Creme Brulee Cheesecake Bars

Surfing the web for recipes, I came across this Betty Crocker award winning recipe and I just had to try it!! Two of my favorite things, and it was a simple recipe so I thought "why not?!"  I am here in Austin spending another weekend with the boyfriend, and he is such a good sport when it comes to my silly baking moods that I get in :)

Ingredients:
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1 box (4-serving size) french vanilla instant pudding
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
3 egg yolks
16 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup toffee bits

Recipe from Betty Crocker

Directions:
(1) Preheat oven to 350˚F.  Lightly spray the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray.

(2) In a large mixing bowl, combine cookie mix, pudding mix, brown sugar, melted butter, 1 tsp of vanilla and 1 egg until a soft dough forms.  Press dough in to bottom of the baking dish, and set aside.

(3) In a medium mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sour cream, and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth.  Add 1 egg plus 3 egg yolks, and 1 1/2 tsp. of vanilla.  Beat until smooth and pour over cookie crust.


(4) Bake about 30-35 minutes or until the center is set.  Take the cheesecake out of the oven and sprinkle with the toffee bits.  Immediately return the cheesecake to the oven and turn off the heat.  This will allow the residual heat to slightly melt the toffee bits to give you the "brulee" of your cheesecake.  Refrigerate at least 4 hours.


I must say that I was pleasantly surprised with this dessert, and all of the boyfriend's coworkers raved about it :)  I will definitely make these again (I can see why it is an award winning recipe). I will say that these cheesecake bars do not get better with time. I found that the next morning, the "brulee" was more chewy and sticky than it was the day before.  I would say that this should be eaten as soon as it has chilled, and I am sure you won't have a hard time getting these off your hands ;)