17 Aug
Posted as Brownies and Bar Cookies
It’s no secret that I have a deep, passionate love for cheesecake. It’s by far one of my favorite desserts and I will try any and every variation that I can find. So when Annie asked if I’d be interested in doing a virtual bake-along with her and suggested these cheesecake squares, it took me about 2.2 seconds to eagerly agree. Not only did they involve cheesecake, but also dulce de leche and a chocolate glaze. Bonus! For those that aren’t familiar with dulce de leche, it hails from Argentina and is very similar to caramel, made by slowly heating sweetened milk. Dulce de leche is typically sold by the jar and can sometimes be hard to find in the store. I have seen it in Italian groceries near the Nutella, and in regular grocery stores in the International aisle by the Mexican or Hispanic foods. If you are unable to find it, you can substitute caramel or make your own (I have included the method with the recipe below).
I significantly altered the original recipe, using it as inspiration to create dulce de leche cheesecake bars. The first thing I did was make the dulce de leche an actual layer instead of being mixed into the cheesecake filling. I wanted it to stand out on its own, so it now sits atop the crust. The second alteration was the cheesecake layer. The original recipe calls for a gelatin mixture to be used so that the cheesecake layer sets up and is easier to pick up and eat with your fingers. Unfortunately, I’m a cheesecake purist. And while I typically claim that there’s always room for Jello, there is no vacancy for it in my cheesecake. Cheesecake is cheesecake and if it becomes a little more difficult to pick up in bar form, well, I’ll just lick my fingers 
Oh, and I should note that the original recipe calls for cutting these into 64 squares. No way was that happening. I cut them into 36 and even those are way, way too small for my liking. I guess that’s good even if you just want to grab one for a snack or are taking them to a gathering and want them to be able to feed a bunch. If you want to serve these for dessert I would cut them even bigger. But like I said, I’m insane when it comes to cheesecake!
Want more cheesecake? Who doesn’t?! Check out these recipes:
Coffee-and-Espresso Layered Cheesecake
Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake
Brown Sugar-Apple Cheesecake
Hidden Berry Cream Cheese Torte
Chocolate Rum Cheesecake
Oreo Cheesecake
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Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Squares
Makes 36 small squares or 16 dessert-size pieces
For the Crust:
3½ ounces graham crackers, crushed (1 cup of crumbs)
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons butter, meltedFor the Filling:
12 ounces dulce de leche or 1 cup (or caramel, if you can’t find it and don’t want to make it)
16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extractFor the Glaze:
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons light corn syrupTo Make Dulce de Leche: Pour one 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk into the top of a double boiler pan and cover. Place over boiling water. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 40 to 50 minutes, or until thick and light caramel-colored. Remove from heat and whisk until smooth.
1. Make the Crust. Position an oven rack in the middle position and preheat oven to 325F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides. Spray parchment paper with non-stick spray.
2. Finally grind the graham crackers with the sugar in a food processor. With the motor running, add the butter, blending until combined. Press mixture evenly onto bottom of baking pan. Bake 10 minutes, then place on a cooling rack to cool for 5 minutes.
3. Make the Filling. Spread the dulce de leche evenly over the graham crust, then place pan in refrigerator while you prepare the cream cheese layer.
4. Beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed unti light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the sugar and continue to beat on medium-high for another 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl if necessary. Beat in the vanilla extract.
5. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the dulce de leche layer evenly, and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the center only slightly jiggles. Remove from the oven and cool completely before refrigerating for at least 3 hours.
6. Glaze the cake. Heat the chocolate, butter and light corn syrup in a double boiler or in a microwave at 30-second intervals, stirring until smooth. Pour the glaze over the cheesecake, tilting the pan to ensure the top is coated evenly. Chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.
7. Lift the cheesecake from the pan using the parchment handles and slice into squares using a sharp knife, wiping it clean after each cut.
(Adapted from Smitten Kitchen and Tyler Florence)
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Love the little bars!
Wowee!! Those look like rich little devils!
I made a dulce de leche cheesecake a while back as part of a Daring Bakers challenge. We were in heaven, it is a stellar flavor combination. These look wonderful and now I am craving cheesecake….
Oooops, mine was cafe de leche, I made the cheesecake layer espresso flavored. Whatever, these still look amazing.
Yum I have been wanting to make these for a while, yours look delicious!
They look amazing, I can’t wait to try these. I’m currently baking up all my great fruit finds from the farmers market, but as soon as that’s all gone, I’m on this!
Looks amazing! Love that you put chocolate glaze on top!
OMG, I always LOVE opening your post!
Eye candy…YUM!
This looks heavenly ! LOVE dulce de leche ANYTHING.
wowwwy–these look super delish, thanks for sharing. love the cupcake idea in a square shape–super
Love this recipe
I love dulce de leche!! I eat it straight from the can, yummy! I make it by by boiling a can of condensed milk, but of course it’s safer to do it over a double boiler or in the oven.
This looks like an amazing recipe! These bars look decadent and just plain naughty.
These look great. Thank you for sharing.
http://thechocolatecult.blogspot.com/
Oh…Wow! Those look amazing! Cheesecake should be a food group in and of itself!
Oh…my….gosh. These look so good! I love dulce de leche, and love cheesecake, and these would be so perfect. I bet I could substitute some crushed GF crackers for the crust and it’d be perfect!
simply amazing! I love dulce de luche, it pretty makes any sweet treat worth having!
Cheesecake and chocolate (err…dulce de leche) does it get any better? DROOL
Yum! Those look awesome!
Can I have one with my coffee please?
The squares look absolutely amazing…
Thanks for sharing. I didn’t realize that this dish is originally from spain. I thought it was italian. lol.
Hi! i loved those, but.. just one thing… DULCE DE LECHE is not Spanish… at all. It´s Argentinian. Or if you want, southern-south american (that’s Chile, Uruguay and Argentina). In fact… you can´t find dulce de leche in Spain, unless you go to the international aisle, just like you do =P
it means “sweet made out of milk” and you can make it by boiling milk with a lot of sugar, on a very slow heat, for hours… and then .. voila! dulce de leche.
nice photo! as everyone can’t help but say… these look amazin.
HOLY YUM!!! I love DDL, I love cheesecake!! A dessert I MUST try soon!!
In love with dulce de leche! sounds really good with cheesecake!
Oh my GOSH these squares look so good! I’m in love with anything that has dulce de leche in (have you tried dulce de leche ice cream? MMM!). These look rich and indulgent…and very very moreish
Hello, gorgeous! I adore cheesecake–these little squares are calling my name…
Hi Denise! Thanks so much for correcting me on this one. I didn’t realize it was in fact a South American (Argentinian) creation. I have edited the post to reflect the correct history. Thanks again!
Yummy! So glad you enjoyed these as much as I did. Thanks for baking with me
Oh I saw these on the main page of Food buzz..look delicious, decadent and sooo lovely!! I want to pick them off the screen and eat them up!!
Looks so good! Wow!
These look faaaaaaabulous!!!!
Aggh this looks amazing too! Love that layer of dulce de leche.
This dessert looks decadent and deadly–my thighs feel heavier just reading the post!
I will have to give this recipe a try….then run 10 miles.
WOW!! Your photos and recipes are always sooo amazing! I’ll have to do Jillian Michaels’ shred twice a day so I can make these and eat them all by myself.
I’ve been dying to try making dulce de leche but the only method I’ve seen is the boiling the can method and it terrified me. Thanks for posting this method – I think I can handle this one
Your bars look awesome!
Hi! here from Argentina! These chhesecake squares look so good! Here we have dulce de leche everywhere so we “abuse” of it. I can´t buy too often because when we open is to eat it till the end!! Of course I will try this..Thanks
Awesomeness! Love Dulce de Leche anything
We’ve boiled condensed milk to make caramel for years and it’s never been a problem or even given us cause for concern. You don’t want to boil the heck out of it- just gently simmer for a couple of hours.
And then… spread it over the graham cracker crust and make cheesecake!
These look so freaking delicious! I am bookmarking this recipe to try right away. Beautiful photos too.
Those look unbelievably delicious!!!