Salted Caramel Cheesecake Bars
Creamy cheesecake with a pecan studded shortbread crust and a salty sweet caramel topping.
Ingredients
Pecan Shortbread Crust:
- 2/3 cup pecans*
- 6 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp, all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp salt
Cheesecake Filling:
- 1 cup cream cheese
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract OR vanilla bean paste
- 1/2 tsp salt
Salted Caramel Topping:
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp water
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tsp flaky sea salt, divided
Instructions
Pecan Shortbread Crust:
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Preheat oven to 350° F. Line an 8 x 8" baking pan with parchment paper (slings**) and grease or spray with non-stick spray.
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In a food processor, add pecans, butter, flour, sugar, and salt. Process on high until mixture resembles wet sand. Press mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan***.
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Bake the crust for at least 15 minutes, I was closer to 25 minutes before the crust was a nice golden brown. Let the crust cool completely (leave crust in the pan).
Cheesecake Filling:
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Immediately lower oven temperature to 250° F.
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In the (cleaned) food processor, mix together cream cheese, sour cream, and sugar until completely smooth.
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Add eggs, one at a time, and blend until well mixed. Add vanilla and salt and mix until well blended.
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Pour cheesecake mixture over cooled crust and tap on counter to release any large air bubbles. Bake for 45-50 minutes until the edges of the cheesecake puff up slightly and the middle section is still quite jiggly.
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Turn off oven AND leave oven door open slightly (a inch or two will do), and let cheesecake cool, at least one hour.
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Refrigerate cheesecake overnight.
Salted Caramel Topping:
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Cook the sugar and water over medium-low heat until sugar is dissolved.
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Add butter and let mixture come to a boil. Continue to cook at a boil until mixture turns a golden brown / caramel colour****.
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Remove pan from heat and whisk in whipping cream slowly. Whisk in 1 tps flaky sea salt.
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Let cool to room temperature.
Assembly:
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Pour caramel over top of cooled cheesecake and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
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Release cheesecake from pan and cut into squares. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp of flaky sea salt if desired.
Recipe Notes
* Fanny calls for the pecans to be toasted and chopped for this recipe. I'm lazy like that and didn't toast mine and still found that their flavour came through and complimented the shortbread texture nicely.
** have enough overhang on either 2 sides or all 4 sides of parchment paper so that you can easily lift up the cheesecake bars once the baking process is done.
*** I used my hands and then I pressed the mixture into an even layer by using the base of a 1 cup measuring cup.
**** if mixture seizes at all, continue to whisk until the liquid texture returns.
***** if you wish to freeze the cheesecake bars, place the cut bars, separated, onto parchment paper and freeze. Then place in a freezer-proof container or bag until you want snag one ;)