A creamy maple cheesecake with bits of savory bacon and topped with a caramel, bacon, pecan topping. This maple bacon cheesecake is the perfect mix of sweet and savory in a decadent slice.
How I created this maple bacon cheesecake recipe
It doesn’t get much better than cheesecake – clearly I’m obsessed cause I keep creating new recipes for this decadent dessert. And I often get asked about creating new recipes for cheesecakes – so today I’m sharing a video for how to create your own cheesecake using the example of this Maple bacon cheesecake! Yup – another one of my favorites!
With a classic graham cracker crust this maple cheesecake with candied bacon chunks is topped with a maple, caramel, bacon, pecan topping. Seriously this thing is SO GOOD! I can’t stop eating it! I’m DEF going to be making this one again and again.
So the video is all about creating any kind of cheesecake you want, focusing on how you can personalize the crust, filling, mix ins, and toppings. It’s how I’ve created all my various cheesecake recipes, all based off the original classic cheesecake!
Just take me to the Maple Bacon Cheesecake Recipe already!
If you’d rather skip my tips and tricks for creating your own cheesecake flavor, tips for the prefect cheesecake, links to my cheesecake making tools and links to other cheesecake recipes and get straight to this delicious cheesecake recipe – simply scroll to the bottom of the page where you can find the printable recipe card.
Tips and tricks for creating your own Cheesecake flavor
- Change the crust – you can turn any cookie into a crumb crust – graham crackers, nilla wafers, oreos, etc…
- Change the crust – you can use a different dessert as the base – cake, brownie, cookie, macaroon, etc…
- Change up the filling – Add some kind of flavoring – maple extract, lemon zest and juice, peanut butter, caramel sauce, melted chocolate, etc…
- Add mix ins – Bacon, chocolate chips, peanut butter cups, oreo cookies, lemon curd, marshmallows, nuts, etc…
- Add toppings – caramel bacon pecan topping, lemon curd, meringue, hot fudge, sour cream topping, mousse, whipped cream, caramel sauce, etc…
Tips and Tricks for baking the Perfect Cheesecake with no cracking
Room temperate ingredients are key for a smooth texture.
Beat the cream cheese and sugar as much as you want, make it smooth, but once you add the eggs, do NOT overbeat, just mix on low until they are barely incorporated, beating after you add the eggs is what often leads to cracking.
Make sure your oven is the correct temperature (I love my oven thermometer)
TRY not to open the oven door, like ever, if you can help it.
I used to hate water baths – the foil always leaks and I don’t like mushy crusts – but waterbaths keep cheesecakes more evenly baked and nice and flat – so now I recommend a silicone water bath pan!!!
If you run out of water in the water bath pan make sure to boil any water you add so it doesn’t stop the baking process.
Cook your cheesecake until it’s puffy and set on the outer edge but it’s still a bit jiggly in the center, like a loose jello jiggler, but not liquid, in the center 4-5 inches. It will keep cooking afterwards a bit, and IMO better to be slightly under cooked than overcooked.
Turn off the oven and crack open the oven door to let it cool slowly, this will help it finish cooking but not cool TOO fast and crack
Do NOT eat it right away, cheesecake sets and gets BETTER with time in the fridge, at LEAST 8 hours
How to adjust this Cheesecake recipe for the instant pot
I use an 8 inch springform pan for my 8 quart pressure cooker, but I recommend a 7 inch for the 6 quart. So depending on your pan size you might need to change the recipe a little
Go to the “servings size” in the recipe card and adjust it until the cream cheese measurement is 1.5 lbs for a thinner 8 inch cheesecake or for the 7 inch pan.
For instant pot cheesecake tips and tricks and cooking times go to my instant pot cheesecake post! Or you can turn it into Instant pot cheesecake bites. (I have peanut butter bites, oreo bites and salted caramel bites already shared)
What equipment I use to make the perfect cheesecake recipe:
- Food Processor
- 9″ Spring form Pan
- 9″ parchment cake circles
- silicone water bath pan
- 12 x 3 inch cake pan
- Stand Mixer
- Hand Mixer – (I adore my bosch hand mixer but they are hard to find as they don’t currently sell them stateside)
- oven thermometer
- Maple Extract
Maple Bacon Cheesecake Recipe
If you love Cheesecake as much as I do, please write a 5 star review and be sure to share on Facebook and Pinterest! If you want to stay updated on new recipes sign up for my newsletter and join my Facebook Group!
If you love cheesecakes you’ll love these other decadent recipes too!
Chocolate Cheesecake | Lemon Meringue Pie Cheesecake | Salted Caramel Cheesecake
Classic Cheesecake | Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake | Pistachio Cheesecake Coconut Macaroon Crust
Connect with Ashlee Marie Online!
To watch me make the full Cheesecake tutorial play the video in the recipe card
You can find all my cooking show style recipe videos on YouTube, or my short recipe videos on Facebook Watch, or my Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
maple bacon cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 1/4 C graham crackers
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 6 Tbsp butter melted
Cheesecake
- 2 lbs full fat cream cheese softened
- 1 C granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 C maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp maple flavoring
- 2 lrg eggs room temp
- 1 lrg egg yolks room temp
- 4 slices candied bacon chopped
Topping
- 1/4 C butter
- 1/4 lbs packed light brown sugar
- pinch salt
- 1/4 C maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 C chopped pecans
- 10 slices bacon chopped
- 1/4 C heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350
Crust
- mix all the crust ingredients and toss lightly with fork until well blended.
- Press firmly into the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan.
- Bake on the bottom rack until crisp and golden, 10-12 min.
- Let cool.
Cheesecake
- Reduce oven to 300 and place baking dish full of hot water on the bottom rack to create moisture (leave this in while baking).
- Beat cheese and sugar on med until light and fluffy, about 30-60 sec.
- Add the vanilla, maple flavoring and maple syrup
- Scrape the bowl, beat 45 sec more – make sure it’s smooth with no chunks.
- Add the eggs and yolks and pulse until they are incorporated and the batter is velvety, about 30 sec – do NOT overbeat.
- Pour the filling over crust, sprinkle on chopped bacon and barely blend
- bake on the center rack until golden, about 1 hour.
- When you open the rack and shift the pan the center 6 inches will jiggle more than the rest, like a loose jello jiggler. This is the trick to learn, you might slightly undercook (not bad) or slightly overcook (okay) the first time as you get used to this style.
- Turn the oven off and crack open the door and let the cake cool about 30 mins
Topping
- melt the butter and brown sugar and bring to a boil
- add the maple syrup and bring to a boil again
- add the cream and stir until totally incorporated, add the vanilla, bacon and nuts
- pour over the cooled cheesecake and then refrigerate overnight, cheesecake tastes better after a day or two in the fridge.
Katie C
I love BLTs!
Amy
Nice video. would try out a list of combo!
Ashlee
thank you so much! one way to get started is to list out crust flavors, filling flavors and good toppings – then mix and match and get inspired!
Eddie
any recommend combo?
Ashlee
well this one obviously! any on my site are great – peanut butter cup, pistachio, salted caramel, chocolate, classic… etc… I have about 40 more I’ve been planning on making – but there isn’t enough time in the day .. i’m slowng working my way through the list
Terence Lim
Great recipe Ashlee!
Ashlee
thank you so very much!
William
I made this for a friends bacon-giving and it was a huge hit. My friend brought the leftovers to another friends giving the following night that I didn’t attend, and girls were asking all about me and if I was single.
Well done.
My rendition:
Just wanted to add I took the bacon grease from the pan and used it for the crust in conjunction with the call for butter. I omitted the maple flavoring and used light aunt J’s and it tasted and presented perfect both mixed in the cream cheese and for the topping carmel.
This recipe was perfect. Will be checking out what else you have made.
Ashlee
seriously so awesome! so glad it was such a hit, that’s what I love to hear! and I hope you enjoy more of my recipes!
Julia
Made this for a dinner club with a bacon theme….was a huge hit but I made a few changes….left the bacon out of the cheesecake itself and baked it at least 20 minutes longer than the recipe. I would also recommend halving the nuts as the sauce was so good it made it too chunky.
Ashlee Marie
the topping isn’t really supposed to be a sauce, that’s why I use so many nuts, but you can TOTALLY use les and keep it more saucy! So glad you enjoyed it!
Melody Haverfield
Hi Ashlee! love your web site and videos, you have no idea how much you have helped me with cheese cake Thank You so much! I have way more confidence than before. When I need a recipe im checking yours first. May I ask what kind of white mixer do you use in videos, would love to buy one. Best Regards Melody
Ashlee Marie
I am so happy to hear that! I’m obviously obsessed with cheesecake! It’s a bosch universal mixer – been around since the 50’s! I grew up with one, my mom’s is 40 years old and still going strong! Their website is here http://bit.ly/Ilovemybosch or you can find it on amazon too http://amzn.to/210Eyra I have a full review here http://ashleemarie.com/bosch-universal-mixer-review-love-bosch-series/
Wendy
Is the bacon on top also candied?
Ashlee Marie
I found the candied bacon in the topping was a little too sweet for me, I liked just normal bacon for that.
Emma
how many blocks of cream cheese was used?
Ashlee Marie
2 lbs is 4 blocks of cream cheese!
Bonnie
Hi Ashlee. I accidentally came across you web site. Your great with the videos. It caught my attention. I am going to try to make your maple, bacon, cheesecake tomorrow. You mentioned about joining your email recipes. Where do I sign in? Sorry, I couldn’t find it.
You give off a vibrant personality, I like that. I an interested in trying other recipes. You make things easy to understand. And alternate ways to do recipes. In other words, all the different ways of making cheesecake, (I watched the video) so, not to stress etc. I also watched the video on tator tots. I will try also. But, unlike some chefs, you give different ideas on how to make things, like boil or bake the potatoe etc. I will bake mine. But, that’s what interests me. Your videos are awesome!!
I will come back and let you know how the cheesecake turned out. I will be honest.
Peace to you Ashlee and thanks!
Bonnie
Ashlee Marie
There should be a sign up on the side of the blog for the newsletter, And I’m so glad you like my videos!
Bonnie
I made this Maple Bacon Cheesecake. Wow, it’s wonderful. Made it last night. If you make this recipe, pay attention that you won’t be able to eat it the same day. It takes two days at least to make. I also want to suggest to line your cookie sheet with aluminum foil then put your Silpat on top of the aluminum foil. I made the cheesecake as written. I love it. But! A small slice goes a long way. It’s very rich.
Enjoy and Peace!
Ashlee Marie
great suggestion for lining the baking pan with foil – def easier for clean up that way. And yes it is rich. The only negative to cheesecake is that wait time of setting in the fridge!!! ugh.
Diane
Everyone loved it! Oddly enough, with all that maple flavoring in it, I still thought there should be more. Everyone else said it was fine. I still need to work on my candied bacon technique…or maybe just the quality of the bacon I used.
Ashlee Marie
I like more maple myself but not everyone does. You can always use normal bacon for a more sweet/salty treat! and candied bacon tends to bake longer to get the crunch you want.
Mary
Hi this is an awesome recipe! I did notice above though, that is says 1/4 lb of brown sugar, I used 1/4 Cup. The topping came out perfectly along with the rest of the cheesecake. Bravo, thank you!!
Ashlee Marie
It’s 1/4 lbs – glad it still worked out thought, it was probably a little more liquidy but glad it held up!
Melanie Springer
Hi Ashlee excited to try this recipe. Is the bacon in the topping candied or not?
Ashlee Marie
I found that candied bacon in the caramel topping was just too sweet, so I stuck with normal bacon – it balanced really well.
Joe
Is that really 1/4 lbs of brown sugar or is it supposed to be 1/4 cup?
Ashlee Marie
1/4 lbs
Patti
DO you mean 2 lbs of am cream cheese was 2 8oz. packages?
Ashlee Marie
It’s 2 lbs.
Pamela Garfield
Apologies, there were some typos in my previous comment. My question is, does this freeze well if I make it a week in advance? Thank you.
Ashlee Marie
You can freeze cheesecakes! Although they will be good in the fridge for a week too.
Charles M.
Add a lil liquid smoke to whip cream. Smoked whip cream makes an excellent topping for this cheesecake. I also dust a small amount of fresh cracked pepper on top.
Ashlee Marie
oh DANG! that sounds amazing! totally going to add liquid smoke to whipped cream next time!