Yellow cake soaked in cheesecake pudding and salted caramel, topped with Cool Whip and a salted caramel swirl.

Salted Caramel Cheesecake Poke Cake Recipe

Yellow cake soaked in cheesecake pudding and salted caramel, topped with Cool Whip and a salted caramel swirl.

Yellow cake soaked in cheesecake pudding and salted caramel, topped with Cool Whip and a salted caramel swirl.

If you love caramel and you love cheesecake, then I can tell you right now– this recipe is for YOU.

I didn’t really think I could be surprised by a poke cake anymore, but I have to confess that this one was shockingly good. I don’t mean that I was shocked that it was good. Just that it was that good. Like, it’s on an entirely new level of good.

Yellow cake soaked in cheesecake pudding and salted caramel, topped with Cool Whip and a salted caramel swirl.

The yellow cake base is simple enough– I just used a cake mix. If you’d rather, you can always use this homemade and utterly delicious yellow cake recipe. That’s totally up to you.

As for me? Most of the time, I don’t mind a good cake mix cake. They’re soft, fluffy, and wonderfully dependable. ????????

Once the cake is baked (and while it’s still warm), poke holes in the cake and fill them with cheesecake pudding and salted caramel sauce. You can use a fork if you’d like, I see a lot of people do that. But I really prefer using the handle of a sturdy wooden mixing spoon. Bigger holes = more filling = more better.

Yellow cake soaked in cheesecake pudding and salted caramel, topped with Cool Whip and a salted caramel swirl.

Top the whole thing with whipped cream and more salted caramel sauce and let it chill for a few hours. Once everything has come together, you’ll have this incredibly indulgent cake filled with caramel and cheesecake flavors. And the light, fluffy, yet sinfully saturated-in-caramel texture is absolutely unbeatable!

This cake is so easy to make– it really just takes a few minutes of hands on time. And it’s so, so, SO good! This is a perfect Thanksgiving or Fall dessert, but it’s still a cool and creamy summer treat too.

So what are you waiting for?? I can’t wait for you to try it!

Soft and chewy snickerdoodles with a buttery caramel surprise on the inside.

Caramel Filled Snickerdoodles Recipe

Soft and chewy snickerdoodles with a buttery caramel surprise on the inside.

Soft and chewy snickerdoodles with a buttery caramel surprise on the inside.

Happy Tuesday! Can you believe we are HALFWAY through October?? Halfway! Cooler weather is on the way, the leaves are just starting to turn, and I’m getting a million other cues that it’s time to hunker down in my kitchen for Fall baking.

But before we go there, I have to go here:

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Meet my newest baby, Mackenzie.

Remember when I wrote this post all about how I don’t actually like dogs all that much? It’s still true. I am totally not a dog person. Or an animal person for that matter. Frankly, I have no idea what we were thinking adopting a dog out of the clear blue!

But it was like some crazy cosmic force drew us in, and even though we kept saying, “but we really didn’t ever want a dog….” we just couldn’t NOT take this sweet pup home with us. And even though all the annoying-dog stuff we were worried about really is as annoying as we thought it would be (omg, like I NEED more poop in my life!), the joy of having someone else in our home to love outweighs it somehow. We’ll just figure out how to deal with the poop and dog hair and stupid vet expenses and the 5 more weeks we’re all cooped up in an apartment together, because she’s ours and we love her!

It’s been less than 48 hours and I already can’t remember life without her.

It’s been the most bizarre twist of events in my life. Seriously.

Soft and chewy snickerdoodles with a buttery caramel surprise on the inside.

Speaking of bizarre twists… how about this delicious surprise– caramel filled snickerdoodles!

I am so excited to share this recipe with you today. Not just because it’s an absolutely delicious, soft, buttery, cinnamon-y cookie that you will fall insanely in love with. But also because it comes from a cookbook written by one of my very favorite bloggers, Jamielyn Nye who blogs over at I Heart Naptime.

Jamielyn is one of the sweetest people I have come across in the blogging community. She has a beautiful blog, a creative mind, and such a big heart. I couldn’t be more thrilled for her to release her very first cookbook, aptly titled The I Heart Naptime Cookbook. I haven’t been able to put it down– between the beautiful photography and the recipes that are so very perfect for the busy home-cook, it’s a fabulous addition for any kitchen.

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Soft and chewy snickerdoodles with a buttery caramel surprise on the inside.

Just as she’s done on her blog for years, Jamielyn has filled this book to the brim with beauty, smarts, good taste (figuratively and literally), and extremely functional tips, tricks, crafts, and recipes. In fact, each recipe in the book can be made in under an hour! Woot!

Less time cooking = more eating. There’s a little basic Ashton Kitchen Math for ya.

Let me share one of these amazing recipes from her book with you. These caramel filled snickerdoodles caught my eye right away, and I knew this would be the perfect October recipe to make for you all! It’s like every warm and cozy flavor wrapped up into one amazingly soft and perfect cookie.

Sweet cinnamon sugar on the outside of a super soft cookie wrapped around buttery, melty caramel. Ah! I can’t even hardly look at these pictures without needing to jump up and make another batch!!

Soft and chewy snickerdoodles with a buttery caramel surprise on the inside.

Will you just look at that caramel?? *swoon*

Tip: I used Werther’s Original soft caramels in a second batch of these (not pictured), and I actually liked that batch better. The caramel in the middle stayed softer after baking versus the standard cello-wrapped caramels pictured in this post. Right out of the oven, these were fine, but the caramel did harden after cooling. So look for Werther’s soft caramels in your grocery store!

 

Happy Fall Baking ya’ll! And be sure to get your hands on Jamielyn’s book. It will make a fantastic holiday gift!