This pretzel crusted cheesecake is a rich and creamy cheesecake topped with the best raspberry sauce. Its a classic cheesecake with a twist, and it is to die for!
Pin this cheesecake with raspberry sauce for later!
There’s just something about a cold slice of fresh cheesecake that I can’t get over. I wouldn’t usually claim cheesecake as my favorite dessert, but then I dig into a slice of this cheesecake with an amazing sauce made from my favorite fruit on top, and lots of whipped cream. I mean, I just can’t get over how incredible this cheesecake is and I think you will love it too!
Cheesecake’s can be pretty intimidating to make, but somehow I made this one and it only had 1 or 2 teeny tiny cracks in it that you could hardly see, and that were so easily covered up with the raspberry sauce. And guess what, my friends, even if your cheesecake is bridled with cracks all over the top. Just add extra raspberry sauce and whipped cream and I promise no one will think otherwise. For some of my tips on how to get a cheesecake that doesn’t crack, read here, but if it does, seriously extra sauce and whipped cream is all you need.
This pretzel crusted cheesecake is inspired by one of my very favorite side dish (slash desserts) this raspberry pretzel jello salad. It’s an amazing dish, that has a crushed up pretzel crust, with a no bake cheesecake like filling and is topped with raspberries and raspberry jello. It’s the best side dish, and if you’re ever asked to bring jello salad to a party or potluck, I promise it’s the one you should make. That being said, now you know why I used it as inspiration for this cheesecake. I altered my blueberry cheesecake recipe to make this baby with the pretzel crust, and the raspberry sauce, without swirling it into the cheesecake.
We have a neighbor who’s favorite dessert is cheesecake and so I of course had to share this cheesecake with them. They said the raspberry sauce was so good they couldn’t believe it was homemade, and I quote “seriously one of the best cheesecakes we have ever had”. So that’s saying a lot, right? And I’ll be honest, I agree with them.
A sweet and salty crust with the pretzels. The creamiest and richest cheesecake. All topped with a sweet and tart, and amazing raspberry sauce. Plus I topped mine with homemade whipped cream, because for this kind of thing, you can’t use cool whip, am I right?
Who else wants to dig in to a slice right now?
Pretzel Crusted Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce
Ingredients
For the Pretzel Crust:
- 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 6 full crackers blended)
- 3/4 cup pretzel crumbs (about 2.5 to 3 cups pretzels blended)
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 6 TBS melted butter
For the Cheesecake:
- 24 oz softened cream cheese
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 TBS vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs (room temperature)
For the Raspberry Sauce:
- 1 cup fresh raspberries
- 2 TBS sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1/2 TBS cornstarch
- 1/2 TBS warm water
Optional Toppings:
- 2 cups whipped cream
- 1 cup additional raspberries
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Crush up your graham cracker pieces and pretzels in a blender or food processor till a nice crumb is formed.
- Mix the crumbs, melted butter and sugar together.
- Press into the bottom and slightly up the sides of a 9 in springform sprayed with nonstick spray.
- Wrap foil around the bottom of the pan and around the sides over the top.
- Bake for about 8 - 10 minutes. Allow to cool.
- Beat your cream cheese in a stand mixer till smooth.
- Add in the sugar and beat for 2-3 minutes.
- Add in the sour cream, vanilla extract and stir to combine.
- Add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition till just blended.
- Pour the filling into the cooled crust.
- Place the pan into a large roasting pan, or deep cookie sheet filled with ½ to 1 inch of hot water.
- Bake for 65-75 minutes until the center is almost set, except for a couple inches in the middle.
- Turn the oven off and open the oven door slightly. Leave the cheesecake in there for 1 hour.
- Remove cheesecake from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Cover and place in the fridge overnight.
- When ready to serve, put the raspberries and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- In a small bowl mix together the lemon juice, cornstarch and water.
- Add the cornstarch mixture to the raspberries, smashing the berries as you stir it together. Remove from heat as the mixture starts to thicken.
- Push berry mixture through a fine mesh strainer to separate the seeds. Discard the seeds.
- Carefully remove the cheesecake from the pan, and foil, and slice.
- Top each cheesecake slice with raspberry sauce, whipped cream and remaining berries desired.
Notes
And I hope you have a happy national cheesecake day – if you don’t make this amazing cheesecake, you should definitely try one of these:
Blueberry Cheesecake on Like Mother Like Daughter
No Bake Butella Swirl Cheesecake Bars on The Stay at Home Chef
Pistachio Cheesecake with Coconut Macaroon Crust on Ashlee Marie
Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake Dip on Jamie Cooks it Up!
No Bake Fresh Strawberry Mini Cheesecakes Real Mom Kitchen
Berry Cheesecake Brownie Bites on Food Crafts and Family
Strawberry Cheesecake Bites on Butter With a Side of Bread
Mini Chocolate Mousse Oreo Cheesecakes on Creations by Kara
Slow Cooker Peanut Butter Cup Mini Cheesecake on 365 of Slow Cooking
Key Lime Cheesecake on Life Made Simple
Cheesecake Sugar Cookie Cups on Like Mother Like Daughter
Banana Cream Cheesecakes on Butter with a Side of Bread
Salted Caramel Cheesecake on Ashlee Marie
Cake Mix Cherry Cheesecake on Ream Mom Kitchen
Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream on Jamie Cooks it Up!
No Bake Strawberry Topped Cheesecake on Life Made Simple
Vanilla Bean Cheesecake on Creations by Kara
Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries on Like Mother Like Daughter
Chocolate Cheesecake on Ashlee Marie
Lion House Cheesecake on Jamie Cooks it Up!
Mini No Bake Raspberry Lemonade Cheesecake on Real Mom Kitchen
Andrew says
When do I remove the aluminum foil? And do you turn the oven off after the first 65 minutes?
Aimee says
You’ll keep the foil on while baking and remove it when you remove the cheesecake from the springform. It helps prevent some of the water from the water bath getting in. And turn the oven off after the cheesecake is set (65-75 mins). I updated the instructions to add those! Hope that helps.
Megan - The Emotional Baker says
I hardly ever have cheesecake, but when I do, I’m in heaven!! Love this pretzel crust – so delicious 🙂
Kara (Creations by Kara) says
The pretzel crust sounds so yummy, can’t wait to make this! I agree about using real whipped cream. Cool Whip just wouldn’t do this justice!