Simple Ingredients To Get Started

So what goes into pecan pralines? Just a few simple ingredients! We’re talking…

• Pecan Halves. First, you’ll need plenty of pecans. I like to toast the pecans first for the best flavor.
• Brown Sugar. Next up is light brown sugar. This adds a rich, caramel-like note that gives the pralines their signature flavor.
• Heavy Cream. No low fat substitutes allowed here! Heavy whipping cream adds the fat we need for the right structure in this pecan candy. The pralines will not set up properly if you try to substitute half-and-half or milk.
• Corn Syrup. Light corn syrup helps prevent sugar crystals from forming and keeps the caramel sauce smooth.
• Salt. I like plenty of salt since these pecan pralines are naturally a very sweet candy. Even with 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, these don’t taste salty at all. If you’re nervous, feel free to reduce the salt down to 1/4 teaspoon.
• Butter. Then, I use salted butter. Feel free to use unsalted butter & an extra pinch of salt, if you prefer!
• Vanilla Extract. Plenty of vanilla rounds out the flavor here. It’s a must for this yummy sweet treat!

You’ll Need: A Candy Thermometer

For these pralines to set up properly, you’ll need to the sugar syrup to hit the right temperature. An inexpensive candy thermometer makes this easy!

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How To Make Pecan Pralines, Step By Step

As always, you can find the full recipe, with ingredient amounts, detailed instructions, and tips in the recipe card below.

1. Prep Your Station. Before starting, you want to have everything prepared, measured, and close by so you can work quickly. Every second counts when you’re making candy, so you don’t want to waste any time or risk burning your candy! Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper and have a small cookie scoop or two spoons close by for measuring the pralines out at the end.
2. Prep The Pecans. To start, you’ll toast the pecans. Spread the pecans out onto a baking sheet and toast 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees F until fragrant and toasted. Let them cool on the baking sheet, then roughly chop pecans and set aside. (This can be done a few days in advance, if desired!)
3. Combine. In a heavy bottomed 3-quart saucepan, combine brown sugar, heavy cream, corn syrup, and salt. Stir until well blended. Attach a candy thermometer to the side of your saucepan.
4. Boil to 235 Degrees F. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat (this can take 12-15 minutes!), then boil 5-7 minutes, until the sugar mixture reaches 235-240 degrees F. on the candy thermometer. This is known as the “soft-ball stage” in candy making–if you drizzle a drop into a glass of ice water, it should form a soft ball, rather than a stringy mess or a hard ball. Keep in mind that if you do not reach 235 degrees, your candy will not set up properly. This is the key step!
5. Stir in Butter. When the sugar mixture reaches 235 degrees F, stir in the butter and stir until melted.
6. Stir in Pecans & Vanilla. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the pecans and the vanilla. Stir until well blended (and to help the candy mixture cool down a bit!) about 4-5 minutes.
7. Scoop. Use a small cookie scoop or two spoons to scoop heaping tablespoon-size dollops of pralines out onto your parchment-lined baking sheets. The mixture will begin to set up and turn more opaque.
8. Cool to Set. Allow the pralines to cool and set completely. This can take an hour or more, depending on your temperature & humidity. When freshly scooped, the pralines may be more translucent, but they will start to turn more opaque and fudgy with time.
9. Serve & Store. Enjoy right away or store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

Simple Ingredients For Oreo Cheesecake

• Gluten-Free Oreos. Start with gluten-free Oreo cookies for both the crust and the filling. You can choose one of these 8 brands of gluten-free Oreo-type cookies! I recommend 2 full packages so you’ll have plenty for the crust, the filling and the decoration!
• Butter. A little melted butter helps the Oreo crumbs stick together to make the crust. Unsalted butter or salted butter works here!
• Full-Fat Cream Cheese. Then, you’ll need 4 blocks of full-fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature. It’s crucial that the cream cheese is softened to room temperature, or it won’t blend properly.
• Sour Cream. Full-fat sour cream is a great addition to a good cheesecake recipe. Bring this to room temperature, too!
• Sugar. Some granulated sugar helps sweeten the filling without impacting the color.
• Eggs. Room temperature eggs are a must for getting the consistency of the filling just right.
• Vanilla Extract. For a kiss of sweetness.
• A Quick Chocolate Ganache. For a show-stopping finish, I love to top this gluten-free Oreo cheesecake with a layer of chocolate ganache. You’ll just need heavy whipping cream and chocolate or chocolate chips to make it!
• Whipped Cream & Oreos, For Topping. Then, for a final flourish, I pipe swirls of whipped cream around the border and garnish with more gluten-free Oreos!

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How To Make Gluten-Free Oreo Cheesecake, Step By Step

As always, you can find the full recipe, with ingredient amounts, detailed instructions, and tips in the recipe card below.

First, Make The Crust

1. Preheat & Prep. Start by preheating the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. (I love to use pre-cut parchment rounds) 
2. Crush Oreos. Add gluten-free Oreo cookies to a food processor. Pulse until you’ve crushed the cookies to fine crumbs with no big lumps. (Don’t have a food processor? You can do this in a large zip-loc bag with a rolling pin.)
3. Add Butter. Next, add melted butter to cookie crumbs and pulse or stir to combine, until all crumbs are coated with butter.
4. Pat Out Crust. Pour the crust mixture out into your prepared springform pan and use your fingers or the back of a measuring cup or drinking glass to pat the crumbs out into an even layer along the bottom of the pan and up the sides. Note: the crust will not go all the way up the sides of the pan. Just about 1 inch up the sides! 
5. Bake & Cool. Place the crust in the preheated oven and bake 10-12 minutes or until fragrant. Set the crust to the side to cool while you make the filling.
6. Prep Pan For A Hot Water Bath. If Using A Hot Water Bath (Recommended), wrap the bottom and sides of the springform pan with foil. To fully waterproof the pan (*highly recommended*), place the springform pan into a slow cooker liner bag or an oven bag/turkey bag. Pull the bag up the sides of the springform pan, then gather the excess to one side and knot tightly to keep the bag secure to the sides.  Start bringing a small pot of water to a boil while you make the cheesecake. Set out a large roasting pan for a traditional water bath or a 9×13 pan for a modified hot water bath (SEE NOTES in recipe card) 

Then, Make The Filling & Assemble

1. BEFORE YOU GET STARTED: Make sure the cream cheese, sour cream, and eggs are all brought to room temperature or the filling will not mix correctly. Do not skip this step! 
2. Combine Cream Cheese & Sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or a large mixing bowl with a handheld electric mixer. Beat the softened cream cheese and sugar together on medium-low speed 2-3 minutes, or until smooth and well blended. 
3. Add Sour Cream, Cornstarch & Vanilla to the cream cheese mixture and mix on LOW speed until just barely combined. (Keep in mind that you don’t want to add any extra air to the cheesecake, so mixing by hand or on low speed at this point is very helpful!)
4. Add Eggs One At A Time on LOW Speed, until just barely mixed. 
5. Add 15 Chopped Oreos, adding JUST the larger pieces and saving any fine crumbs to decorate with at the end. Adding fine crumbs here will make your cheesecake look muddy. Gently stir to distribute the cookies evenly throughout the cheesecake batter. Gently tap the bowl against the counter to help remove any air bubbles. 
6. Pour Filling Over The Crust and smooth the surface with a spatula. 

Bake & Cool

1. Create Hot Water Bath. Carefully pour 3/4 to 1-inch of boiling water into the bottom of the roasting pan. Carefully lower the prepared & wrapped springform pan into the water so the water comes about 1-inch up the sides of the springform pan. (See notes for modified hot water bath instructions)
2. Bake. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake cheesecake 60-70 minutes or until the edges are just set and the center gently wobbles (like Jell-o or gelatin). If the center still seems sloshy and liquid, add 3-5 minutes to the bake time and check again. (Err on the side of under-baking rather than over-baking)
3. Cool 1-Hour In The Oven. When the cheesecake is finished baking, turn OFF the oven heat and crack the oven door open 2-3 inches. Let the cheesecake cool IN the oven for 1 full hour. (To help prevent cracks, you can run a thin knife around the edges of the springform pan before letting it cool.) Remove the springform pan from the hot water bath and the slow cooker liner/oven bag. 
4. Chill Cheesecake Uncovered in The Fridge AT LEAST 4-6 Hours (up to overnight) before decorating. 

Decorate The Cheesecake

1. Prepare Ganache. Add chocolate/chocolate chips to a heat-proof bowl. Heat cream in a small saucepan or in a microwave-safe bowl until steaming and almost simmering. Pour hot cream over the chocolate and use a spatula to tuck the chocolate under the hot cream. Let the mixture sit for 4-5 minutes, then whisk until the chocolate is fully melted. You can add corn syrup to the ganache to make it extra glossy and to make it softer (which helps when cutting into the cheesecake).
2. Decorate With Ganache & Add Oreos. Spread ganache over the top of the cheesecake into an even layer. (If desired, you can set aside 1-2 Tablespoons or so for drizzling on at the end.) Sprinkle the chopped Oreos in a circle in the center of the cheesecake, stopping about 1-inch before the edge of the cheesecake. Drizzle any leftover ganache over the Oreo cookies. 
3. Prepare Stabilized Whipped Cream. In a glass or metal bowl or a stand mixer, beat heavy cream on medium speed until it starts to get fluffy. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and whip on high heat until stiff peaks form. (The whipped cream should hold its shape on your spatula even when you rotate it around.)
4. Pipe Whipped Cream Swirls. Add whipped cream to a piping bag fitted with a piping tip (I used an Ateco 849 closed star tip) and pipe small swirls of whipped cream around the border. 
5. Decorate With Oreos. If desired, tuck whole Oreo cookies upright in between the whipped cream swirls. Sprinkle whipped cream with any leftover fine crumbs you have. 

3 Tricks For The Best Oreo Cheesecake

1. Plan Ahead

Our gluten-free Oreo cheesecake recipe isn’t super difficult, but it does take TIME. You’ll need to plan ahead to have it ready in advance. Allow 8-10+ hours to have it fully ready, since you need the ingredients to come to room temperature + it’ll need to bake for an hour + cool in the oven for an hour + chill at least 4-6 hours before you decorate it. I recommend baking & cooling it the day BEFORE you need it so it has plenty of time to chill & you can decorate it without needing to rush.

2. Start With Room Temperature Ingredients For the Filling

A crucial step to making cheesecake is using room temperature ingredients for the filling! This helps everything blend smoothly and helps prevent over-mixing, which leads to air bubbles and cracks! So, for best results, make sure to set those ingredients out in advance!

Do NOT microwave cream cheese or sour cream to help it get to room temperature. It will ruin the structure of your cheesecake! Instead, try one of these tricks for softening cream cheese quickly!

3. Use Stabilized Whipped Cream

To help the whipped cream swirls hold their shape, we’re using stabilized whipped cream. Stabilized whipped cream simply has something added to it that helps prevent melting, weeping, or warping. It’s more resilient and holds its shape better. In this case, we’re using a little bit of powdered sugar. Works like a charm! If you’re in a pinch, you can use store-bought whipped cream like Cool Whip, but homemade whipped cream like ours sure tastes amazing!

Do I Need A Water Bath?

For most cheesecake recipes, a hot water bath is used to help prevent cracks and browning. Technically speaking, it’s not strictly essential for this Oreo cheesecake, since you’ll top it with ganache and whipped cream. The toppings can easily cover up any cracks!

That said, I do recommend a hot water bath for Oreo cheesecake if you can. It’ll give you a really tender cheesecake texture, help you avoid browning on the top, and provide a smooth surface for the toppings.

You can use either a traditional hot water bath OR a modified hot water bath. I’ve got instructions for both in the recipe card!

PRO TIP: Wrapping the outside of your springform pan with a slow cooker liner or oven bag is THE BEST way to make your pan totally waterproof.