Pecan Pie Caramel Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust:

3 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Filling:

3-8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened

2 large eggs

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Topping:

1 1/2 cups toasted pecan halves

2 cups good quality caramel sauce (homemade would be best )

Directions:

Crust:

1-Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 

2-In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients for the crust until moist.

3-Press into a 10 inch spring form pan and set aside.

Filling:

1-In a stand mixer, whip cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. 

2-With mixer on low, stir in vanilla and eggs, one at a time. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl and stir again. 

3-Whip in flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Scrape sides and stir again if necessary. 

4-Pour filling into prepared crust and smooth the top. 

5-Bake for 40-45 minutes until cheesecake is set and hardly jiggles, if at all, when moved. Remove from oven and cool completely to room temperature.

Topping:

1-Arrange pecan halves over top entire cheesecake in concentric circles. 

2-Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve. 

3-Once ready to serve, run a knife around edges of cheesecake and remove sides of spring form pan. 

To serve you can either drizzle 1 cup of caramel syrup over entire cheesecake and cut (with extra syrup to serve along with) or cut first and drizzle individual pieces.

Side note: I prefer to warm my caramel syrup to have a delicious contrast of hot and cold for this dessert.