Description
This Samoa Cheesecake recipe is inspired by the famous Girl Scout cookies (a.k.a. “Caramel Delights”). It’s a simple vanilla cheesecake base, made with an Oreo crust, and topped with caramel, toasted coconut and drizzled with chocolate.
Ingredients
Cheesecake Ingredients:
- 24 Oreo cookies
- 4 Tablespoons melted butter
- pinch of salt
- 3 (8-ounce) bricks neufchatel (low-fat) cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract, store-bought or homemade
- 3 eggs
Samoa Topping Ingredients:
- 2 cups shredded sweetened coconut
- 1 3/4 cups caramel dip or sauce (you can either buy the 16-ounce store-bought tubs of caramel dip, or use 1 3/4 cups homemade caramel sauce)
- 4 ounces dark chocolate
Instructions
To Make The Cheesecake:
- Preheat oven to 325°F, and grease a 9-inch springform pan. Carefully wrap the outside of the pan in 2 layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil, being sure that there are NO gaps where water could seep through.
- Add Oreo cookies to the bowl of a food processor, and process until completely crumbled. (Or you can do this step by hand by crushing Oreos with a meat mallet inside a ziplock freezer bag.) Add in the melted butter, and stir or process until evenly mixed with the Oreos. Press the Oreo mixture evenly into the bottom of the springform pan. Then place the pan in a large roasting dish (or any pan larger than the springform), and bring a tea kettle or pot of water to boil in preparation for the water bath. Set aside. (*If you don’t want to place the pan directly in a water bath, you can skip this last step and just place a pan of water on the shelf beneath the cheesecake pan.)
- Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese on medium speed for 3 minutes until smooth. Add sugar and beat for an additional minute until well blended. Add Greek yogurt and vanilla, and beat for an additional minute, stopping partway to scrape the bottom of the bowl with a spatula. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on low speed after each addition just until blended. Do not overbeat! Pour into crust.
- Place the double pans in the oven on a shelf on the bottom third of the oven. Very carefully use a tea kettle (or large measuring cup) to pour the boiling water in the larger pan to form a water bath around the springform, so that it comes up about 1-inch around the springform.
- Close the oven door, and bake about 1 hour 30 min, or until center is almost set. (The cake should still jiggle ever so slightly.) Turn oven off, and open oven door slightly. Let cheesecake set in oven 1 hour. Then remove cheesecake from oven, carefully run a knife around the edges of the cake, and then let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Remove springform rim, and top cheesecake with Samoa topping. Return the cheesecake to the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes for the topping to set. Then serve, or cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days.
To Make The Topping:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread shredded coconut out in an even layer on a parchment-covered (or aluminum foil-covered) baking sheet. Bake for about 6 minutes, or until the top layer of coconut is toasted and lightly golden, then remove the tray and stir the coconut. Bake for an additional 3-4 minutes or until the new layer of coconut is lightly golden. (Keep a close eye on it so that the coconut does not burn.) Remove the pan, and pour coconut into a mixing bowl.
- Add 1 cup caramel sauce to the bowl with the coconut, and stir to combine. (If your caramel is not very pour-able, heat it in the microwave or in a small saucepan until it is just slightly warmed.)
- Using a spoon, spread a separate 1/2 cup of caramel sauce onto the chilled cheesecake. Then top with the caramel/coconut mixture, and press it down until the top of the cheesecake is covered.
- Pour the melted chocolate into a piping bag or a Ziplock bag with the corner snipped off, then pipe it onto the top of the coconut/caramel mixture in even lines. Repeat in a separate bag with the remaining caramel sauce.
Beautiful!! This is cheesecake heaven!
The topping on this cake is amaaaaazing!! Love!
I KNEW that I shouldn’t come visit you right before going to the gym. Now, I kind of just wanna skip the workout and devour all this cheesecake.
This is gorgeous, and cheesecake is my favorite! Pinned :)
I just noticed the other day they make Samoa flavored creamer for coffee And I’m just envisioning myself pounding this Samoa cheesecake with a cup of that coffee. I’m finding my happy place.
I have zero doubt I could eat this entire thing by myself. LOVE.
They were Caramel DeLights when I sold them as a Brownie… and they were (are) my favorite. ;-)
How fun is this?! Deliciousness!!
Oh no you didn’t! I have got to have a slice of that cake! YUM
Um, yes X 10000!!! I so can’t wait to make this beauty!
Your photography is UNREAL! This looks amazing and Samoa’s are the best! I love all that toasted coconut. Pinned :)
1 – this looks ridiculously amazing! 2 – that gif is the best thing I’ve seen all day. omg.
This is one seriously beautiful cheesecake!
This cheesecake looks amazing. Seriously, to die for!!
Gorgeous. Love everything about this cheesecake!
This looks so delicious and I wonder how you make that video with moving pics?? Is it some app you use???
This looks OUTSTANDING! I don’t even normally like coconut, but I love samoas!
Literally drooling at these pictures Ali… you are absolutely killing me smalls!
Pinned and shoving in my face later tonight!
I’ve been somoa-crazed after making some mini samoa doughtnuts. I’m now out of cookies and this would be perfect for my fix! Looks delicious.
This looks amazing!! I would LOVE a slice! YUM! What a fun recipe! Also, I love the moving picture! That is so fun :)
This looks heavenly! Samoas have always been one of my favorite girl scout cookies! I tried to make them myself one time, but that did not work out well. This looks like a much easier production!
this is on FANTASTIC cheesecake!!!!
I am almost positive this will become my new favorite cheesecake! This looks amazing!!
Oh…oh yes.
I am drooling all over. The photos. The cheesecake. Amazing. Samoas are my absolute favorite.
This is insane! It looks absolutely beautiful! What I would do to get my hands on a slice RIGHT now!
This looks amazing Lindsay!
https://youtube.com/addalittlefood
The oreo cookies you use.. Are they with the cream inside? Or do you scrape that off?
I used traditional Oreos with the cream still inside.
This cheesecake honestly looks like heaven! Love every single aspect- amazing!
Um, wow and yum! They will always be Caramel DeLites in my heart :)
I’m going to have to make this when we’ve got company coming over because I just don’t trust myself to stop at one slice! This looks simply gorgeous and it’s times like this I wish the internet has smell’o’vision. Or maybe taste’o’vision would be more appropriate!! :)
THis is gorgeous, Ali! I am all over these flavors!!
My kind of cheesecake! I LOVE how you build upon so many different flavors! Can’t wait to try this :)
This looks heavenly! What a fabulous idea for cheesecake!
This shouldn’t even be allowed! I am drooling looking at this right now and can imagine throwing a piece in the blender with some ice cream for a smoothie…look what you have done :)
oh.my.god. i had to pick my jaw up off the floor. now please excuse me while i wipe the drool from my mouth…
I love cheesecake and I love Caramel DeLites! I can’t wait to make this :)
It was an old Aldi’s post that brought me to your website, but I’m hooked. Very nice. But since you’re a fan of Samoas, I must tell you that Aldi’s has begun selling a copy in my area…fabulous! $1.79 and I dare say you can’t tell the difference. I’m absolutely making this cheesecake for company this weekend, thanks.
This looks like food from the heavens!
This looks amazing! Thinking about trying it this weekend! Couple quetions…Could you do the cheesecake recipe without the yogurt? Should I just get rid of it completely or sub something in for it? Also, for the caramel, could you use the caramel ice cream topping that gets heated in the microwave, and shoud you heat it before putting it on the cheesecake, or no?
I would greatly appreciate answers to these questions as soon as possible so I can try out this delicious looking recipe!
Thanks!
Hi Randi,
You could substitute sour cream for the yogurt if needed, but it’s definitely a part of the recipe. And you can definitely use the caramel ice cream topping. You might heat it up a little to help make it easier to spread. Enjoy!
~Ali
Absolutely fantastic cake, made it and only got a tiny slice! Thanks for the recipe
loved this post, nice job and pics….can’t wait to try this!!!
This cheesecake looks so amazing! I really want to make it for my roommates surprise birthday dinner tomorrow night but the restaurant we are going does not allow cakes (ridiculous I know). They DO allow cupcakes. Have you tried converting this recipe to make cupcakes?
Thank you!
Fun! I have only tried the recipe with the full-size cheesecake, but imagine it would work well in cupcake wrappers or in a mini cheesecake pan. Good luck! :)
I am so excited to make this for a party this weekend! I have a question about the water bath. What exactly does this do for baking the cheesecake? Is there much of a difference between doing this and just putting it on the oven rack? Thanks!!
I made this cake today for a BBQ this evening. It was a HUGE hit! Thanks for such a delicious recipe. I only had a 10 inch springform, but it wasn’t a big deal. I just added a few more oreos and the cheesecake layer was a little thinner. Still turned out amazing and beautiful. Definitely recommend this one.
I don’t like cooked cheesecake so I used my standard refrigerator cheesecake recipe instead , and put the topping on that. Was fantastic!!
Hi this looks great,does the base become crunchy or is it soft,just wondering since you use cookies with cream filling!And i would prefer crunchy,and want to make this for Father’s Day this Sunday in Aus,Thanks
Hi Trish! Yep, the crust becomes fairly crunchy. Enjoy! :)
Why the name “Samoa cheesecake”?
Samoa is the name of the type of Girl Scout cookies that inspired this cheesecake.
Hi! This was my first ever cheesecake attempt and I got a big crack in the top during the “leave in oven with door cracked” step, any advice on how to prevent in the future? Thanks!
I’ve had this pinned for ages, because I love samoas. Just made this for my family, and got rave reviews. Seriously, they loved the cheesecake, and the topping put it over the top.
Thanks for sharing this!
OH-MY-GOD. This is fantastic! Thanks for the inspiration :)