These vanilla cheesecake bars are creamy, thick and custardy, made with a Biscoff crumb crust and covered with sugar torched into a perfect shell, they are the perfect dessert or pick me up snack for any occasion. The perfect mix between a cheesecake and a creme brûlée.

Brûlée Vanilla Cheesecake Bars

Remember that episode from Emily in Paris where the designer sits on his bed and breaks the shell of lots of creme brûlées? That’s how I felt when making these, I mean, I wasn’t depressed like him, but I really got the fun/satisfying part of it. These bars are the perfect combination between a cheesecake and a creme brûlée and take it to the next level. Just think, a cookie crust, a think creamy layer of sweet vanilla cheesecake and finally a hard shell of toasted sugar that breaks when you bite into it (or when you hit it with a spoon).

What’s creme brûlée?

Creme brûlée is a traditional french dessert consisting on a thick layer of rich custard and topped with toasted sugar. We have an identical dessert in Spain called Crema Catalana, and it’s one of those desserts you can just have any time of the year and always leaves you incredibly satisfied.

So what’s in these?

These are so incredibly easy to make and, as always, don’t require a lot of ingredients. All you’ll need is:

• Biscoff biscuits, or digestive biscuits
• Butter
• Creme cheese
• Greek yoghurt
• Granulated sugar
• Eggs
• Vanilla bean paste

Creamy Brûlée Vanilla Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients:

• 250 gr of Biscoff biscuits, you can also use Digestive biscuits (graham crackers)
• 70 gr of butter melted
• 450 gr of cream cheese
• 60 gr of greek yoghurt
• 100 gr of granulated sugar – plus extra for torching
• 3 medium eggs
• 1 Tbsp of vanilla bean paste – you can use vanilla extract if not available

Method:

1. Preheat the oven at 180 degrees celsius.
2. Using a food processor or a rolling pin, crumb the biscuits and mix them in a bowl with the melted butter. Press the cookie mix into a square baking pan, mine was 22 x 22 cm.
3. Cook the cookie base in the oven for 8 minutes and set aside.
4. Take the oven temperature down to 140 degrees celsius.
5. In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese and sugar until creamy and smooth.
6. Add in the eggs, one at a time mixing well after each addition.
7. Lastly, add in the vanilla bean paste and greek yoghurt and mix again until combined.
8. Pour the mix on top of the cookie base and smooth it out into an even layer.
9. Bake the cheesecake in the oven for 35-40 minutes. Once ready, it will still be slightly wobbly in the middle, that’s ok, it will keep cooking while it cools down.
10. Once the cheesecake has completely cooled down, place it in the fridge at least 2 hours, you can also leave it overnight, the longer in the fridge, the more the flavours will set.
11. Cut the cheesecake into squares and sprinkle the top of each square with granulated until they are completely covered, then torch them with a kitchen torch until they turns a deep amber colour. Please make sure you are careful while doing this!

Note: only torch the bars you will eat, otherwise they will go soggy.