Take 5 Cheesecake

This rich cheesecake has a pretzel crust, a caramel sauce topping (and drizzle), and a chocolate peanut butter ganache topping!

I am so excited to finally get around to sharing this recipe (although I'm a few days late actually getting it up like I was supposed to. Sunday Sarah here backdating to Friday - whoops! This is the cake that I made for my sister-in-law's birthday in February 2020. She asked for a cheesecake and said her favorite candy bars were Take 5s. I had never heard of them or had one before, but I was able to find out that they are chocolate with pretzel, caramel, and peanut butter. I mean what's not to love?! So I adapted a Twix cheesecake recipe and replaced the graham crust for pretzel crust and added peanut butter to the ganache. This is definitely really high up there on favorite cheesecakes of all time list. It was SO good.

German Chocolate Cheesecake

Luscious chocolate cheesecake with layers of coconut pecan on an Oreo crust

This cheesecake was my daughter's choice for her birthday cake in 2020. In true 2020 fashion, my oven broke when this was in the oven baking. I did not know until we went to eat it and mostly the center had some not fully cooked parts. The cooked parts were fantastic but that is why there are no pictures of this cheesecake sliced. So we think the heating elements went out towards the end of the initial baking time. I loved the coconut pecan topping/filling. That's easily the best part!

Butterfinger Cheesecake

This peanut butter cheesecake has an Oreo crust, chocolate ganache, and peanut butter whipped cream - and lots of Butterfingers!

I'm unsure why I don't make more Butterfinger desserts. I think they always end up on my favorites list. I wouldn't even consider Butterfingers my favorite candy bar (not even in my top 5), but Butterfinger desserts are always the best! I made this cheesecake for my brother-in-law's birthday. This particular cheesecake has a chocolate crust and a peanut butter base and is topped with chocolate ganache, peanut butter whipped cream, and tons of Butterfingers.

Layered Pumpkin Pie Toffee Cheesecake

 It's Pumpkin Time, Y'all! And that means delicious treats like this cheesecake that's topped with a layer of pumpkin pie!

Y'all. I don't think I could be any more in love with a cheesecake recipe than I am with this one. It's got pumpkin pie. A literal layer of pumpkin pie, but it's also cheesecake. It's my favorite. I don't like pie crust, but I do love pumpkin pie (I usually just don't eat the outside rim of crust). But this is the best of both worlds because there is graham cracker crust - yum! - and cheesecake - another yum! - AND PUMPKIN PIE. Oh and throw some toffee on that too. Also, it's my 32nd birthday today and if I wasn't having a carrot cake cheesecake, I'd definitely have this cheesecake for my birthday cake.

Banana Pudding Cheesecake Blondies

One of the best crusts on a dessert I've ever eaten and topped with a fluffy smooth no-bake cheesecake, these Blondies will rock your socks off!

I absolutely love this recipe because of the crust - and you will not often hear that from me. I don't care for pie much because the crust is meh. But this crust...guys. It's very reminiscent of banana bread. I mean I would make just the crust and eat it alone. I did like the banana pudding flavored no-bake cheesecake layer too though. It's altogether such a great recipe. Easily a favorite.

Butterscotch Cheesecake

This lovely butterscotch dessert is made with pudding and has a touch of chocolate!

We've arrived at my husband's birthday cake for 2019 which I chose because he loves butterscotch. He also got butterscotch cake this year for his birthday too - I'll post it eventually. We do enjoy a good cheesecake every once in a while. I thought this was such a great recipe and I haven't had many cheesecake recipes that use pudding mix. Definitely worth a try! I added chocolate chips into the mix and it was a good addition.

Buckeye Cheesecake Cake

What's better than chocolate cake? Chocolate cake with peanut butter cheesecake in the middle smothered in peanut butter frosting, chocolate ganache, and Buckeye candies!

I love seeing what cakes my kids will choose for their birthday cakes. For Matthew's 12th birthday last year, he chose this Buckeye Cheesecake Cake. I was a little surprised because of the cheesecake part, but that's what he wanted and that's what I made. The chocolate cake was fabulous - one of my favorites I've made. The combination of the lovely chocolate cake with the peanut butter cheesecake and frosting was fantastic. I personally found Buckeye candies at our local Cracker Barrel - you can also make a batch and freeze extras. They are sometimes also called peanut butter balls.

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

This delicious cheesecake dessert is so beautiful that it's hard to believe it's so easy to make!

One of my favorite things about having a large family is the amount of birthdays we get to celebrate, which means we get to eat lots of cake. I'm always so happy to make someone's birthday cake if they want and my sister-in-law requested raspberry cheesecake last year for her birthday cake and trusted me to find a good recipe. I usually am successful and this raspberry cheesecake was definitely perfect! It's simple yet rich and way too delicious for how simple it is. The raspberry sauce really truly makes this dessert and the way you make the hearts on top makes for such a beautiful cheesecake and again - SO simple!

Banana Pudding Cheesecake

Two already amazing desserts on their own get combined to make one supremely delicious, extra fantastic dessert

I'm excited to share this cheesecake with y'all today because it's two desserts in one and those are the best! I have some weird preferences in foods. You will never ever see me eating a banana by itself. I hate the texture a lot. But I adore pretty much any kind of banana food that isn't just a banana by itself. I somehow am okay with small slices of banana, so I love banana pudding! This cheesecake is made with banana pudding mix and you can do fresh bananas on top for serving. I love the bits of vanilla wafers throughout the cheesecake. It's a really easy cheesecake recipe to make and you get banana pudding and cheesecake at the same time, so everyone wins!

Frosted Animal Cookie Cheesecake

This sweet cheesecake is loaded with frosted animal cookies and topped with a ganache, whipped cream, frosted cookies, and sprinkles!

I am already blanking on if this was just for fun or if this was Cami's birthday cake last year. I want to say it was her birthday cake. I'm just gonna say this was her birthday cake. She seems to gravitate towards pink cakes with sprinkles and whipped cream. Her favorite frosting is whipped cream frosting. I have never had a cheesecake crust more delicious than this one with crushed frosted animal cookies. Honestly, what could be better than that?!

Butter Pecan Cheesecake

If you love butter pecan ice cream, this beautiful cheesecake will be right up your alley.

When I was really young, my favorite ice cream was Rocky Road or Cherry Nut. As I got into my preteens, I discovered Pralines & Cream and Butter Pecan, which have remained two of my favorite ice cream flavors into adulthood. I have been making loads of cheesecake lately and I thought this butter pecan cheesecake would be the perfect treat. I ended up serving it topped with some butterscotch caramel sauce and whipped cream (although I have no pictures of that due to losing my pictures in the hard drive crash last summer).

Cranberry Cheesecake Crumb Pie

Take that can of cranberries and make something magnificent with it!

As a child, the only experience I had with cranberries was the canned jellied kind. Now plenty of people enjoy that, but I am not one of those folks. I thought that I just didn't like cranberries, period. End of story. Then as an adult, I decided to try them again, but not in jelly form. I think my first brush with cranberries as an adult was fresh cranberries and I loved them. Fresh cranberries are so perfectly tart. So I am making up for lost time and eating all the cranberry things.

This pie was a good compromise for me because I also don't really care for pie (because of the crust) but Nick does. But it's also partly cheesecake, so that works for me. This is like the perfect mixture of so many delicious things. The cranberries are tart and are lovely paired with the creamy cheesecake and buttery crumble. I can't even with how wonderful this dessert is. Perfect substitute for jellied cranberries, if you don't like it :)

Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake

Layers of cinnamon roll and cheesecake topped with a luscious cream cheese frosting, I won't judge you if it's dessert for breakfast!

Each year, I love to choose my birthday cake out and make it for myself. I know that's weird to someone, but I find it fun because I get what I want and also I love to bake, so it's not a chore to me. For my 29th birthday in 2017, I decided upon a cinnamon roll cheesecake for my birthday cake. During my pregnancy with Matthew, I became obsessed with Cinnabon. There are a great number of times where I have an insatiable craving for cinnamon rolls (homemade, large and in charge cinnamon rolls) but I don't really want to make the effort to actually make them. No matter how much I love them.

This cheesecake was the perfect cake to sate my cravings and also be an absolutely wonderful birthday cake. It has cinnamon roll crust topped with cheesecake swirled with cinnamon roll filling. Then topped with more cinnamon roll and then the pièce de résistance- the CREAM CHEESE FROSTING. Man, I forget how much I love and adore cream cheese frosting until I have it again. So if you have some time on your hands and want to treat yourself...treat yourself to a piece of this incredible breakfast-dessert hybrid. :)

Käsekuchen

This German cheesecake is definitely a dessert you want to try - it's way different than American cheesecake!

I have been trying more and more German cuisine thanks to my German sister-in-law. She asked if I would make käsekuchen (aka cheesecake!) and I was all for it. German cheesecake uses quark which is, from my understanding, somewhere between cottage cheese and cream cheese. I attempted to make her grandmother's recipe but the American substitutes for quark can be finicky. I tried Greek yogurt but it ended up very gritty and it was discouraging. The next time I made it, I tried a new recipe and it suggested ricotta if you couldn't find quark. I was very skeptical but decided to try it and get Chantal's opinion. She said that it was very close to what it should be and that was that. Ricotta is the right substitution for quark and it makes for a delicious German cheesecake.

Funfetti Cheesecake Cake

This amazing cake has a cake bottom, cheesecake middle, and a lovely, fluffy whipped cream topping! And ALL THE SPRINKLES!

My daughter has this obsession with whipped cream frosting nowadays, so when it came time for her to pick her birthday cake (back in February), it was a top priority for her to find the perfect recipe. We stumbled upon this cake which has both cake elements and cheesecake elements...which was also something she was having trouble picking between. Best of both worlds seemed like the right choice. And this cake having whipped cream frosting was like...well....icing on the cake!

As complicated as it may seem, it's actually not too much more work than just making a cheesecake. The sprinkles add so much spunk to the already gorgeous cake. We were able to use some of the special sprinkles Cami had received in an Owlcrate Jr subscription box (it's a middle grade book box!), which is why you see the big pearls and hearts on top. The frosting was everything she wanted and she ended up being so happy with this cake. In turn, this made me super happy because I just want the kids to have the perfect birthdays! :)

Gingerbread Cheesecake

This extraordinary holiday dessert has a gingersnap bottom, a creamy gingerbread and molasses cheesecake base, and is topped with a light and fluffy rum topping.

I'm not sure why, but I've found that lately I've been making cheesecake for holiday desserts. Typically, I am the one who brings dessert for any family function and I just keep latching onto cheesecake for some unknown reason. Last Christmas (yes...2016), I whipped up this gingerbread cheesecake and it was unbelievably amazing. The molasses in it was perfection and I loved the lightly rum flavored whipped topping. Plus the gingersnap bottom  - to die for! It turned out so beautifully and I was so happy with it. It was hard for me to not make it again this year, but alas, too many recipes hoarded to have repeats. But I'm very tempted to make it again and throw all caution to the wind :)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Bars #Choctoberfest

This perfect pairing of two classic desserts in bar form is unbelievably tasty!

I had these yummy bars on my list to make for weekends upon weekends and kept not making them. I do this a lot with breakfast and dessert recipes. I finally got around to making them and I, of course, kick myself for not making them sooner. They are pretty easy and don't take much effort at all. There's a ton of them and they are magical. The chocolate chip cookie portion is exactly what I like my chocolate chip cookies to taste like - chewy, chocolatey, and with a hint of salt. The cheesecake is all that is classic cheesecake flavor. The two together are literally heavenly.

Once again, I'm blown away by how a set of simple recipes combined into one make such an amazing dessert. Be sure to stop by the other recipes below that are part of the #Choctoberfest event. Because chocolate!! :)

Pumpkin Cake Cheesecake

Two desserts in one topped with a luscious cream cheese frosting - pumpkin pie just can't compete!

If you're here, I am going to assume it's because you have seen the title and are in awe that such a thing can exist. When I saw this recipe on Sally's Baking Addiction, I did the same thing. It's such a gorgeous, wonderful dessert. It also isn't nearly as difficult as I had imagined it would be. And it got rave reviews at Thanksgiving. My brother actually asked for me to make it for his birthday in March. :) Basically what you have is a layer of pumpkin cake, a layer of cheesecake, a layer of pumpkin cake, and then another layer of cheesecake. All of that is topped with a cream cheese frosting and pecans.  I honestly have never had anything so amazing in my life.

It is something you will want to make a day before you need it because it does require some cooking, cooling to room temperature, and chilling the refrigerator, but it is SO worth it. You can make your cream cheese frosting the day of baking the cake cheesecake, but will definitely want to wait until it is finished chilling to frost it.

Also in the ingredient list you will find where it says to blot the pumpkin puree to get some of the moisture out. The purpose of getting extra moisture out is so that your cake won't sink and be really flat. The way Sally said to do it was to line a large bowl with a double layer of paper towels, pour your pumpkin in the bowl and then use another paper towel to blot the pumpkin.

And I had to include a picture of what the cake looks like prior to baking. Nothing super pretty and NOT swirled with a knife. Don't do that! :)

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Bars

I made homemade dulce de leche specifically to make these cheesecake bars. Our monthly steering meeting's potluck theme was Mexican and I thought these would be the perfect dessert. It is a labor of love and took a few hours to make all the pieces of the puzzle, but in the end it was completely worth it. These bars are rich, but unbelievable. They turn out in a completely awesome way - you can see all the layers - and it looks so impressive. I, of course, had extras and took them to the company where they were gone in an instant. I think it's almost expected that I come in with some type of food if I visit :)

Girl Scout Week: Mini No-Bake Banana Cheesecakes

My confession of the day: Trefoils are my favorite Girl Scout cookie. I think this makes me in the minority with the old ladies. No one thinks Trefoils are the best!! I think they are the most addictive...they kind of sneak up on you that way!

These cheesecakes were really cute and a fast, easy dessert to make for a crowd. I used banana chips instead of real banana slices because the chips clearly keep better.