If you aren’t new around here, you know that cheesecake is my THING. My ultimate dessert. What we have at every family birthday party and holiday party. How I wow new people in my life with my dessert-baking prowress. (Just kidding on that last part – kinda.)
The thing I love most about cheesecake, besides eating it, is just how versatile it can be. From vanilla bean cheesecake and pumpkin cheesecake to Snickers cheesecake, there’s hardly a version I haven’t tried – and loved.
The other day, I was thinking about butter – as one does when they bake for a living. And how much I love the stuff, especially in crumbly cheesecake crust. You know what else is buttery? Salted caramel sauce. Sounds like a match made in cheesecake heaven to ME!
This buttery, crispy, sweet and salty crust comes to you courtesy of salted caramel pretzels and Challenge Butter. I love using Challenge Butter in desserts I know I’m going to be feeding to my whole family. Not only is the quality top notch, it’s made from the cream of cows not treated with Growth Hormone rbST. That’s important to me with a growing family, so knowing I can pick up these high quality butter and not have to think twice about it is fantastic.
Go forth and make Salted Caramel Cheesecake for your crowd. They’ll thank you for it, I promise.
Ingredients
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2⅓ cups Snyders Salted Caramel Pretzel Pieces, crushed in a food processor until they form fine crumbs -
5 Tablespoons Challenge Butter, melted -
32 ounces cream cheese, room temperature -
1 cup granulated sugar -
4 large eggs; room temperature -
½ cup heavy cream -
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste -
homemade salted caramel sauce
Directions
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1
Preheat oven to 325°F. Tightly wrap a 9 inch springform pan in heavy duty foil. This step prevents leaks when using a water bath. I also take the extra step by placing the foil wrapped spring form pan inside an oven bag while baking, but this is optional.
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2
Mix together the crust ingredients and press into the bottom of your pan. Bake for 8 minutes and cool completely on a wire rack.
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3
Begin to boil a pot or kettle of water for the water bath.
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4
In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with your paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and mix until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream and vanilla and mix until smooth.
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5
Pour batter into prepared crust. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan.
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6
Bake 55-60 minutes, the edges will appear to be set, but the center will still have some jiggle to it. At this point, turn off the oven, but leave the door cracked and allow the cheesecake to rest in the cooling oven for one hour.
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7
After one hour has passed, carefully remove the cheesecake from the water bath and place on a cooling rack to cool completely. Once the cake is completely cooled, place it into the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.
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8
Serve with salted caramel sauce.
