CHEESECAKE

I made my first cheesecake last week and it came out wonderful! I thought I would post the recipe and a picture. I highly recommend this recipe, especially if you like caramel. Paul doesn't like caramel all that much, but he still enjoyed this cheesecake. I probably wouldn't use all the melted caramel next time because it ended up being so much it ran over the sides of the cheesecake. I can't wait to try my next recipe!



Nilla Praline Cheesecake

Ingredients

66 NILLA Wafers, divided
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
1/4 cup margarine or butter, melted
3 (8 ounce) packages PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
25 KRAFT Caramels
3 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup PLANTERS Pecan Pieces, toasted

Directions

1.Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Finely crush 50 wafers; mix with 1/4 cup sugar and margarine. Press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Stand remaining wafers around edge, pressing gently into crust to secure.
2.Beat cream cheese and remaining sugar in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Add sour cream and vanilla; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over crust.
3.Bake 45 to 50 min. or until center is almost set. Run small knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim. Refrigerate 4 hours. Microwave caramels and milk on HIGH 1 min. or until caramels are completely melted, stirring every 30 sec. Cool slightly. Pour over cheesecake; top with nuts.