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Holiday Cheesecake Recipe

Holiday Cheesecake Recipe photo by Taste of Home

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Make Christmas dazzle with this show-stopping cheesecake from the experts at our Taste of Home Cooking School. Each slice is overloaded with fun, festive candy toppings.

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Holiday Cheesecake Recipe

Prep: 30 min. Bake: 1-1/2 hours + chilling

Yield: 16 Servings

30 90 120

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted
FILLING:
4 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup (6 ounces) miniature semisweet chocolate chips
TOPPING:
2 cups (16 ounces) sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
Assorted candies

Directions

Place an ungreased 9-in. springform pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 18 in. square). Securely wrap foil around pan.
In a small bowl, combine the cracker crumbs, pecans and brown sugar; stir in butter. Press onto bottom and 1-1/2 in. up the sides of prepared pan. Place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 5 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour into crust. Place in a larger baking pan; add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan.
Bake at 325° for 1-1/2 hours or until center is just set and top appears dull. In a small bowl, combine sour cream and sugar until smooth; spoon over hot cheesecake and spread to cover. Bake for 5 minutes longer or until topping is just set.
Remove springform pan from water bath. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight. Remove sides of can. Garnish with candies. Yield: 16 servings.

Originally published as Holiday Cheesecake in Taste of Home Cooking School Collection Winter 2008, p71

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Holiday Cheesecake

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Reviewed on Dec. 29, 2012 by VictoriaElaine

I made this for dessert for Christmas this year & was so impressed! The water bath kept the cheesecake from cracking, something I've never been able to accomplish before, living at a high altitude. However, I will never use M & M's to decorate it again. They melted & "stained" the top of the cheesecake, which I felt made it unattractive. Next time, I will leave the top plain or maybe try some sprinkles. In addition to M & M's, I used gumdrops & peppermint candies to decorate the top, & everyone scraped them off. :(

Reviewed on Dec. 26, 2012 by royalviking

I had never made a cheesecake like this before but felt it was too pretty to pass up for Christmas Day 2012! I felt the Oreo crumbs were the better choice and I stand by that. Goes so well with the chocolate-chip cheesecake. It was worth the effort and I was thrilled that it not only looked like a show-stopper, it tasted like one also! Wasn't too heavy and it was a huge hit. You could use this for any holiday. Purple and yellow for Easter, black and orange for Easter. Pink, white, red for Valentine's Day, etc. I had various candies in red and green and then has 3 mini candy canes crushed. While we pulled off the big candies to eat, the crushed candy cane was yummy with it! Nite: used regular white sugar. Awesome!

Reviewed on Dec. 24, 2012 by Reid Rozzay Dissinger

Add a few more chocolate chips and no peppermints, just m$m's. My main point is this is GREAT for the holidays very good!

Reviewed on Dec. 05, 2012 by Slyfox1

Made this for a holiday party and recieved rave reviews. The only problem I had was getting the crust loose from the sides of the spring form pan. Still looked great and tasted even better. I used red and green mini M & M's, Andes peppermint bark and green, red & choc. semi-sweet choc. chips. Will make it again for my office Christmas party!

Reviewed on Nov. 30, 2012 by sstetzel

Yes, granulated sugar is what you want for this recipe.

Reviewed on Nov. 30, 2012 by Gigi902

I haven't made it yet but would like to this Christmas. I live in Sydney, NS, Canada and am unfamiliar with Imperial Sugar/Dixie Crystals Granulated Sugar. Can I use regualar Granulated Sugar?

Reviewed on Nov. 07, 2012 by Roxyfox

I used only red/green M&Ms. The peppermint was too much

Reviewed on Jan. 19, 2012 by paulette4317

Wonderful! Easy to make, looks awesome!Best ever cheesecake I've made; family wants it again.

Reviewed on Jan. 05, 2011 by Sweet01

Delicious! I made mine with an Oreo crust.

Reviewed on Dec. 25, 2010 by BirdnSav

This was a cinch to make, beautiful to behold and creamy delicious! A centerpiece attention grabber on the Christmas dessert table.

Reviewed on Dec. 18, 2010 by Ashaline

This a great recipe. We have made it for Christmas and everyone just loves it. The only thing is that it seems to get done a lot sooner than the time calls for, so really keep an eye on it!

Reviewed on Dec. 22, 2009 by Laura08

Made this for our Christmas office party. Gorgeous presentation, and very, very good.

Reviewed on Dec. 15, 2009 by mhyamogley

I bake for my son's restaurtant...have made this every year since I found the recipe in Taste of Home Magazine...2008 I believe...It is sooooo festive and tates wonderful....today I used the Hershey's Holiday Bits (red and green tiny balls of semi-sweet choc.) along with some chocolate....It looks sooo pretty as it is being served....have had MANY compliments on it.

Reviewed on Dec. 14, 2009 by hfye

I havent made it yet but will because our family loves cheesecake and use any excues to have it.

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