Creme Brulee Cheesecake Bars

 

Ok so Mike, he’s a lucky guy.  Super lucky guy.  Not only does he have me in his life but he also chows down on all these tasty treats I present to you plus heaps of stuff in between.  And even better for him, I bake especially for him on occasion. 

Always the Peach Pie towards the end of every July for the Month of Mike.  Too though, he gets an extra treat on his birthday as well which changes. 

Oh and of course the Blueberry Muffins too. 

This year was a monster bonus on those muffins; if you follow me on Instagram which you should because you’ll find bonus content there, you’d have seen I had the best day ever traveling to southwestern Michigan, Sawyer to be exact.  

On my way I stopped at MD Bees for some local honey freshly bee’d from Indiana.  Next, I picked blueberries at Black and Blue Farms, picking for the first time ever in my life.  Very fun!  I also stopped in at Michigan Local Harvest up the road, picking up a small smattering of farm-fresh goodies then lastly stopped by Feminist Hens for the very coolest of fresh eggs ever. 

So it was a great day. I had a tough time coming back, it was extremely fun. 

I’ve waaay digressed here. 

Mike.  He gets baked goods.  Often.  Lucky guy!

This year for his birthday I made him these Creme Brûlée Cheesecake Bars from Better Homes and Gardens and whooot they were deeeelicious.

Oh.  Oh.  Right?   How ’bout that crispy crunchy carmelized sugar, omg.

See, this recipe combines two of Mike’s all-time leading favorite desserts, Creme Brûlée and cheesecake.  And what on earth could be wrong about that?!  Nothin’, I tell ya, not a damn thing.  

Heh, years ago I tried to make him some Creme Brûlée but it turned out I had the wrong size dishes and on top of that, it turned out to be a no-bake recipe that refused to set up.  Total fail.  I have yet to attempt it again though really it’s just a simple baked custard, nothing complicated. 

He did ask for the Blueberry Cheesecake Pie and I can’t remember why I didn’t just make that for him this year.  Probably because I wanted to make him this recipe. 

Turns out these bars blew our minds.  And honestly, they are quite simple to make.  It’s basically a shortbread cookie crust with a luscious coating of cheesecake over it with some snappy toasted sugar on top.  Totally tasted like Creme Brûlée too, we were shocked and awed. 

Henceforth, he was quite tickled. 

The only tricky part I ran into was caramelizing the sugar; I tried a big butch torch which took too long so into the broiler it went and I had a wily go of it there too.  Either way, don’t let this aspect deter you.

If anything you can slice and caramelize each slice.  I will say though you might miss out on the caramelized toasty sugar slowly melting and liquefying a tad, dripping and running and super drippy gooey, heh.

Uh huh, see, the drippy….mmm

Anywhooo… let’s get to it!

So in a mixer, toss in your butter, spin that around briefly then pour in the sugar and vanilla, mixing that around.

Toss in the flour and mix that up.  It’s gonna ball up on you and that’s fine.

Yeah it’s not as dry as a shortbread.  Oh and by the way, don’t use parchment like I did, you’ll see why.

Dump that crust mix into your pan, break it up into smaller clumps and spread it out evenly, pressing it down flat and level. 

Ok, clean out the bowl here and then toss in the cream cheese.  Whip that around until it’s all creamy and whipped like frosting, mmm, then in goes the sugar and flour.  Stir that.

Next, the sour cream and vanilla, yep.

Then lastly the eggs, making sure everything is very nicely blended.  Whooo. 

Ok!

Time to assemble!   Hahaha, all my fingerprints!

Pour the cheesecake batter over the crust, pop it in the oven and a little more than a half hour later, the center will be close to set and the edges will be puffy.  Done!  So set the whole thing on a rack to cool entirely then chill in the fridge for at least two hours. 

All set to serve?  All righty, pop on the broiler or drag out a torch, remove the uncut bars from the pan by grabbing the foil and set it on a baking sheet.  Yes it will be terrifying.  

Sprinkle the top of the whole thing with the rest of the sugar and the char that puppy up.  If you go the broiler route, be sure to keep spinning and moving the pan so the browning happens evenly.

It’s gonna seem like an utter boatload of sugar to sprinkle atop — you can stop at any point if you feel it’s too much.  But see now about the parchment?   Fire.  Fire and paper bad.  Use foil.

When you’ve got the color you like, slice and serve!  Enjoy that sugar crackle, the cool creamy cheesecake, and the perfectly light yet softly crispy cookie crust….

See, I kinda sucked at shifting the pan around under the broiler. No worries, it tasted mighty fine.

…Oh man, so delicious!

Mike looked at me after his first bite, a glance, that “damn girl, you did it again,” and said, “Wow babe, I can’t believe it, this tastes exactly like Creme Brûlée.”

Then a couple days later, “ya know what’s my favorite part?  The melting sugar.”

Happy birthday month to Mike! 

Note:  This content originally appeared on Flaky Bakers.

Creme Brulee Cheesecake Bars

Yield

18

Prep time

30 Min

Cook time

35 Min

Inactive time

2 Hour

Total time

3 H & 4 M

A glorious combination of three desserts in one, a tasty mash up of creamy baked custard with cheesecake, this crowd-feeder will definitely become a go-to fave!

Ingredients

Crust

• 1 cup (113 g) butter softened (2 sticks, 16 tablespoons)
• 1 cup (198 g) granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons (10 g) vanilla
• 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour

Cheesecake

• 3 8 ounce boxes (680 g) of cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup (198 g) granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons (15 g)  all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup (76 g) sour cream
• 1 tablespoon (14 g) vanilla
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten

Topping

• 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar

Instructions

1. Start by preheating the oven to 350° F (176° C) then with foil, line a 9x13 pan. Make sure the foil extends over the edges and spray lightly with cooking spray.
2. In the bowl of a mixer, add the butter, beating at about medium speed for around 30 seconds. Pour in the sugar and vanilla, beating on medium for about 2 minutes. Add the flour and mix on low speed until it starts forming a dough. Empty the dough into the baking pan, break up large clumps, spread it evenly then press it level. Clean out the mixing bowl.
3. Add the cream cheese to the mixer bowl and beat for about 2-3 minutes on medium until it resembles frosting and is smooth. Add the sugar and flour, stir until combined then add the sour cream and vanilla, stirring again until combined. Add the eggs and beat on medium-low until thoroughly mixed then pour the cheesecake batter atop the unbaked crust.
4. Bake for about 30-35 minutes until the center is nearly set and the edges are a bit puffy. Place the pan in a wire rack to cool completely then place the pan in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours.
5. Prior to serving, grab the edges of the foil and remove the whole cheesecake from the pan, setting it on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar over the top and set the sheet under the broiler to caramelize it or use a torch. Be sure to rotate the pan to brown evenly.
6. Slice and serve. Store in the refrigerator.

Notes:

Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

470.75

Fat (grams)

16.58

Sat. Fat (grams)

9.82

Carbs (grams)

78.38

Fiber (grams)

0.38

Net carbs

78.01

Sugar (grams)

67.39

Protein (grams)

3.82

Sodium (milligrams)

138.79

Cholesterol (grams)

83.66

Please see the "info" section for nutrition details and information about gram weights.

bars, cheesecake, creme brulee

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