Slow Cooker Chocolate Cheesecake with Pretzel Crust and Nut Topping

This was the first cheesecake I’ve ever made.  Can you believe that?

The reason I’d never made one was that I lacked a springform pan.   This Chocolate Cheesecake with Pretzel Crust and Nut Topping justifies the purchase of a set of pans.

Oh my goodness!  This is one of the best cheesecakes I’ve ever tasted.  It’s smooth and rich and oh-so-very chocolatey.  The pretzel crust adds a bit of salty to the sweet chocolate and the nut topping brings a little crunch to the creamy.

Ever since I first saw a post on using the slow cooker for making cheesecake on Mommy’s Kitchen, I’ve wanted to try it.  I used an 8 inch springform pan, which fit inside my crockpot with a small amount of room to spare around the edges.  I also used the rack from my pressure cooker in the bottom of the crock.  This kept the pan a little bit higher, making it easier to get the finished cheesecake out of the crock.

I pieced together several different recipes and ideas to come up with this one.  I used the chocolate cheesecake recipe from Taste of Home as the base, but changed the cooking method to slow cooker.  And I used the pretzel crust recipe from Bake or Break.  I did leave the pretzels in larger crumbs though, so it was more identifiable as pretzel.

Here’s what you’ll need:  

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Slow Cooker Chocolate Cheesecake with Pretzel Crust and Nut Topping

Ingredients

For the Crust

• 2 cups crushed pretzels
• 3/4 cup melted butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

For the Filling

• 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 8 oz packages cream cheese room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 Tbs. flour
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2-3 Tbs. nut topping

Instructions

For the Crust

• Stir pretzels, butter and brown sugar together in a small bowl.
• Pour into greased 8 inch springform pan.
• Use the back of a spoon to press crumbs down to form crust on bottom of pan.

For the Filling

• Melt chocolate chips in microwave 1 minute. Stir and microwave 30 seconds at a time, stirring between until melted and smooth.
• Mix cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer.
• Mix in flour, eggs, vanilla and chocolate until well combined.
• Pour into springform pan over crust.
• Pour 2-3 cups water into bottom of slow cooker.
• Set springform pan in the water, making sure it doesn't come up the sides of the pan too far. You don't want water in the cheesecake, but you also don't want the crock to boil dry.
• Cook on high 3-4 hours, until it's set and the middle is only a little soft and wet.
• Carefully remove finished cheesecake from crock.
• Cool on wire rack.
• Refrigerate in pan for at least 6 hours.
• Remove springform pan before serving.

This post is part of the Slow Cooker Dessert Series.  To see the other recipes in the series, click here.