White Chocolate Cherry Pecan Cheesecake

This recipe is courtesy of www.kraftfoods.com and it tastes wonderful!

• Ready In: 1 hr 30 mins
• Serves: 16

Ingredients

• 1  cup pecan halves, toasted, divided
• 1 1⁄2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1⁄4 cup sugar
• 1⁄4 cup margarine or 1⁄4 cup butter, melted
• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 (6 ounce) package  premium white baking chocolate, melted
• 2  teaspoons vanilla, divided
• 4  eggs
• 1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling
• 1  cup  thawed  whipped topping (COOL WHIP)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300°F if using a silver 9-inch springform pan (or to 275°F if using a dark nonstick 9-inch springform pan).
2. Reserve 16 of the pecan halves for garnish.
3. Finely chop remaining pecans; mix with graham crumbs, sugar and margarine.
4. Press firmly onto bottom of pan.
5. Beat cream cheese in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy.
6. Gradually add sweetened condensed milk, beating until well blended.
7. Add chocolate and 1 teaspoons of the vanilla; mix well.
8. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended.
9. Pour over crust.
10. Bake 1 hour or until center is almost set.
11. Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim of pan.
12. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
13. Mix pie filling and remaining 1 teaspoons vanilla; spoon over cheesecake.
14. Top with whipped topping and reserved pecans.
15. Cut into wedges to serve.
16. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.
17. **Cook time does not include refrigeration time.