Best Butterfinger Cheesecake
I made it my ambition this year to make the world’s Best Butterfinger Cheesecake. I wanted to surprise Scott on his birthday with a cheesecake containing his favorite candy bar. I’ve been on a cheesecake-making binge lately. My last one, Eggnog Cheesecake, was a hit, and this latest one — was sheer bliss.
The Rich Oreo Crust
To begin, the Oreo crust is rich, beautiful, and crunchy. It will not get soggy. Mixing the cookie crumbs with melted butter is all there is to it!
The Butterfinger Cheesecake Filling
My concern with a Butterfinger cheesecake was that it would be overpoweringly sweet. To my surprise, it totally was not. The filling is pretty standard with the cream cheese, sugar, and eggs, but I add sour cream and, of course, crushed Butterfinger!!! The sour cream balances the extra sweetness of the Butterfinger, creating the perfect flavor AND texture.
Whipped Cream Topping
Adding ½ teaspoon of cream of tartar to the whipped cream stabilizes it, keeping it firm. As long as you don’t add too much, you won’t even know it is there. Be light-handed, though: if you add too much, you will get a sour instead of sweet flavor from the topping.
Butterscotch Sauce
Butterscotch candies used to be my favorite hard candy as a child. I still love them, so anytime I can put butterscotch on something, I do it! Brown sugar, butter, cream, vanilla, Kosher salt — that’s all you need to make this decadent sauce. Well, you may also need a little bourbon or scotch! But you don’t have to use liquor if you don’t want to. You will still…
OK, right now I have to let you in on a secret. I just told Scott I’d get him some coffee if he’d finish my sentence. I stopped at “You will still….” and he finished it with “get drunk on deliciousness.” I had to leave it there. We got a big laugh out of it. I hope you did, too! And it’s true: liquor or no, you will get drunk on deliciousness when you taste this Butterfinger cheesecake.
I like to store butterscotch in either a squeeze bottle or a mason jar. Storing it in a squeeze bottle, like the kind meant for ketchup, allows you to “draw” with the sauce; you have more control. But if you are merely going to be drizzling the sauce, then by all means, store it easily in a mason jar. Keep the sauce in the refrigerator and warm it for a few seconds in the microwave when you are ready to use it.
Be sure to save and pin this Butterfinger cheesecake recipe! It will become your new favorite — I have no doubt. Find more tips for cheesecake success in my Eggnog Cheesecake Recipe post.
Best Butterfinger Cheesecake
Ingredients
The Crust
- 2 ½ cups Oreo crumbs
- ½ cup butter, melted
The Filling
- 3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup sour cream
- 4 large eggs
- ½ tsp Kosher salt
- 1 ½ cup Butterfinger candy bars, crushed (about 3 candy bars)
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Whipped Cream
- 1 ¼ cup heavy whipping cream, very cold
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ tsp cream of tartar
Butterscotch Sauce
- ½ stick butter
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp bourbon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For Topping
- 1 Butterfinger candy bar, chopped
Instructions
For the Crust
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Prepare a 10-inch springform pan with nonstick baking spray and place parchment paper in the bottom of the pan. Wrap foil around the outside of the pan. This will keep the water bath from seeping into the pan.
- In a medium bowl, combine the crust ingredients and mix well. Using the bottom of a measuring cup, press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Set aside.
For the Filling
- In a large bowl, mix cream cheese, sugar, and sour cream and mix on low speed. Do not overmix.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing slowly and scraping the sides after each additional egg. Once the eggs are incorporated, add the salt, 1 ½ cups crushed Butterfinger candy bar, and vanilla. Mix until incorporated, being careful not to add too much air to the mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly.
- Place pan covered in aluminum foil inside a roasting pan. Fill roasting pan with water until the water is halfway up the sides of the springform pan.
- Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes and then turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake inside for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove cheesecake from oven. Then remove the springform pan from the roasting pan and place pan on a cooling rack. Allow the cheesecake to come to room temperature, then refrigerate for 5 hours or overnight.
For the Whipped Cream
- In a stand mixer, add heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and cream of tartar and mix on high speed until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate if not using right away.
For the Butterscotch Sauce
- In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add brown sugar, salt, and cream and stir with a rubber spatula. Once blended, bring mixture to a boil. Allow to boil for 4 minutes, then remove mixture from the heat. Stir in bourbon and vanilla. Pour sauce into a container and bring to room temperature. I store mine in a squeeze bottle, but for easier access, you can pour the butterscotch into a mason jar.
For Assembly
- Remove cheesecake from refrigerator. Run a knife around the cake to loosen the sides. Remove the cheesecake from the pan onto a serving plate.
- Drizzle lines vertically across the top of the cheesecake. Turn the cake 45° and drizzle vertical lines across the top of the cake, making a “plaid-looking” design.
- Add whipped cream to a pastry bag with a star tip and pipe the whipped cream around the edges of the cheesecake.
- Crumble remaining Butterfinger and disperse evenly around the edges of the cheesecake but inside the whipped cream border.
- Store the cheesecake in the refrigerator until it is time to serve it.
Is there a substitute for the teaspoon of bourbon?
I would just leave the bourbon out. I’ve left it out before, and it still tastes great. Let me know what you think!