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Easy Butter Pecan Cheesecake (+Video)

One of my absolute favorite ice cream flavors turned into the most amazing (and simple!) butter pecan cheesecake. Simply delicious!

A DELICIOUS, CREAMY, BUTTERY CHEESECAKE

One of my favorite ice cream flavors is butter pecan. If you get a really good ice cream that manages to balance out the creaminess of the ice cream with that smooth buttery flavor and crunchy pecans. That is pure heaven right there. So, the other day, when I dug into some Butter Pecan ice cream, I thought, this would probably be an awesome cheesecake flavor. And it was!

slice of Butter Pecan Cheesecake on a white plate.

TIPS FOR MAKING BUTTER PECAN CHEESECAKE

  • Feel free to make your crust from scratch. I have a recipe for it on my Easy Creamy Cheesecake recipe post.
  • It’s really important that your cream cheese is at room temperature and not cold. It will not only mix better at room temperature but it won’t be lumpy when you mix it either. I like to just set my cream cheese out on the counter the night before I make the cheesecake but you can actually soften the blocks (completely unwrapped on a microwave-safe plate) by putting them in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds.
  • Yes, there really is such a thing as butter extract. You can find it in the baking aisle near the vanilla extract. If you can’t find it, just leave it out.
The Best Easy Butter Pecan Cheesecake recipe from The Country Cook, slice, served on a plate, drizzled with caramel and topped with chopped pecans.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)

  • store-bought graham cracker crust – you want to look for the one that says “2 Extra Servings” – see my ingredient photo below. If you don’t get this one, you’ll have leftover batter. You can, of course, make a homemade graham cracker crust if you prefer.
  • cream cheese – it is super important you let your cheese come to room temperature. If you don’t, the cream cheese will end up lumpy and you can beat if forever and the lumps just won’t come out.
  • sour cream – this might seem like an unusual ingredient but you don’t actually taste the sour cream. This just makes it creamy.
  • eggs – if time allows, let your eggs come to room temperature.
  • butter flavor/extract – If you’ve never used this before, you may think it doesn’t exist but I promise it does. You will find it near where all the other extracts are in the baking aisle. If you can’t find it, just leave it out.
  • chopped pecans – it wouldn’t be a butter pecan cheesecake without pecans. I suppose you could use another nut like walnuts or macadamia nuts but I just don’t think you’d get that unique flavor that is butter pecan.
store-bought graham cracker crust (extra 2 servings size), cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, eggs, butter extract, vanilla extract, chopped pecans.

HOW TO MAKE BUTTER PECAN CHEESECAKE:

Preheat oven to 300F. Using a handheld or stand mixer, combine cream cheese with sugar and sour cream until smooth and combined well. 

cream cheese, sour cream and sugar mixed together until creamy in a large clear bowl.

Then mix in beaten eggs along with extracts. If you are using a stand mixer, don’t forget to occasionally scrape down the insides of the bowl so it all gets incorporated well.

beaten eggs, vanilla extract and butter extract added to cream cheese batter in a large bowl.

Mix for about 4 minutes until thick, smooth and creamy. Then stir in pecans by hand.

chopped pecans added to cheesecake batter in large clear bowl.

Pour prepared mixture into graham cracker crust.

cheesecake batter in graham cracker crust (before baking).

Bake (on middle oven rack) for about 65-70 minutes. Top will be puffy and there should just be a slight jiggle still in the center. Allow cheesecake to chill in the refrigerator for several hours before serving.

full baked and cooled, Butter Pecan Cheesecake with crushed pecans sprinkled on top.

Sprinkle the top with a bit of crushed pecans before serving. It will also cover up some of those cracks that may have appeared during baking. To make it a bit more decadent, try drizzling a little caramel sauce on top!

Easy Butter Pecan Cheesecake slice with a bite removed.

CRAVING MORE RECIPES?

Originally published: Feb 2014
Updated & republished: July 2020

Butter Pecan Cheesecake recipe from The Country Cook

Easy Butter Pecan Cheesecake (+Video)

One of my absolute favorite ice cream flavors turned into the most amazing (and simple!) butter pecan cheesecake. Simply delicious!
4.83 from 34 votes
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 6

Ingredients

  • 1 premade graham cracker crust (2 Extra Servings size)
  • 2 (8 ounce) blocks cream cheese, softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons sour cream
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 2 Tablespoons butter flavor/extract
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup chopped pecans
  • crushed pecans, for topping (optional)

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 300F. Using a handheld or stand mixer, combine cream cheese with sugar and sour cream until smooth and combined well.
  • Then mix in beaten eggs along with extracts. Mix for about 4 minutes until thick, smooth and creamy.
  • Then stir in chopped pecans by hand.
  • Pour prepared mixture into graham cracker crust.
  • Bake (on middle oven rack) for about 65-70 minutes. Top will be puffy and there should just be a slight jiggle still in the center.
  • Allow cheesecake to chill in the refrigerator for several hours before serving.
  • Sprinkle the top with a bit of crushed pecans before serving. Drizzle slices with caramel syrup when serving (otional)

Video

YouTube video

Notes

Cream cheese must be at room temperature (totally softened) or it won’t mix well and will cause the batter to be lumpy.
 
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American

Nutrition

Calories: 399kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 19g | Sodium: 160mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 39g

Nutritional Disclaimer

“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.

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44 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    After having a terrific butter pecan cheesecake pie in New Orleans, I knew I needed to find a recipe to recreate it. Eureka! This is it – it’s even better! I followed the recipe with the exception of butter extract which I did not have. I used a store bought crust. (Because I can be a klutz, I take a few extra steps to prevent the foil pie pan from collapsing on me. I set a glass pie pan of similar size on a baking sheet. Then I put the empty foil pan into the glass pie pan. And then, I pour the batter into the store bought crust.) I’ve made this recipe 3x now and always get requests for the recipe. Thanks for a fabulous dessert!

  2. Hi! This looks and sounds amazing – I can’t wait to try it! I have a question though – if using your homemade graham cracker crust recipe, can this particular recipe be made in a springform pan? Thanks!

  3. Little late now but 2 things. 1- i too doubled the recipe to make 2 and it did taste really strong. Hope that’s normal?? 2- they didn’t have the extra size crusts so I just made 4 of the regular sized grahan cracker crust. Wondering if that changed bake time? Not near as thick Id think. ANYONE?????