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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Mix for about 4 minutes until thick, smooth and creamy. Then stir in 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. 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!
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
Originally published: Feb 2014
Updated & republished: July 2020
Easy Butter Pecan Cheesecake (+Video)
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
Notes
Nutrition
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.
Is it possible to use a sugar substitute for this?
Hi Dana! I’ll be honest, I don’t bake with sugar substitutes and I know there are SO many different kinds out there now and they all measure out differently. If you are familiar with baking with sugar substitutes then I would say use your best judgement and give it a try and experiment! 🙂
It was awesome making it for the second time tonight very easy I’m going to toast my pecans this time. And next time I want to try the Banana one Thank’s so much for recipe
Cooking it in a water bath is that good at 300degree for 70 min
This is amazing! We rated it a ten. Family and friends love it.
Awesome and easy! My family loves this
This is absolutely wonderful and easy. I substituted maple flavoring because I had it, wow!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you
Oh my goodness, this looks so good! I can’t wait to give it a try!
Hope you love it Carlee!
I doubled the recipe. Did I mess up by doubling the butter extract?? The batter tastes really strong.
Could you substitute the butter extract with melted butter?
Has anyone tried making as mini cheesecakes?
I would prefer a shortbread crust, but sounds wonderful
I was wondering if this could be made in muffin tins for mini cheesecakes?
That’s a really good idea!
I made this today. Didn’t have the butter extract so I just lightly doubled the vanilla. It is absolutely delicious. Thank you so much.
So glad you were able to make it work for you. This is one of my favorites!!
Just wondering about the crust, since its the premade kind, does it dry out since its in the oven for a long time? Thanks!
Ooh! This looks & sounds truly sinful! YUM!
this is two tablespoons of butter extract? Just want to make sure I'm reading it correctly. Thanks.
I didn't have butter extract (or the will to run to the grocery store), so substituted maple extract and a little more vanilla. With that and my homemade graham/cracker crust, it was still delicious!
I don’t have butter extract what can I use.? Or how much more vanilla can I use to substitute for that?
You can substitute by using a combination of vanilla, butter, and almond extracts.
I just made this pie, thus far step by step it has turned out just like you said, am just waiting for it to chill so we can enjoy! Thank you!
This cheesecake was so delicious!! To the person that asked about the butter extract – the two tbsp. is correct.
Made this exactly to your recipe. It was outstanding!
Theresa, that's a perfectly good question! It's two blocks of cream cheese for a total of 16 ounces. Each block is 8 ounces. I hope that helps and I hope you love it!
After removing from oven do you let it cool before you refrigerate ?
Theresa, use two 8 ounce cream cheese packages for a total of 16 ounces. I agree this isn't perfectly clear, but that's what she meant.
This cheesecake was amazing! And easy!
This was amazing! Thank you 🙂
It two 8 ounce packages
You just need to stop! OMG I can't wait to make this!!