Another easy-breezy dessert to serve on a weekday dinner, bring over to a friend or potluck party. It’s a fun yet very simple way to dress up your cheesecake base – pop out a jar of Nutella, swirl a little on top, and bake!
Of course there are tons of other options. Swirl in some dark chocolate instead. Or you can go fancy and do salted caramel or strawberry basil sauce.
But never give up the crust. The nutty, crumbly and buttery shortbread crust is my go-to crust for cheesecake now. Way tastier and more decadent than graham cracker crust.
Ingredients (about 16 2-inch sqaures):
Shortbread Crust
2/3 cup walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Cheesecake
2 packages of Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup Nutella
Directions:
Preheat oven at 350F. Grease and line an 8-inch square baking tin.
Make the crust by mixing all the crust ingredients in a food processor, until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Press the mixture onto the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake crust for 15 to 18 minutes. Set aside to cool. Turn down oven temperature to 300F.
In the bowl of a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, mix cream cheese and sugar until combined. Add eggs, one at a time. Then add vanilla and salt. Blend until well combined.
Pour the filling in the prepared pan. Tap the pan on counter a few times to release all the air in the batter.
Warm Nutella in microwave on high for 10 to 20 seconds. Spoon Nutella on top of the batter, and gently swirl with a toothpick.
Bake the cheesecake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the edge of the cheesecake is puffed but the center is still wobbly and wet looking.
Turn off the oven with the door slightly opened, let the cheesecake sit in the oven to cool completely, at least an hour.
Remove from the oven. Chill for overnight.
When ready to serve, cut into squares using a sharp knife dipped in hot water.
23 comments
*****GLUTEN FREE SUBSTITUTE*****
Try substituting old fashioned rolled oats for the flour put them thru a couple grind push’s in the blender for a wonderful gluten free crust and I used brown sugar at 3/4 of a cup 1 time and 1/2 cup the second both turned out great but the 3/4 had a nicer texture to me .
PS I doubled this recipe, is why I used the auger so much
Can this be made in a spring form pan ?
Hi Shirley, yes you can make it in a spring form pan. Make sure you grease the pan or line the pan with parchment paper for easy release. :)
mm this sounds super delicious. Thanks for sharing this.
Simon
Hi :) How many grams or oz contains Philadelphia cheese package?
Hi Alexa, one package of cream cheese is 8 ounces or 227 grams. :)
Thank you so much for sharing this. I will be adding it to my collection of Nutella recipes, which includes a recipe for homemade Nutella…
Hi Betsy, homemade Nutella!!!!! Sounds like a really nice keeper! Sure it will go perfectly with these squares.
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Many thanks!
Wonderful recipe here! I tried this last night, and we just had it after dinner! OMG!!!! It’s great considered how easy it was to make!
I could’t wait and tried to make this yesterday. It turned out wonderfully delicious, and it’s pretty simple to make! My swirls didn’t look as nice as yours. But it’s a great recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Nancy, I am so happy to hear that your cake turned out great! Cheers. :)
How good do these bars look??? And I love love LOVE Nutella, never paired it with cheesecake but they sound made for each other. I appreciate the easy dessert recipe, pinned x 3!
Thanks, Meggan! Try this if you are a big fan of Nutella! :)
Yum, this looks fantastic and the crust sounds perfect.
Thanks, Carrie! :)
I love Nutella! I can eat it by a jar! LOL!!!!! Love this cheesecake!
Thanks, Maggie. :) Same here in this house.
WOW! Looks sooooo tasty!
Thanks, Julia.
Wonderful dessert! So simple and deicious! And yes, the crust sounds very special.
Thanks, Yvonne.