Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Salted Caramel Pecan Cheesecake Bars

Cheesecake seems to be the main ingredient in quite a few posts on this blog. It's because I'm a HUGE fan of cheesecake. Especially cheesecake bars. 
So easy to make and so versatile. I topped this creamy cheesecake with toasted pecans and salty caramel.
After moving into our new house back in September, we couldn't wait to host Christmas this year. We have had a full house since last Friday and I've loved every minute of it! My family came over for Christmas Eve dinner and this was the dessert of choice. 
I wanted to make something with a sweet and salty contrast. My mother loves pecans, and pretty much anything covered in caramel or any sort of sauce, so this was perfect. She actually ended up eating dessert before dinner! (Now you know where I get it from!)
Salted Caramel Pecan Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients:
Crust:
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup butter, melted

Cheesecake:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup caramel sauce

Topping:
1/4 cup chopped pecans
12-15 Kraft caramel candies
1 tablespoon milk or heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Stir together graham cracker crumbs, pecans, and butter; press into the bottom of a foil lined and lightly greased 8x8-inch baking pan.
  3. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven, and cool on a wire rack.
  4. Beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Combine sugar and flour; gradually add to cream cheese, beating just until blended. Add sour cream and caramel sauce.
  5. Add egg, beating until blended. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over prepared crust, spreading evenly to edges of pan.
  6. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until set. Remove from oven, and cool on a wire rack. Sprinkle pecans over cheesecake. Chill for at least 2 hours.
  7. Place caramel candies, salt, and milk in a microwave safe bowl. Heat in 30 second intervals until melted and smooth. Drizzle over cheesecake. 

10 comments:

  1. Sounds absolutely heavenly! Thanks for posting

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  2. What kind of "caramel sauce " did you use for the cheesecake batter?

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    Replies
    1. For this recipe I used Smucker's Caramel Topping...but any kind of jarred caramel sauce would work!

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  3. Do you drizzle the caramel right before serving, or is it ok to drizzle and refrigerate?

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    Replies
    1. I would recommend drizzling it right before you serve it.

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  4. I drizzled before storing it in the fridge which did not work great. the caramel turned hard in the fridge and it is not easy to cut or eat this way. I think I will try jarred caramel sauce for the drizzle next time.

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    Replies
    1. I would recommend drizzling it right before you serve it.

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  5. Made them tonite. Next batch, I'll add 1/4 cup sugar to the graham cracker crumb base to hold it together via caramelization, and will cut into bite sized pieces before drizzling the salted caramel as it got stuck on the knife and made cutting sort of sloppy.

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  6. Can I do an no- bake recipe instead?

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