This decadent cheesecake with a cookie crust covered with a creamy cheesecake, caramel sauce, chocolate and toasted pecans is much easier to make than it looks. It is so rich, you may want to cut little slices as servings, but be sure to set one aside for
12 oreo chocolate sandwich cookies, about 1 cup finely crushed, gluten free cookies work fine
3 tbl. butter, melted
3/4 cu. caramel sauce
3 -8 oz. packages of cream cheese
3/4 cu. sugar
1 tbl. vanilla
3 eggs
1/4 cu. dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
1/4 cu. chopped pecans, toasted
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Crush the oreo cookies in a large ziploc bag with a rolling pin or pulse them in a food processor. Combine crumbs with melted butter and press the mixture into the bottom of a spring-form pan. Pour 1/2 cup of the caramel sauce over this crust and spread it across the crust lightly with a spatula. Refrigerate this crust for 10 minutes.
Beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low- speed just until each one is blended. Pour this mixture over the refrigerated crust. Place the spring-form pan on a large foil lined baking sheet prior to placing it in the oven.
Bake 65 - 70 minutes, until center is almost set. Run a knife around the edges of the pan while it is still warm. Let cool at room temperature, then refrigerate 4 hours or overnight before removing the sides of the pan.
Once the sides of the pan have been removed, sprinkle the pecans across the top of the cheesecake and then drizzle with the remaining caramel and the melted chocolate. Store remaining cheesecake in the refrigerator.