Snickers Cheesecake

Snickers Cheesecake – An incredibly creamy cheesecake loaded with chopped Snickers bars and topped with rich chocolate ganache. It’s the best way to use up leftover candy from Halloween, Valentine’s Day, or Easter!

In July, for my one-year anniversary, I reached out to you guys for recipes that you want to see in year two. You guys had some incredible ideas, but one really stood out to me: cheesecake!

I have not made a cheesecake in YEARS. I made these cheesecake bars last fall but not a full, traditional cheesecake.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I don’t make a whole lot of full cakes or pies. I am much bigger fan of making bars or bites or cupcakes.

There are two reasons for this: (1) they are so much easier to make and (2) they’re much more fun to serve a crowd. I loath the first cut of any pie or cake because it never comes out perfectly. So I just cut out that fear by making the food into rectangular or square shapes.

Which reminds me…stay tuned for a slab pie. It only seems right for me to feature one so I’ll try to get one to you this fall/winter.

Okay, back to the cheesecake.

When you all requested a cheesecake, I just new I had to get one on the blog. The holidays are coming up so I knew a cheesecake would be the perfect treat to serve at Thanksgiving or Christmas.

And with Halloween just around the corner, too, I wanted to feature a cheesecake that you can make with all that leftover candy.

Behold…the Snickers Cheesecake!

I picked this cheesecake flavor for multiple reasons. First, I love desserts that are gooey, creamy, and crunchy all at once. This explains my love of ice cream sundaes and this cobbler.

Second, like I said above, I wanted a dessert you could make with leftover Halloween candy. You can only eat so much of it, especially if you have multiple kids with huge bags of the stuff. I know this says Snickers Cheesecake, but you can make it with any chocolate candy bar: Milky Way, Twix, Reese’s, you name it!

And finally, I wanted a cheesecake that was ultra-decadent. I am obsessed with the cheesecakes at Cheesecake Factory (helloooo Adam’s Peanut Butter Fudge Ripple!). So this cheesecake had to be almost as decadent as those cheesecakes.

I actually have a favorite dainty cheesecake that is simply vanilla but with a special kick. It’s incredible! Maybe I’ll share that one with you guys one day…

I don’t have to tell you that this cheesecake was one of the creamiest that I’ve ever had. You can see the creaminess right in the photos. Yummm!

So how exactly does this recipe work? It’s sooooo easy. I was shocked at how easy it was. Cheesecakes (and cakes) get a bad rap for being intimidating. But don’t be afraid of this cheesecake – it’s so simple!

First, you make the Oreo crust but crushing an ENTIRE package of Oreo cookies. I told you this cheesecake was decadent!

Then you mix the crushed Oreos with butter and press into the bottom of a springform pan. Don’t forget to push up the edges! I missed this step so I got a super thick crust on the bottom, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, except it makes the cheesecake hard to cut when it’s chilled.

While the crust is baking, you make the filling by beating together the ingredients and folding in the chopped Snickers. I love that this recipe uses light brown sugar. It adds an extra depth of flavor to the cheesecake and a gorgeous golden color to the batter.

Cheesecake always takes forever to bake, so make sure to give yourself enough time to make it. It took about 1 hour 15 minutes in my oven. You’ll know it’s ready when only a small bit in the center is jiggly. I also checked the temperature in the center to make sure it was 150 degrees before taking it out of the oven.

Okay, it’s time for me to confess something but I know it will help you guys so that makes me feel better about it…

When I pulled my cheesecake out of the oven it looked perfect – and I didn’t even need a water bath to get it that way!

But I forgot that my springform pan was slightly warped so when my cheesecake cooled, the bottom fell and the cheesecake cracked right down the middle. Not a small crack. Nope, it was a like an earthquake occurred right underneath it!

But, to my surprise, I didn’t freak out! I knew that I’d be adding chocolate ganache and chopped Snickers on top, so no one would have any idea that the cheesecake cracked.

Did you have any idea it was cracked before I told you???

Here are a few more tips to help you make this cheesecake perfectly:

1. You really need to crush these cookies in a food processor. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to get a fine crumb from crushing the cookies myself with a rolling pin. But if you don’t want to buy a food processor just for this (I don’t blame you!), you can use store-bought Oreo crumbs. You’ll need 3 cups for this recipe.
2. Do not use a springform pan smaller than 9 1/2 inches. My cheesecake rose about 1 inch from the top. So, if I had used a smaller pan, the cheesecake would have overflowed.
3. Make sure your cheesecake ingredients are room temperature. Cream cheese does not like to mix with liquid. But it’s much easier when the cream cheese isn’t ice cold.
4. The butter in the crust leaks a little so make sure to bake this cheese cake on top of a baking sheet to catch all the extra butter.
5. You must chill the cheesecake completely before adding the topping. I kept mine in the fridge overnight, just to make sure.
6. Before placing the cheesecake in the fridge, let it cool on the counter for 1 hour. Otherwise you will shock the cheesecake AND you will end up bringing up the temperature in your fridge so all your cold goodies in there will suffer.
7. To make ganache, you have to leave the hot cream on the chocolate chips for at least 7 minutes before whisking together. This ensures an ultra-creamy ganache that is not grainy at all.

That’s all there is to it! How excited are you to try this cheesecake out now? It’s so worth the calories and the effort and the wait. Trust me.

See you on Friday for the next recipe installment for Hispanic Heritage Month with Kroger!

Here are all the kitchen tools and serveware that I used in today’s recipe. For each item sold below, I make a small commission. I only recommend items that I own and love so you can trust that each recommendation is tried and true. Thank you for supporting CPA!

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More treats you’ll love:

Ultimate Brownie Sundae Pie

Nutella Crunch Cupcakes

Irish Cream Tres Leches

Chocolate Pecan Pie Cheesecake Bars