Pretzel Crust Sour Cream-Topped Cheesecake

I am always looking for a way to use up random items held in my pantry. Once long ago, I bought a big bag of mini pretzel twists from Wal-Mart to make chocolate covered peanut butter pretzel sandwiches. These were okay, as I tried to minimize the amount of sugar and butter in the recipe, and the pretzel twists don't squeeze around peanut butter filling as well as those square pretzels.

So I have these pretzels, and yesterday, I wanted to snack while studying, so I started dipping them in some whipped strawberry cream cheese that I had from Einstein's Bagels. This was really tasty because of the salt crystals crunching in your mouth, imparting savoriness, while melding with the sweet creaminess of the strawberry cream cheese. Pretzels and sweet cream cheese are a great combo!

Now, I am a lover of sweet and salty desserts. Sweet, sweet, sweet desserts are just to cloying to me. You really need a cup of tea, milk, or water to wash each bite down. Cheesecake is one of those decadent desserts that I have always just *kinda* liked if it wasn't too thick. I thought it'd be great to make a salty pretzel crust to cut through the heavy sweetness of the typical cheesecake filling, and adding a sour cream topping would add an extra tang and lightness that would make cheesecake more complex and palatable.

To achieve this concept, I combined three recipes I found on the internet. For the pretzel crust, I used the crust from Peanut Butter Pretzel Cheesecake Squares by Brandie from Home Cooking Memories. For the filling, I referenced Small Cheesecake by Lynn at Happier Than a Pig in Mud. Finally, for the sour cream topping, I used the part from Fruit-Topped Cheesecake with Snyders Pretzel Crust by Ellen Christian at Confessions of an Overworked Mom.

I used a 9 or 10 inch glass pie pan, which fit the pretzel filling very nicely, but when I poured the cheesecake filling in, it only filled it to halfway! I needed to double the sour cream topping from 1 cup to 2 cups in order to fill the crust the rest of the way. If you are using an 8 inch pie pan or an 8 by 8 inch square pan, I am sure the same filling and the 1 cup sour cream topping would fit. You would probably need only 2/3-3/4 of the pretzel crust though, unless you like a thick crust, to which I say  go ahead!

So, enjoy this pretzel bottom, sour cream top cheesecake and enjoy the start of fall!

Pretzel Crust Sour Cream-Topped Cheesecake

Pretzel Crust:
3 cups mini pretzel twists
1 stick butter (I used vegetable oil-based baking sticks)
 cup sugar

Filling:
1 (8-oz) package of regular cream cheese
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 eggs

Sour Cream Topping:
2 cups (16 oz) (lowfat) sour cream
4 Tbs white granulated sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:
1) Crust: Preheat the oven to 325 deg Fahrenheit. process pretzels in a food processor until finely ground. Pour into a bowl and mix thoroughly with melted butter and sugar. Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan. Press the pretzel crumbs firmly into the pan and try to get the crust even along the bottom and sides. Bake in preheated oven for 10 min. Take out and let cool while you make the filling.
2) Filling: Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract. Beat in eggs one at a time until combined. Pour into slightly cool crust and bake at 325 deg F for 30 minutes. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes while you make the topping.
3) Beat 2 cups of sour cream with 4 Tbs sugar and 2 tsp vanilla extract. Pour over cheesecake. Place back into the oven for another 5-10 minutes. Remove and let cool on a wire rack for 1 hour, then cool 6-12 hours (~overnight) in the refrigerator.
4) Top with chocolate shavings, sliced fruit, drizzle of fruit compote, or just keep it plain. Slice and serve!
Serves 10