Line the bottom and sides (all the way to the top) of a circular 7"x3" springform pan (if a little smaller, you can pour the leftover filling in a small dessert glass / bowl) with a piece of foil or plastic wrap.

In the bowl of your food processor using an S-blade, pulse all the crust ingredients until it starts to come together. Depending on your food processor, this will take 1-3 minutes.

Pinch a bit of it together - it should stick together easily. You can also use a high-speed blender (the small jar used to make nut butter). Process it on high for about 20 seconds or until no large chunks remain. It might look very dry but once you pinch it, it'll come together.

Press firmly onto the bottom of the lined pan and press it down so that it's compacted.

Place the pan in the freezer while you prepare the filling.

Get out a high-speed blender and make sure it's large enough to fit all the ingredients. The filling yields about 5-6 cups. Add all the filling ingredients, in the order listed, and blend for about 30-60 seconds, or even longer, depending on your blender, or until totally smooth and no lumps remain.

Pour the filling over the crust and place the cheesecake in the freezer for about 2 hours or until you think it's firm enough to put the caramel on top. You can also pour the caramel on top now if you don't care so much about forming a perfect layer of caramel. It'll take 9-12 hours for the cheesecake to freeze solid.

Add all the ingredients, except for the vanilla, to a saucepan or small pot. Put in a candy thermometer if you have one.

Bring to a boil, over medium heat, stirring frequently. Once it's come to a full boil, continue boiling for 8 - 10 minutes. Adjust the heat if you need to so that the mixture doesn't burn. I kept mine at 5 out of 9 and never had an issue with that.

The mixture quite quickly came to 194 °F (90 °C), and then it took several minutes before it started getting hotter. Then it quickly moved to 201 °F (95 °C). You could also see a change in the mixture when that happened (but maybe you won't so don't use that as a measure of it being ready). But it will be clearly thicker than when you started. If it's still super thin, it's not ready.

Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Let cool enough so that it doesn't melt the cheesecake.

Pour the caramel over the cheesecake and top with pecans and piped melted chocolate or chocolate chips.

Freeze for up to a month or refrigerate for up to 4 days. To defrost it, set it out at room temperature for about 30-60 minutes (will depend on how warm your kitchen is). You can also put it in the fridge overnight. It is great kept in the fridge for a softer texture.