Combining two of my favorite desserts, this Crème Brûlée Cheesecake Bars is a dessert-lover’s dream! A buttery graham cracker crust with a creamy rich filling topped off with a torched crispy brûléed sugar topping, you will love this spin on a classic! These are a great make-ahead dessert option as it does require a minimum of 2 hours to firm up but it’s definitely less chill time than traditional crème brûlée. So really, it’s like having the best of both worlds!
What happens when you cross a cheesecake and crème brûlée? You’ll get this delicious Crème Brûlée Cheesecake Bars! It’s creamy, it’s flavorful, and it has the signature brûléed top that is so fun to crack with a spoon! They are the perfect dessert for any occasion and no one can turn away a cheesecake bar with a sweet caramelized layer!
Want more cheesecake recipes that are crowd-pleasers? My Raspberry Cheesecake Bars and No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars are some of my kid’s favorites! And if the kids like it, the adults certainly will!
Why You’ll Love This Cheesecake Bar Recipe
- It’s easy! It’s easier than making a traditional cheesecake as well as a traditional crème brûlée! Seriously the best of both worlds!
- They are freezer friendly. Make a large batch of these crème brûlée cheesecake bars and freeze them for later. You can pull these out one bar at a time and enjoy by yourself or the whole pan for the family!
- A smooth creamy filling. Nothing beats this silky rich and creamy filling that melts in your mouth.
Ingredients for Cheesecake
- Graham crackers — finely crushed.
- Salt-to balance out the sweetness.
- Granulated sugar-to add sweetness to the filling and to top the cheesecake bars. Use fine white granulated sugar so it melts better.
- Unsalted butter, melted– using unsalted butter gives you the ability to control the amount of salt that goes into the base.
- Cream cheese — room temperature, use full fat if possible. I like the Philadelphia brand.
- Eggs — room temperature is best.
- Heavy cream — you cannot substitute this with half and half.
- Vanilla extract-to add flavor to the dessert.
How to Make Crème Brûlée Cheesecake Bars
- Prepare your oven and equipment: Preheat the oven to 350F. Line an 8×8 pan with foil or parchment paper. Leave an overhang on the sides for easy removal once cooled.
- Make the crust: In a small bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, salt, sugar, and melted butter and mix until fully combined. Firmly press the crumbs in the bottom of the pan.
- Bake the crust: Bake the crust for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool completely.
- Change the oven temperature: Turn the oven down to 325F.
- Make the cheesecake filling: In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar together on low speed until fully combined and smooth. Then add the eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions. Add the heavy cream and vanilla. Mix until fully combined.
- Pour in the batter: Gently pour the cheesecake filling into the crust.
- Bake the cheesecake: Place the pan into the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes or until only the center is slightly jiggly. Then turn the oven off and allow the cheesecake to sit in the oven for 30 minutes. Crack the oven door open and allow to sit until cooled to room temperature.
- Chill the cheesecake: Transfer cheesecake to the fridge until chilled.
- Brûlée the cheesecakes: When cheesecake is fully chilled remove it from the fridge and cut into 16 equal-sized bars. Sprinkle the top of each slice with sugar and use a handheld torch to Brûlée the tops of each square until the sugar turns a deep amber color.
Tips to Make the Best Crème Brûlée Cheesecake
- It’s important to have your ingredients at room temperature or your cheesecake bars won’t be smooth. Cold cream cheese, especially, will make your filling lumpy.
- Be sure to use full-fat cream cheese. Also, do not use the spreadable cream cheese in a tub, be sure to use blocks of cream cheese.
- Be careful not to overbeat your cheesecake filling. Adding too much air into the batter can make the cheesecakes deflate during or after baking which will cause cracks.
- Similar to macarons, give your cheesecake pan a quick tap on your countertop to pop any air bubbles that may have formed.
- Be sure to fully preheat your oven for the best results.
- You can quickly crush your graham crackers by pulsing it in the food processor.
- If you don’t want to crush the graham crackers yourself, you can purchase it pre-crushed.
- If you do not have a torch, you can place the cheesecake slices under the broiler in your oven just until the sugar is caramelized.
- Use fine sugar, if you cant find the fine sugar, place regular sugar in a mini food processor and blend.
- Feel free to top with some fruit and whipped cream.
Storing and Freezing Chessecake
Storing leftovers: do not brûlée all of the cheesecakes if you anticipate leftovers. You want the topping to stay crunchy so brûlée them right before eating them. Place un-topped leftover crème brûlée cheesecake bars in an airtight container before storing in the fridge. Enjoy within the week.
Freezing leftovers: wrap individual bars tightly and store in an airtight container before freezing for up to a month. Again, untopped.
Freezing a whole tray of cheesecake: wrap the entire crème brûlée cheesecake tightly and store in an airtight container before freezing for up to three months. Thaw in the fridge before adding the sugar topping and brûléeing them!
Frequently Asked Questions
To get beautiful clean cuts, run your knife under hot water between slicing the bars.
The reason that this cheesecake bar recipe uses full fat bricks of cream cheese is that a light version will make the batter too runny and it won’t set right. Plus, you want your cheesecake filling to be creamy and rich so be sure to use full fat!
If you’ve forgotten to bring your cream cheese to room temperature, you can help speed up the process by cutting the bricks into smaller pieces and leaving it on your counter so it takes less time to warm up. You can also remove all of the packaging and microwave the cream cheese in 5 to 10 second bursts until it’s softened.
If you’ve forgotten to bring the eggs to room temperature, fill a small or medium bowl with warm water and set the eggs inside for 5 to 10 minutes.
More Desserts You’ll Love
- Chocolate Lazy Cake
- Strawberry French Tart
- Lemon French Madeleines Cakes
- Chocolate Covered Strawberries
I hope you enjoy all the recipes I share with you, including this delicious Crème Brûlée Cheesecake Bars recipe. I hope you try it, enjoy it, rate it and share it with your friends and family!
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Crème Brûlée Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 9 sheets graham crackers finely crushed
- ¼ tsp salt
- 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
For the Filling:
- 2 8-oz blocks cream cheese room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 whole eggs room temperature
- 1/3 cup heavy cream room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- granulated sugar as needed for topping
Instructions
For the Crust:
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line an 8×8 pan with foil or parchment paper. Leave an overhang on the sides for easy removal once cooled.
- In a small bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, salt, sugar, and melted butter. Mix until fully combined. The mixture should be the texture of wet sand.
- Firmly press the crumbs in the bottom of the pan.
- Bake the crust for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool completely.
For the Filling:
- Turn the oven down to 325F.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar together on low speed until fully combined and smooth.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions.
- Add the heavy cream and vanilla. Mix until fully combined.
- Gently pour the cheesecake filling into the crust.
- Place the pan into the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes or until only the center is slightly jiggly.
- Then turn the oven off and allow the cheesecake to sit in the oven for 30 minutes. Crack the oven door open and allow to sit until cooled to room temperature.
- Transfer cheesecake to the fridge until chilled.
- When cheesecake is fully chilled remove it from the fridge and cut into 16 equal-sized bars.
- Sprinkle the top of each slice with sugar and use a handheld torch to brulee the tops of each square until the sugar turns a deep amber color. You can also place them under the broiler in your oven if you don’t have a torch.
Notes
- It’s important to have your ingredients at room temperature or your cheesecake bars won’t be smooth. Cold cream cheese, especially, will make your filling lumpy.
- Be sure to use full-fat cream cheese. Also, do not use the spreadable cream cheese in a tub, be sure to use blocks of cream cheese.
- Be careful not to overbeat your cheesecake filling. Adding too much air into the batter can make the cheesecakes deflate during or after baking which will cause cracks.
- Similar to macarons, give your cheesecake pan a quick tap on your countertop to pop any air bubbles that may have formed.
- Be sure to fully preheat your oven for the best results.
- You can quickly crush your graham crackers by pulsing it in the food processor.
- If you don’t want to crush the graham crackers yourself, you can purchase it pre-crushed.
- If you do not have a torch, you can place the cheesecake slices under the broiler in your oven just until the sugar is caramelized.
- Use fine sugar, if you cant find the fine sugar, place regular sugar in a mini food processor and blend.
- Feel free to top with some fruit and whipped cream.
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