Tessa's Recipe Rundown
Taste: I love the intense vanilla aroma and flavor from the vanilla bean paired with the tang of the cream cheese, which is offset by the sweetness of the sugar.
Texture: The best part! The crust is chewy and buttery, the filling is thick, smooth, and luscious, and the brulee topping is shatteringly crunchy.
Ease: Much easier than a full cheesecake or Crème Brûlée!
Pros: Tasty twist on the classic dessert.
Cons: Not exactly diet-friendly, but hey, at least the bars are smaller than slices of big cheesecake!
Would I make this again? Yes, it’s such a crowd-pleaser.
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You know what’s great about these Crème Brûlée Cheesecake Bars?
They require no custard-making skills, no ramekins, no water baths, nothing too difficult at all.
These bars are even easier than a traditional cheesecake. Certainly easier than traditional Crème Brûlée!
But truly the best part? You get to light them on fire with a kitchen torch! If you don’t have one, you can also use your broiler, but the kitchen torch produces much better results. Plus it’s just plain fun to use. Add one to your wish list!
It’s also pretty cool to watch the sugar turn into liquid, deepen in color, and completely harden all within minutes. Don’t get too carried away, though, or you may set off your smoke detector.
Also, be sure to torch the topping on a heat-safe work surface with nothing flammable nearby.
Who knew cheesecake could be so fun?
Sprinkle of Science
Crème Brûlée Cheesecake Bars Recipe Tips
How to Make Smooth & Creamy Cheesecake
- Make sure all of your ingredients are completely at room temperature.
- The cream cheese specifically needs to be totally softened.
- If it’s a cold day, then the cream cheese will need to sit on the counter for several hours or you may need to nuke it in the microwave until it’s completely soft.
- To ensure there are no lumps, be sure to scrape down your mixing bowl thoroughly after adding every ingredient. Even if you have a beater attachment that scrapes as it goes – those don’t always catch everything, especially at the very bottom of the bowl.
- If it’s a cold day, you often have lumpy cheesecake, and you’re using a metal mixing bowl, you can run the bowl under warm water and dry it thoroughly before mixing your cheesecake batter.
Crème Brûlée Key Ingredient
The key to making that deliciously flavorful and rich Crème Brûlée flavor is VANILLA. I love to use vanilla paste in this recipe because it gives a generous dose of vanilla without having to cut open and scrape a vanilla pod. If you’d prefer to use a pod, then use one. If you only have extract, then just use the same amount as the paste called for.
What Can I Use Instead of Graham Crackers?
You can use the same amount by weight of digestive biscuits, vanilla wafers, Biscoff cookies, or any crunchy cookie you’d like! Please note that Biscoff cookies are a little richer than graham crackers (which are drier), so add just enough butter until it holds together when pressed.
Use a Metal Baking Pan for Cheesecake Bars
- I highly recommend using a light-colored 8×8-inch metal pan like this one for these Crème Brûlée Cheesecake Bars.
- Avoid using a glass or ceramic pan for baking cheesecake bars.
- Learn more about this in my Glass vs. Metal Baking Pans article here.
How to Make Cheesecake Bars Ahead of Time
The cheesecake bars can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge. Do not top the bars with sugar and brulee until shortly before serving. The longer the brûléed sugar sits, the more the sugar will begin to re-liquify and no longer be crisp.
How to Store Crème Brûlée Cheesecake Bars
- Store the untopped (non-brûléed) cheesecake bars in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Untopped slices of cheesecake can also be frozen. Wrap each slice in plastic wrap and stored inside an airtight container or freezer bag for up to one month. Defrost overnight in the fridge before topping with sugar, torching, and serving.
More Cheesecake Bar Recipes:
- Easy Classic Cheesecake Bars
- Bailey’s Cheesecake Bars
- Chocolate Stout Cheesecake Bars
- Brownie Bottom Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars
- Raspberry Lemonade Cheesecake Bars
- Nutella Cheesecake Bars
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Ingredients
For the crust:
- 9 whole (135 grams) graham crackers
- 5 tablespoons (72 grams) unsalted butter, melted
For the filling:
- 16 ounces (454 grams) cream cheese, completely softened at room temperature
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
For the brûlée topping:
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
Instructions
For the crust:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8-inch square metal baking dish with foil, leaving an overhang.
- In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the graham crackers until finely ground. Add the butter and pulse until moistened. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake until lightly browned and set, about 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool and reduce the oven temperature to 300°F.
For the cheesecake:
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese at medium-high speed until smooth. Add the sugar and continue beating until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the cream, then the eggs, egg yolk, vanilla paste, and salt one at a time, blending after each addition until just combined and smooth, being careful not to overmix. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake at 300°F until the cheesecake is set but still slightly jiggly in the center, about 35 minutes. Do not overbake.
- Place the cheesecake on a cooling rack to cool completely in the pan. Cover and chill until firm, at least 4 hours.
- Using the foil overhang, transfer the cheesecake to a heat-safe work surface and cut into squares.
- Sprinkle the tops of each square with sugar and torch the tops with a kitchen torch until it turns a deep amber color. Alternatively, use a broiler to brown the sugar (just don’t walk away – it goes from bruleed to black fast!). Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
Made this it was delicious!!! I also have a quick question. I only had glass pans so I had to cook a little longer. I noticed the cake part pooped then deflated. Is that typical? If not how to I prevent it next time?
Hi Kristal! We’re so glad to hear that you enjoyed Tessa’s recipe so much! I’m not sure exactly what you mean in your question, though. It is normal for cheesecake to puff up a little and then deflate, if that’s what you mean. A steady oven temperature, and room temperature ingredients, with no big temperature changes (like going straight from the oven to the fridge), will help prevent it from happening too much. I hope that helps! Happy baking 🙂
I have either a 9” square metal pan or 9” circle metal pan will either of these work? If yes should I adjust anything? Thanks!
Hi Allie! Either of those pans should be fine, but your cheesecake bars will be much thinner than the photo, and therefore need to bake less time, so watch closely and bake just until the cheesecake is set but still slightly jiggly in the center. Let us know how it goes!
Can I make this in an 8” round? Thank you
Hi Rebecca! Yes, that should work just fine! This recipe was developed for an 8-inch square pan, so your round pan should have the same capacity, so you can follow the recipe as-written! Let us know what you think of these bars once you have given them a try 🙂
Hello! I am planning on making these for a work meeting at around noon. If I brule the morning of, do you think they will be fine by noon? In other words, how long will the brule last before it softens?
Hi Julia! Wow, how lucky are your coworkers! For best results, we recommend serving soon after the tops are torched as they typically begin to soften after about an hour. It’ll still be delicious after softening, but obviously won’t give you that delicious crunch factor. While a bit strange to bring to work lol, would you be able to bring the sugar topping and your kitchen torch with you and torch them just before serving? 🙂 Let us know what everyone thinks!
Hi! Can they be frozen after they’ve been bruleed? Thanks!
Hi Laura! These bars will freeze beautifully before bruleeing, but they are definitely best served when bruleed right before serving, so the topping stays crunchy and delicious. If you freeze them after they have been bruleed, the sugar will melt when thawing and it will likely become a sticky mess – but it should still taste fine! 🙂
Made this today, they are absolutely delicious! I did however have some troubles along the way, I had to bake them probably for 20 minutes longer than the recipe asks for (so like 55min ish instead of 35) until it was somewhat set and so I think I might have overbaked the top – any tips on how to improve this? higher temps? (I made it in a glass dish as that’s all I have, but I don’t know if that is even that relevant)
Can strongly recommend the recipe, such a beautiful mix of cheesecake and creme brulee, but if you’re making it for an event I would suggest a test run just to ensure that things run smoothly on the day of.
Hi Liz! Yes, your glass dish would be the issue as glass pans actually take longer to bake. I’m so glad you still enjoyed this recipe 🙂 Try using a metal baking pan next time (our favorite is by USA Pan). Also, do you have an oven thermometer? If not, I’d recommend getting one so you can ensure that your oven is at the proper temp (everyone’s ovens are different – mine actually takes an additional 15 minutes after beeping that it’s ready for it to be at the correct temperature!). I hope that helps!
Fail. Undercooked. Afterward, I looked through similar recipes on this site and they say to cook with filling at 350 for 45 minutes, but this one says to cook at 300 for 35 minutes. Did I misread?
Sorry to hear of your issues, Kelly! No, the recipe is correct. What kind of pan did you use? Also, do you have an oven thermometer?
metal. 8X8. No oven thermometer, but oven does run hot. I even left it in about 5 minutes over the 35. It was jiggly in the center, but not sloshy, so seemed like it looked as is suppose to. Was just curious why this recipe would have a lower temp./cook time than the other cheesecake bars. I’m definitely going to try it again – will just cook higher/longer, because it tasted really good (just more custardy than cheesecakey).
This recipe has less cream cheese than our Classic Cheesecake Bars, for example, so it doesn’t take as long, and the texture is meant to be custardy and smooth. Did you let it chill to see if it set up?
These are AMAZING!! I made them for a family get-together and everyone went crazy over them. One person said they were the best thing they’ve ever eaten!
Wow! I’m so happy to hear they were such a hit!
Very good one! How did you do this lemon above the cake?
Hi! Do you know about how many cups of graham cracker crumbs this equals? I have a box of gluten free graham cracker crumbs that I’m hoping to use. Can’t wait to try!
Hi Alyssa! I would recommend weighing out your graham cracker crumbs, to ensure you have 135 grams 🙂
Made this recipe for New Years Eve with gluten free graham crackers and served with some mixed berry coulis and it was BOMB! The texture of the cheesecake was lovely and smooth. I used a vanilla bean because I had one and its what I would normally use to make creme brulee (and I also like when you can see the vanilla seeds) but even with an added splash of vanilla extract it still could have used a little more vanilla flavour. It think because you don’t heat/steep the cream with the vanilla, the batter just doesn’t take on the flavour the same way, so I will definitely give the vanilla paste a try next time as is recommended in the recipe. Thanks so much, this one is a keeper!
So happy to hear that! Thank you so much, Jessica!
If we don’t have graham crackers what shall we use?
Digestive biscuit is ok ?
Can I make these into teeny bite size cheesecakes? If so how long do you think I should bake them for.