Amazing Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake

I mentioned yesterday that we are going camping for spring break tomorrow. I should be cleaning and packing the trailer. I should be making muffins, cookies, salad, and Bajio chicken to take on the trip. I will get to all of it. But first, I have to share an amazing cheesecake recipe with you. I found it over at Sunday Baker. It is truly phenomenal. I drool just remembering how good it was.

I made it for a bunch of ladies at my scrappin’ weekend last month. Every one of them raved. It was better than any bakery cheesecake I’ve ever tasted. I felt like I was at the Cheesecake Factory.

The only thing I changed is that I thought the original recipe had too much chocolate batter. I felt it overshadowed the caramel flavor, so I revised the recipe to use half. The changes are already in the recipe below. It is a good thing I had to take this to my scrappin weekend or I might have been tempted to hide it for my kids and consume the entire thing over the course of a week. It is scary yummy!

Crust:

1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 12 full crackers)

1/3 cup melted butter

Filling:

3 (8 oz) pkgs cream cheese, room temp. (I used light)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 Tbsp vanilla

3 Tbsp lime juice

3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, melted

Topping:

1/2 cup pecans

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Caramel sauce

Whipped cream

For crust, combine crumbs and butter. Press into a greased 9″ springform pan, pressing up the sides.

For the filling: Beat cream cheese and milk till smooth. Lightly beat in sugar, eggs, vanilla, and lime juice till blended. Melt the 3/4 cup of chocolate chips and cool slightly. Stir in about 1 cup of the cheesecake batter till well combined. Pour the plain batter into the crust. Drop spoonfuls of the chocolate batter randomly over the plain batter. Swirl with the handle of a wooden spoon. Bake in a 350° oven for 70-75 minutes. Cool completely, then chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Before serving, sprinkle chocolate chips and pecans over the top and drizzle with caramel sauce. Decorate with whipped cream if desired. Serve additional caramel sauce with individual slices.