• Crust:
• 1/2 Cup Graham cracker crumbs
• 1 Cup Walnuts, finely chopped (I use a food processor for this) these should be a little more course than the graham cracker crumbs.
• 2 TBsp Sugar
• 4 TBsp melted butter
• Cheesecake:
• 12 oz dried cranberries
• Cranberry Liqueur
• 2 pounds cream cheese at room temperature
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 2 TBsp Flour
• Zest of one lemon

1. I like to line the bottom of a 10 inch springform pan with parchment paper.
2. Makes it much easier to slice and remove the cheesecake from the bottom of the pan.
3. For Crust:
4. Mix the first 3 ingredients so they are well blended.
5. Add the butter and mix with a fork until everything is consistently moist.
6. Pour into the springform pan, pressing it down with your hands to compact it with a little up the sides.
7. Less messy if you wear some type of plastic gloves.
8. Bake at 325 for 8 minutes
9. For Filling:
10. Soak the cranberries in the cranberry liqueur, covering them with the liqueur, for an hour or so before making the cheesecake.
11. Using a mixer, beat the cream cheese on low speed until smooth.
12. I tried this by hand once... bad idea... Add the sugar and beat until incorporated.
13. Add the eggs, one at a time.
14. Add another egg after the previous one is incorporated completely.
15. Add the heavy cream and mix completely.
16. Add the flour and mix completely.
17. Add the lemon zest and mix completely.
18. Scrape the bowl sides if necessary and mix until that is incorporated and smooth.
19. Remove the bowl from the mixer.
20. Drain the cranberries and pour them into the cheesecake batter.
21. Fold them in thoroughly.
22. Pour the mix into the cheesecake pan and place in the oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.
23. Reduce the temperature to 250 and bake for an additional 55 minutes.
24. It's important that you do not open the oven during the baking cycle until the end.
25. Turn off the oven and allow cooling in the oven for 1 hour.
26. Remove from the oven and allow cooling for an additional hour on the counter.
27. Refrigerate over night.

I was in Starbuck's recently and the Barista commented that she had never seen a Cranberry Cheesecake and wondered why. That got me thinking and I decided to give it a go. This is what came of that. It came out great, with lots of cranberry flavor and a very nice walnut crust. I hope you all enjoy it!