Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake

Recipe inspired by Peabody

When I first started making cheesecake, I never imagined making anything other than a plain cheesecake. Derek and I were both completely satisfied with the recipe, and he never asked for anything different.

Then I saw Peabody’s recipe for cinnamon roll cheesecake, and my eyes were opened to a whole new world!

Cinnamon rolls and cheesecake are two of my favorite things, so the thought of combining them seemed perfect (why can’t I ever think of these things first??). While the original recipe looks great, I really wanted to play around with it a little. Many, many years ago my sister gave me a cookbook put together by her company. There are some great recipes, and one of them is for something called a graham streusel cake. It is very similar to a coffee cake, and it has always been a hit. I can’t get enough of the streusel made with graham cracker crumbs so I couldn’t wait to try it in this cheesecake. The premise is very simple: I use my basic cheesecake recipe (you could use this one or your favorite), pour down half the batter, cover with a layer of streusel, followed by remaining batter and then streusel again. Once the cheesecake has been made I drizzle it with the powdered sugar icing that I use on my actual cinnamon rolls. The hardest part for me is always letting the cheesecake cool before slicing into it. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake
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Crust:
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 stick butter (melted)
1/2 cup sugar

Filling:
3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 large eggs

Streusel:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
½ cup brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Topping:
2 Tbsp butter, melted
½ tsp vanilla
¾ cup powdered sugar
3 tsp milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. To make the crust, combine the graham cracker crumbs and sugar, then add melted butter, mixing with a fork. Press into bottom and slightly up sides of a 9 inch springform pan and bake in the oven for 8 minutes to set.

While the crust is in the oven, begin making the streusel. Using a fork mix together the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and cinnamon, then add melted butter and stir into a crumbly mixture.

In a medium sized bowl beat together cream cheese and sugar. Add vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg. Make sure you scrape the sides of the bowl with a spoon or spatula to fully incorporate all of the ingredients.

Pour half of the cheesecake mixture onto the crust, then top with half of the streusel. Pour remaining cheesecake batter on top and add another layer of the remaining streusel. Place springform pan on rimmed baking sheet and place in the middle rack of the oven. Bake 50-60 minutes. Allow to cool fully (usually a few hours in the refrigerator).

To make the topping mix together the melted butter, vanilla and powdered sugar. Add milk to thin. Drizzle over cheesecake before serving.