This caramel pecan cheesecake is made with a cinnamon crust, creamy cinnamon cheesecake filling, and a caramel pecan topping.
This cheesecake is perfect for pecan and cinnamon lovers. It is the perfect cheesecake for the holiday season and fall. We like to make this cheesecake all year round.
It is a perfect blend of sweet and nutty, with a smooth and velvety texture that melts in your mouth.
Whether enjoyed as a special occasion dessert for the holidays or as a decadent treat at any time, this cheesecake is sure to satisfy your sweet tooth cravings.
If you are looking for more cinnamon recipes, check out our cinnamon roll cheesecake, cinnamon bundt cake, apple cinnamon rolls with apple pie filling, and our apple crumble cake.
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Why this recipe works
- Caramel pecan cheesecake- this cheesecake is topped with a decadent caramel pecan topping!
- Graham cracker crust- the buttery graham cracker crust is made with cinnamon for a super delicious flavor.
- No water bath cheesecake- this pecan pie cheesecake is made without a water bath. It is baked at a low temperature for a long time which gives you the most perfect cheesecake texture with no cracks and little effort.
- Texture- this cheesecake is extremely creamy, has a buttery graham cracker crust, and is topped with creamy cinnamon cheesecake filling and topped with crunchy and gooey pecan and caramel topping.
Ingredients
Before you start to make this pecan cheesecake recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and efficiently.
Full measurements are in the recipe card below.
For the crust
Graham crackers- If you don’t have graham crackers, you can use tea biscuits, vanilla wafers, and digestive biscuits.
Brown sugar- the sugar will add sweetness to the crust.
Cinnamon- we love adding extra cinnamon to the crust.
Melted butter- melt the butter in the microwave for 30 seconds pulses, to make sure that the butter doesn’t boil up and explode in the microwave (been there done that), or melt it on the stovetop.
For the filling
Cream cheese- the most important ingredient in this recipe, is cream cheese. Make sure that you are using full-fat cream cheese, for a cheesecake with no cracks, it's important that you use full-fat cream cheese and make sure that it’s at room temperature.
Granulated sugar- you will need one cup of granulated sugar for this recipe. The cheesecake will be sweet, but not too sweet. One cup of sugar is the perfect balance of sweetness for this recipe.
Eggs- you will need 3 large eggs for this recipe. To get a perfect classic cheesecake, make sure that the eggs are at room temperature.
Heavy cream- use full-fat heavy cream for this recipe. Make sure that it's at room temperature.
Cornstarch- we used cornstarch, you can use flour instead.
Vanilla extract- vanilla extract adds extra flavor.
Sour cream- we suggest using full-fat sour cream for this recipe. The sour cream makes the cheesecake batter creamier and lighter.
Pecan topping
Butter- use unsalted butter for this pecan topping recipe.
Brown sugar- adds a nice texture and a rich flavor to the topping. I used light brown sugar, but dark brown sugar will work great as well.
Heavy cream- make sure that your heavy cream is at room temperature.
Pecans- we used whole pecans for the topping, you can slice them in half or chop them as well.
Instructions
Make the pecan topping
Into a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and add the brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and kosher salt, and mix constantly.
Add the heavy cream and mix until well combined. Let the mixture simmer over medium heat.
Add the pecans and cook for another 1-2 minutes until the mixture is thickened. Set aside to cool.
Prepare a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper, and preheat an oven to 180c (350f).
Make the crust: pulse graham crackers in a food processor until fine crumbs form. If you don’t have a food processor on hand, place the crackers in a Ziplock bag and smash the crackers with a cup until fine crumbs form.
Into a small to medium mixing bowl, add the graham crackers crumbs, cinnamon, and brown sugar.
Add the melted butter. Mix with a spoon until the crumbs are coated with butter.
Transfer the crumbs into a prepared 9-inch cake pan, pressing evenly and firmly into the pan.
Bake the crust in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 5-8 minutes. Keep an eye on the crust and make sure it doesn’t burn. Take the crust out of the oven and let it cool to room temperature.
Lower the temperature to 140c (280f). In a big mixing bowl, add the room temperature cream cheese, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla extract and mix with an electric hand mixer until the cream cheese is creamy.
Add the sour cream and mix well.
Whisk the eggs with a fork, add them to the cream cheese batter, and mix until the mixture is creamy and smooth.
Sift the cornstarch into the mixture and mix until combined and there are no lumps of cornstarch showing.
Pour the cheesecake batter over the crust, and release air bubbles by gently tapping the pan onto a flat surface.
Bake the cheesecake in a 140c (280f) preheated oven for about an hour or until the edges of the cheesecake are set, but the middle is a bit jiggly.
Open the oven door halfway, and let the cheesecake cool to room temperature for 1-2 hours.
After the cheesecake is cooled, wrap the cheesecake with plastic wrap tightly, and place the cheesecake in the fridge to cool completely for at least 5 hours.
Run a thin knife around the edges of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Carefully release the springform.
Top the cheesecake with the pecan topping and spread it evenly with a spoon.
Expert Tips
- Make sure that you are using room-temperature cream cheese in this recipe, this step makes it easier to mix the cream cheese with no unnecessary lumps, we don’t want that.
- Use a springform tin. We use springform tins for all of our cheesecake recipes. This makes sure that your cake will be easy to release from the pan.
- Use high-fat cream cheese or the well-known Philadelphia cream cheese. Using full-fat cream cheese ensures that your cheesecake will be stable and will not crack.
- Let your cheesecake cool in the fridge for at least 5 hours. We know it’s very hard to resist eating this delicious cheesecake right away, but you have to let the cheesecake cool and set it in the pan. We like to let the cheesecake sit in the fridge overnight.
- For a smooth and creamy cheesecake, make sure that you are using room-temperature ingredients. Before you begin to make this cheesecake, make sure that your cream cheese is completely soft, and that your eggs are at room temperature.
- Don’t overbeat the mixture! It's really easy to overbeat the mixture, and that is one of the most common mistakes. To avoid overbeating your mixture, make sure that you lower the speed of the hand mixer and add each egg at a time.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl frequently to ensure that you have a homogeneous mixture that has no cream cheese lumps.
- Don't open the oven door before the cake is fully baked or about to be baked! Drastic changes in the temperature of the cake while baking can cause the cake to collapse or crack.
Faq's
Overbaking cheesecake is a common mistake that causes the cheesecake to crack or even burn.
You will know that your cheesecake is done baking when you see that the edges of the cheesecake are set, but the middle is a bit jiggly. The middle of the cake will be set in the cooling process.
Cutting cheesecake, the right way is essential. To get even and clean cheesecake slices, make sure that you are using a serrated knife.
Our favorite way to cut cheesecake and cakes is by dipping a long knife into hot water, once the knife warms up, wipe off the excess water, and slice the cake. Dip and wipe the knife between every slice.
This cheesecake will last up to 5 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
We made this cheesecake in a 9-inch springform pan, 8-inch will work great as well!
Storing
Store this cheesecake in the fridge (because it contains dairy) covered tightly with plastic wrap for up to 5 days.
Freezing
This cheesecake freezes great! to freeze this cheesecake, bake it according to the instructions, then cool it according to the instructions in the fridge.
When the cake is completely cooled, you can freeze the cake covered in a few layers of plastic wrap or foil. This cheesecake will freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw, place the cheesecake in the fridge overnight.
Substitutions
Gluten-free- This recipe is really easy to turn gluten-free, simply replace the graham crackers with gluten-free graham crackers, or with gluten-free digestive biscuits. Also, replace the flour with cornstarch.
Digestive biscuits- People outside of America usually don’t have graham crackers. Don’t worry! You can use tea biscuits, vanilla wafers, and digestive biscuits.
Variations
Gingersnap- use gingersnap cookies for the crust instead of regular graham crackers!
Vanilla bean- add the inside of the vanilla bean and add it to the cheesecake mixture instead of the vanilla extract. Or use a vanilla bean extract.
Equipment
- You will need a 9-inch springform pan for this cheesecake. I love this set from Amazon.
- You will also need a food processor to make the crust (if you are not using a store-bought crust).
- I also recommend using an electric hand mixer to make sure your cheesecake mixture is smooth and perfect. You can also use a stand mixer for this with a balloon attachment.
More pecan recipes
Pecan banana bread- This extra moist pecan banana bread is made with brown butter, mashed bananas, chopped pecans, and greek yogurt which makes this bread super soft and fluffy.
Pecan upside down cake- This pecan upside down cake is made with a moist and simple vanilla cake and topped with an easy caramel pecan topping.
Butter pecan chocolate chip cookies- These brown butter pecan chocolate chip cookies are made with toasted chopped pecans, brown butter, and chocolate chunks, and topped with flakey salt and a big pecan for decoration!
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📖 Recipe
Caramel Pecan Cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 cups Graham crackers
- 1 tablespoon Brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
- 90 g Butter melted
Filling
- 720 g Cream cheese softened
- 1 ¼ cups Granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 160 g Sour cream
- 3 Eggs
- 3 tablespoon Cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
Pecan topping
- 115 g Butter
- ½ cup Brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ¾ teaspoon Cinnamon
- ½ cup Heavy cream
- 1 ½ cups Pecans
Instructions
Make the pecan topping
- Into a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and add the brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and kosher salt, and mix constantly.
- Add the heavy cream and mix until well combined. Let the mixture simmer over medium heat.
- Add the pecans and cook for another 1-2 minutes until the mixture is thickened. Set aside to cool.
Make the crust
- Prepare a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper, and preheat an oven to 180c (350f).
- Pulse graham crackers in a food processor until fine crumbs form. If you don’t have a food processor on hand, place the crackers in a Ziplock bag and smash the crackers with a cup until fine crumbs form.
- Into a small to medium mixing bowl, add the graham crackers crumbs, cinnamon, and brown sugar.
- Add the melted butter. Mix with a spoon until the crumbs are coated with butter.
- Transfer the crumbs into a prepared 9-inch cake pan, pressing evenly and firmly into the pan.
- Bake the crust in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 5-8 minutes. Keep an eye on the crust and make sure it doesn’t burn. Take the crust out of the oven and let it cool to room temperature.
Make the cheesecake filling
- Lower the temperature to 140c (280f). In a big mixing bowl, add the room temperature cream cheese, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla extract and mix with an electric hand mixer until the cream cheese is creamy.
- Add the sour cream and mix well.
- Whisk the eggs with a fork, add them to the cream cheese batter, and mix until the mixture is creamy and smooth.
- Sift the cornstarch into the mixture and mix until combined and there are no lumps of cornstarch showing.
- Pour the cheesecake batter over the crust, and release air bubbles by gently tapping the pan onto a flat surface.
- Bake the cheesecake in a 140c (280f) preheated oven for about an hour or until the edges of the cheesecake are set, but the middle is a bit jiggly.
- Open the oven door halfway, and let the cheesecake cool to room temperature for 1-2 hours.
- After the cheesecake is cooled, wrap the cheesecake with a plastic wrap tightly, and place the cheesecake in the fridge to cool completely for at least 5 hours.
- Run a thin knife around the edges of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Carefully release the springform.
- Top the cheesecake with the pecan topping and spread it evenly with a spoon.
Notes
- Make sure that you are using room-temperature cream cheese in this recipe, this step makes it easier to mix the cream cheese with no unnecessary lumps, we don’t want that.
- Use a springform tin. We use springform tins for all of our cheesecake recipes. This makes sure that your cake will be easy to release from the pan.
- Use high-fat cream cheese or the well-known Philadelphia cream cheese. Using full-fat cream cheese ensures you that your cheesecake will be stable and will not crack.
- Let your cheesecake cool in the fridge for at least 5 hours. We know it’s very hard to resist eating this delicious cheesecake right away, but you have to let the cheesecake cool and set it in the pan. We like to let the cheesecake sit in the fridge overnight.
- For a smooth and creamy cheesecake, make sure that you are using room-temperature ingredients. Before you begin to make this cheesecake, make sure that your cream cheese is completely soft, and that your eggs are at room temperature.
- Don’t overbeat the mixture! It's really easy to overbeat the mixture, and that is one of the most common mistakes. To avoid overbeating your mixture, make sure that you lower the speed of the hand mixer and add each egg at a time.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl frequently to ensure that you have a homogeneous mixture that has no cream cheese lumps.
- Don't open the oven door before the cake is fully baked or about to be baked! Drastic changes in the temperature of the cake while baking can cause the cake to collapse or crack.
Marlien says
My extended family absolutely loved it. Apparently the creamiest cheesecake ever. They have already asked for it again. Hit everyones
5 star list.