Double Salted Caramel Cheesecake Recipe

Impressive, decadent, creamy, and irresistible — those are just a few words that describe this double salted caramel cheesecake, a recipe brought to us by developer Katie Rosenhouse. Any cheesecake or caramel lover knows that one bite of such a dessert will conjure up an entire vocabulary's worth of praise, and this recipe is no exception, doubling down on caramel goodness for the perfect sweet treat. "I'm a huge fan of salted caramel, so mixing a homemade version into a cheesecake batter and adding an extra drizzle on top is a total win for me," Rosenhouse tells us, aptly describing where the double caramel comes into play in this recipe.

Cheesecakes are somewhat notorious for being finicky desserts, requiring plenty of time to bake, rest at room temperature, and refrigerate until fully set. This caramel cheesecake recipe is undeniably a labor of love, but one that your party guests (or your family) will surely appreciate. Rosenhouse notes that this is the type of cheesecake that is tasty year-round, though something about the Biscoff crust and caramel-infused nature of the dessert does make it particularly well-suited for fall months: "It's sure to be a hit at Thanksgiving gatherings or dressed up with candy for a Halloween party."

Before diving into the cheesecake itself, you'll need to make the caramel, a process that requires granulated sugar, corn syrup, kosher salt, heavy cream, and unsalted butter. For the cheesecake crust, you'll need Biscoff cookies, more salt, and more unsalted butter (melted). Optionally, you can add a little bit of cinnamon to your crust, too.

As for the cheesecake, ingredients include softened cream cheese, light brown sugar (or granulated), sour cream, room-temperature eggs, cornstarch, and vanilla extract. Finally, for all of the optional garnishes, you'll need heavy cream, powdered sugar, toasted pecan halves, and flaky sea salt to play up the salted caramel aspect of the dessert.

To prepare the caramel: In a medium pot, stir to combine ½ cup water, sugar, corn syrup, and salt.

Cook over medium heat until the mixture reaches a deep golden brown (do not stir).

Remove from the heat. Slowly add heavy cream and stir to combine.

Stir in the butter and set aside to cool.

Transfer ½ cup of caramel to a separate bowl and set aside. Set aside the pot of remaining caramel to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

To prepare the crust: In a food processor, combine Biscoff cookies, salt, and optional cinnamon, if desired.

Grind to fine crumbs.

Add the melted butter and process to combine.

Spray to coat a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray, and place over a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Pour the crumbs into the pan and use a small measuring cup to press to coat the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of the pan.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until fragrant and crisp. Set aside to cool slightly.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 F.

To prepare the cheesecake filling: In a clean food processor bowl, process the cream cheese, sugar, and sour cream until combined.

Add 1 egg and process until smooth.

Add the remaining eggs, vanilla, and cornstarch, and process until smooth.

Remove the bowl from the processor and stir in the cooled caramel from the pot until no streaks remain visible.

Pour into the prepared crust.

Bake for about 90 minutes until only slightly jiggly in the center.

Let cool on a wire rack to room temperature, about 1 hour, then wrap and refrigerate for at least four hours or overnight.

Prepare optional toppings: Whip heavy cream and powdered sugar to medium peaks. Spread the over the center of the cooled cheesecake and sprinkle the edges with pecans and sea salt, if desired.

Slice and drizzle with the remaining ½ cup caramel before serving.

As we've already mentioned, cheesecake can be a mistake-prone dessert, one that requires patience, adequate preparation (make sure that those ingredients that are meant to be room temp truly are), and a bit of finesse in the kitchen. Luckily, Rosenhouse has shared a few tips, tricks, and secrets to ensure not just okay or average cheesecake, but nearly perfect cheesecake every time. 

Rosenhouse's first tip involves the crust, and more specifically, not skipping the step where you bake the crust before baking the cheesecake as a whole. If you skip this step, the crust won't firm up as it should, and instead of having a certain crispness to it, it might just end up soggy. Second, Rosenhouse instructs on how to avoid those dreaded cracks in your masterpiece. "To help prevent cracks, cool your cheesecake slowly: Run a small knife around the edges to loosen the cheesecake from the pan, then let stand at room temperature for at least an hour before chilling," she advises. Though it may be tempting to rush the cooling process and transfer the cheesecake to the fridge shortly after it leaves the oven, this will hinder your chances at a picture-perfect cheesecake (though, if you do end up with a few cracks, it's nothing that a little bit of whipped cream can't cover).

This double salted caramel cheesecake is already pretty decked-out as is, with caramel both in the cheesecake itself and as garnish, whipped cream on top, and even toasted pecans for a little crunch. That said, there are still ways you can switch up this cheesecake should you want to make it even more decadent, fall-forward, or you simply need to make a swap because perhaps you don't have Biscoff cookies on hand. "Feel free to substitute the Biscoff cookies with any cookie crumbs you prefer in an equal quantity, including graham cracker, Oreo, or vanilla shortbread cookie crumbs, crushed pretzels, and more," Rosenhouse suggests. Graham crackers would be classic, though Oreos would help add a chocolatey dimension to your caramel cheesecake, should that be something you're after.

As for making the cheesecake more fall-forward, Rosenhouse suggests using pumpkin pie spice, which will add several layers of warming flavors to your dessert with the mere flick of a wrist. Finally, for those who enjoy the idea of a chocolate-caramel concoction, you could add a final drizzle of dark chocolate on top of the cheesecake, either in addition to or in lieu of the caramel drizzle.