TGIF

Sorry about the lack of blog posts, as Christmas gets closer our schedules get busier. Hopefully this recipe will make up for that though. I love finding new recipes to try out, but I don't know why I decide to try out new recipes and then immediately take them places. Luckily, this one turned out well for me. Really well.


Picture from Louanne's Kitchen


I found this recipe for turtle cheesecake bars on Pinterest a few weeks ago and my mouth watered immediately. This is definitely a "keeper" (as my mom would say), not only because it's delicious but also because it's pretty simple to make. So check out the recipe and the instructions after the jump, and thank you to Louanne's Kitchen for a great recipe!

*This does take a couple days to make because it needs to chill overnight, so be sure to plan ahead.

Turtle Cheesecake Bars (courtesy of Louanne's Kitchen)

What you need:
Crust:
3 cups finely chopped pecans
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Cheesecake:
24 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup full-fat Greek yogurt or sour cream (I used sour cream)
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 large eggs
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Topping:
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted (if you'd like)
1 11 oz. bag caramel candies
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
6 tablespoons milk, divided

How you make it:
-Preheat the oven to 300 degrees
-Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper so the paper extends over the long side of the pan. Or, if you're like me and you don't have parchment paper, you can coat the pan with cooking spray - it worked perfectly for me
-In a bowl, mix crust ingredients together with a fork
-Press mixture into the bottom of the pan
-Bake the crust for 20 minutes, and get started on the cheesecake while it's baking!
-Beat cream cheese, sour cream (or yogurt), sugar and vanilla until creamy
-Beat in eggs, one at a time
-When the crust is done, remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle the 1 cup of chocolate chips over the crust so they melt on there
-Pour cheesecake filling over chocolate chips/crust and put the pan back in the oven to bake for 50 minutes
-Allow the cheesecake to cool for one hour after removing it from the oven and then put it in the refrigerator to chill overnight
-Before serving, remove cheesecake from the parchment paper and place on serving platter, then prepare toppings (if you sprayed the pan like me, you can just leave it in the pan and put the toppings on - that's how I did it)
-Toast the pecans in the oven for 10 minutes at 350 degrees, if you'd like
-Unwrap the caramel candies and put in a microwave-safe bowl along with 4 tablespoons of milk
-Microwave in 30-second intervals until the caramels have melted and the sauce is smooth (it helps to stir every once and a while between microwaving)
-Pour caramel sauce over cheesecake and sprinkle pecans on top
-Place chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons of milk in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30-second intervals, same as the caramels
-Stir until smooth and drizzle over pecans and caramel
-Serve and enjoy!


Another great thing about this recipe is any left over caramel or chocolate sauce can be refrigerated and used later on ice cream!