Christmas Day and Turtle Cheesecake

Christmas Day was so much fun for this grandma! All of my kids were here.

Jaclyn and Lorelei are new BFFs (Best Friends Forever)

Lydia enjoyed being held by anyone as long as she had her pacifier and someone to cuddle with :)

Our sweet girl

Noah slept through it all

We had lots of good food, too, of course, and this was our dessert Turtle Cheesecake. Turtles are probably my favorite candy so I knew I would love cheesecake made from the same ingredients.
I was right!

I adapted the recipe from the inside of a Philadelphia cream cheese package.

Turtle Cheesecake

2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs

6 tablespoons butter, melted

1-14 oz bag of caramel candies*

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup pecan halves

3 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

3 eggs

2 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate*

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Double-wrap with aluminum foil a 9- or 10-inch springform pan.

Mix the crumbs and the butter and press into the bottom and 2 inches up side of a 9-inch springform pan. Place the caramels and milk in a small microwavable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 3 minutes or until caramels are completely melted, stirring after each minute. Pour 1/2 of the caramel mixture into the crust. Refrigerate 10 minutes. Set remaining caramel mixture aside for late use.

Beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add the eggs one at a time until blended. Pour over the caramel mixture in the crust.

**Place your double-wrapped in foil springform pan in a larger pan (such as a roasting pan). Put enough water into the larger pan until the water is halfway up the side of the springform pan.

Place pans in the oven and bake for 1 hour 5 minutes to 1 hour 10 minutes or until center is almost set. Run a knife or spatula around the side of the springform pan to loosen the cake. Remove from the larger pan. Let cool completely and remove the foil and sides of springform pan. Chill in refrigerator at least 4 hours.

Place the pecan halves on the cake in any way desired. With the remaining caramel mixture, drizzle the cake in any decorative way you like. Melt 2 squares of the semi-sweet baking chocolate in a microwavable bowl on HIGH, stirring at least every minute until just until melted. Drizzle over the cake.

*If you don't want to do all the unwrapping of candies and the melting, you could certainly use caramel sauce that is used for ice cream. You could also use a chocolate sauce, too.

**This is how I bake all of my cheesecakes. They come out perfectly just about every time, without cracking.

I'm linking up with Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table and Tasty Tuesday.