butterfinger caramel cheesecake
This Butterfinger Caramel Cheesecake is the stuff of my childhood memory vault.
I don’t know from where she got the recipe or why it was a repetitive guest in our refrigerator, but mom quite often whipped up a butterfinger cheesecake as a decadent treat for no particular reason. My sister especially snarfed it down. I think I was fairly ambivalent about the butterfinger-ness overall despite my raging omniscient sweet tooth, but for some reason it kept occurring to me recently and I decided I needed to give in to my misplaced craving and just make one.
This cheesecake is grand. It is a party, no, a ball, a white tie event. Vanilla cheesecake stuffed with crumbled Butterfinger candies, snuggled atop a chocolate graham base, a luscious curtain of peanut butter caramel to finish off the course.
Dedicate the weekend to this spectacle, I promise it’s worth the time and nailbiting cheesecakes require. If it cracks, the caramel fills in the spaces quite well, but I offer a few bits of advice to prevent this from happening.
Prelude: you must be patient.
Tips for cheesecake success
1. Room temperature everything. Eggs, cream cheese, yogurt, heavy cream, all need to be room temperature before starting. The ease of mixing offered by softer dairy and looser eggs prevents the addition of too much air into the batter, the bubbles of which end up popping as the cheesecake bakes and creating the dreaded San Andreas Fault. A few hours at least, but even the night before isn’t a bad idea if you intend to start your adventure at the crack o dawn.
2. Beat on a low speed. A hand or stand mixer is absolutely necessary for cheesecake, and a low speed setting the name of the game. Whipping anything too quickly in the batter introduces air, which, as said above, causes cheese-quakes and crevices and all that crap we’re trying to avoid here.
3. Water bath. The steam from the hot water creates an even rise in the cheesecake and helps regulate temperature, so no part of the concoction bakes too quickly.
4. Low and slow. 300 degree oven temperature, and then a rest period in a cooling oven with the door shut. Even temperature baking, once again. Restrain yourself from checking the cheesecake doneness over and over again. Shots of cold air suddenly wafting into your oven cause, you guessed it, cracks. It is okay to check after the first hour of baking, even necessary, to ensure your oven hasn’t fudged up and underbaked your beautiful sphere of creamy peanut butter godliness.
5. Cool completely before refrigerating. Condensation = cracks = bad. At least six hours is necessary to let the cheesecake firm up, but I’d say overnight is far better and, if you can resist the temptress that is butterfingers, let it chill while you sleep.
The method of cheesecake is finicky, and the time involved certainly requires pre-planning, so I won’t dub this an “omg super easy recipe only takes 24 hours to complete!” If you’re like me, it might be easier to write out the timing of all the steps, which lucky for you I’ve done in the printable card below! As long as nothing is rushed, and patience is practiced, the cheesecake will turn out beautifully.
If you do everything right and the sucker still cracks? Well, thankfully, there’s peanut butter caramel to use as a shield over the evidence.
Tip: this cheesecake is stunning with a mug of coffee, particularly if you take your bean with minimal fuss. I use a touch of oat milk to remove some of the brew’s bitterness, and J drinks his black – both varieties pair with a decadent slice of Caramel Butterfinger Cheesecake like a dream.
Tried this recipe out? Leave a comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you’ve made!
Take a coffee break with these sweet treats!
White Chocolate Glaze Lavender Coconut Scones
Marbled Funfetti Cake with Bourbon Vanilla Buttercream + Birthday Cake Ice Cream
Swirled Blueberry Lemon Coffee Cake with Gingered Streusel
Chocolate Velvet Cheesecake Swirl Cake with Fudgy Buttercream
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups chocolate graham crackers (8 full sheets)
- 10 tbsp melted butter
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 3 packages cream cheese
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2/3 cup whole milk Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 4 eggs
- 3 Butterfinger candy bars, chopped, plus one more chopped for topping
peanut butter caramel
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Several hours before you intend to start the cheesecake, pull out the cream cheese, yogurt, heavy cream, and eggs and set on the counter to come to room temperature. You do not want cold ingredients, as they will be harder to whip and may cause big cracks in the finished product.
- When ready to start the cheesecake bonanza, position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Cut a circle out of parchment paper large enough to fit snugly against the bottom of a springform pan. I used a 10-inch springform, but you can likely get away with a 9-inch variety. Spray or rub the insides of the pan with butter or oil.
- Chop up the chocolate grahams in a food processor until they become a fine meal. Dump into a bowl and mix in melted butter and brown sugar. The mixture should be cohesive, but does not need to be doughy.
- Pour the graham mixture into the springform and press evenly along the bottom and up the side walls. The grahams should ride up about 1- i1 1/2 inches. It does not have to be perfect, but the more even, the better. To create a firm crust, press the grahams with the bottom of a lightly greased measuring cup.
- Once the crust is formed, bake for 10 minutes. Set on the counter to cool. Once you can handle the pan, wrap the outside in aluminum foil that reaches about 2 inches up the side walls. This will prevent the water bath from leaking into the pan and harming the cheesecake.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees.
- You will need hot water for the water bath. I used my electric kettle for this, so I skipped this step until right before I was ready to bake the cheesecake. If you need to use the stovetop, however, start the water now. You will need enough water to rise up about 2 inches from the bottom of the springform. Boil more than you think you will need. I'd recommend 2 quarts, but do 3 if you're paranoid like I am.
- Prepare the filling. With a hand mixer or stand mixer, whip the cream cheese and sugar on LOW SPEED until well combined. Low speed prevents too much air from being introduced and reduces the chance of cracks.
- Next, whip in the Greek yogurt, cream, and vanilla.
- Add eggs one at a time and blitz until fully incorporated before adding the next. With a rubber spatula, fold in the chopped Butterfinger candies.
- Pour the batter into the springform pan and spread evenly with a spatula. Tap a couple times on the counter to remove any air bubbles.
- Set the springform pan, wrapped in foil, into a large baking pan. Fill the pan with enough hot water to rise about 2 inches from the bottom of the springform.
- Bake cheesecake for 1 hour. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR until the hour has elapsed. At that point, you can give the springform a little wiggle and tap the surface of the cheesecake. The center should be jiggly, but your finger shouldn't sink into the batter. If this is the texture you see, you're free to move forward!
- Shut off the oven and let the cheesecake continue to bake in the cooling oven for another 1 hour. Once done, remove springform from the water bath and carefully remove the foil. Set the pan on a wire rack to cool completely. The pan should not be warm at all when you touch it.
- Wrap the pan in foil to cover and set in the fridge for at least 6 hours, but preferably overnight.
- Next, prepare the peanut butter caramel sauce. Melt the peanut butter, brown sugar, and whipping cream in a small saucepot over medium low heat, stirring frequently, until sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to bubble. Remove from heat and let cool about 10 minutes.
- Remove the cheesecake from the fridge and pour the caramel sauce evenly overtop. I kept the sides of the springform attached so the caramel didn't drip and make a big mess, but you can take it off if you wish. Chop up another butterfinger bar and sprinkle on the sauce.
- Congratulations! You've baked a cheesecake! Cut that ish up and eat it with joy.
