Millionaire Cheesecake Bars have amazing components that come together to make a truly delicious dessert. My son seems to like most everything I make, but he claims that these are “exceptional.” A shortbread crust is topped with creamy cheesecake, a layer of caramel, and finished with a beautiful chocolate ganache. Add a sprinkle of sea salt to make it just a little bit fancy.
Here’s What You Will Need:
Let’s get right to the point so you can make these without further delay!
The usual suspects of flour, sugar, butter, eggs and salt play key roles. Add some vanilla, sweetened condensed milk, corn syrup, brown sugar, cream cheese, and quality chocolate and you are good to go.
Pro Tips:
- Do not overbake your cheesecake. Bake until set, with a slight jiggle (but not slosh) in the middle. This will keep the cheesecake nice and creamy. The edges of the cheesecake will have a slight puff when it is done.
- Do NOT use reduced fat cream cheese. It has no place in this decadent recipe, and just won’t turn out the same.
- This recipe uses half a can of sweetened condensed milk. What to do with the other half? Well, you could save it to stir into coffee or tea, but I would suggest doubling the caramel recipe and using the entire can. The extra caramel can be saved and spooned over ice cream or other treats. Or…
- Double this entire recipe. Double everything and bake it in a 9×13 pan. You can thank me later!
- Use a good quality dark chocolate for the topping; it really does make a difference and the dark chocolate helps balance the sweetness of the caramel.
Millionaire Cheesecake Bars
Shortbread topped with creamy cheesecake, caramel, and a dark chocolate ganache.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes plus chilling
Ingredients
For the Crust
1/2 cup butter softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
For the Cheesecake
16oz cream cheese at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
For the Caramel
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons corn syrup
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk*
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of kosher salt
For the Ganache
4 Tablespoons butter
4 oz good quality dark chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon corn syrup
*optional flaky sea salt to top
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350
Line an 8″ square pan with parchment
For the Crust: In the bowl of a stand mixer or using a hand mixer and a medium bowl blend the butter and sugar until combined. Add the flour and kosher salt and mix until crumbly and well incorporated. Press the dough into the bottom of the 8″ pan and bake for 15-18 minutes until the shortbread crust is set and golden on the edges.
For the Cheesecake: While the crust is baking mix the cream cheese and the sugar until well combined. Mix in 1 tsp vanilla. Add the eggs and mix until just combined. Pour the cheesecake mix over the baked shortbread layer and return to oven. Bake for an additional 18-20 minutes until the cheesecake is set.
For the Caramel: Melt the butter in a medium pan over low heat. Once butter is melted add the brown sugar and corn syrup. Whisk to combine. Once the sugar and butter starts to bubble at the edges add the sweetened condensed cream. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook for 5 minutes whisking constantly. Remove the caramel from the heat add the vanilla and pinch of kosher salt, and continue to stir for an additional 2-3 minutes. Pour the warm caramel over the set cheesecake, cover and refrigerate to set. Allow to cool for 2-4 hours (or even overnight) before adding the ganache layer.
For the Ganache: Once the cheesecake has cooled melt the butter and chopped chocolate together. I use the microwave at 30 second intervals being careful not to over heat the chocolate. Stir until smooth and mix in the corn syrup. Pour the ganache over the cooled cheesecake and allow the chocolate to set up before slicing.
Notes
* 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk= half of the 14oz can.
Keywords: caramel, chocolate, cheesecake, bars, millionaire
More:
Do you love cheesecake? Consider trying some of my other recipes. My Classic Cheesecake is very popular, or for something that can be easily shared with a crowd try White Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies!
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