
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate or semi sweet chocolate chips, melted
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted if desired
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Crush the oreo cookies in a large freezer weight ziploc bag. You can use a rolling pin or mallet to crush them. Or, you can quickly pulse them in a food processor. Combine the crumbs with the melted butter and press the mixture into the bottom of a spring-form pan. Pour 1/2 cup of the caramel sauce over this crust and spread it across the crust lightly with a spatula. Refrigerate this crust for 10 minutes.
- Beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed just until each one is blended. Pour this mixture over the refrigerated crust. Place the spring-form pan on a large baking sheet prior to placing it in the oven. (If you line the baking sheet with foil first, clean up will be a breeze.) Some of the caramel in the crust will drip through the pan onto your oven if you forget this step.
- Bake 65 – 70 minutes, until the center is almost set. Run a knife around the edges of the pan while it is still warm. Let cool at room temperature and then refrigerate 4 hours or overnight before removing the sides of the pan.
- Once the sides of the pan have been removed, sprinkle the pecans across the top of the cheesecake and then drizzle with the remaining caramel and the melted chocolate. Store remaining cheesecake in the refrigerator. Enjoy!
