Pecan Pie Cheesecake

For years now I have been making a pumpkin cheesecake for feasting day rather than your traditional pumpkin pie, but this year I decided to try something new.  A culinary muse called to me and told me to make a pecan pie cheesecake, but since that muse didn't tell me how to make it, I borrowed one from a site that I frequent.

This cheesecake was phenomenal!  It definitely gave me the festive feel with the rich pecan layer, and you can never go wrong with a cheesecake layer, hehe!  I gave half the cake to my neighbor (who shared an extra pumpkin pie with me for their early Thanksgiving), and they loved it too!  It is going to be an extremely hard tossup deciding whether to go back to pumpkin or not for next year, but I think I'm partial to this one! 

A must try!

Pecan Pie Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 1 ¾  cups vanilla wafer crumbs
• ¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar
• ⅓ cup butter, melted
• Pecan Filling:
• 1 cup sugar
• ⅔ cup dark corn syrup
• ⅓ cup butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 ½ cups chopped pecans
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cheesecake Filling:

• 3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 ¼ cups firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• ⅔ cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

Crust:

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine wafer crumbs and brown sugar. Stir in melted butter. Press into bottom and up sides of a 9″ springform pan. Bake for 6 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Pecan Filling:

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened, about 8-10 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour into crust and set aside.

Cheesecake Filling:

Reduce oven to 325°. With a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat cream cheese at medium speed until creamy. Add brown sugar and flour and beat until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each one. Stir in cream and vanilla. Pour over pecan filling. Bake for 1 hour. Turn off oven and leave cheesecake in oven with the door closed for 1 hour. Remove from oven and run a knife along the outside edges to loosen cheesecake from sides of pan. Let cool. Chill for at least 4 hours before serving.

**Note: I always end up having a mushy crust whenever I try to do a water bath for my cheesecakes - I guess I just don't wrap the pan well enough in foil. This time I had a Pyrex dish filled with very hot water on the bottom rack while the cheesecake baked on the top rack, and I did not have a single crack!

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