Salted Caramel Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Bars

I've mentioned once or twice that when I get stressed out, I like to bake.  Pinterest has made it even easier to indulge in my stress-reducing hobby.  

I have always wanted to do something with dulce de leche, but not doing the actual way that I've seen Hispanics do it, because that looks damn impossible.  But hooray for Carnation because oh, they put it in a can for you.  And then you're done.  Voila.  This was a great recipe.  I got it courtesy of Made With Pink, and I highly recommend it.

Ingredients:

Crust:

2 1/4 cups graham crackers ( I would have used the store bought, but unfortunately for me this thing calls for a pretty gigantic glass dish)

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

10 tablespoons butter melted (FYI, if you melt this in the microwave, make sure to pay attention to it, or else it will explode into a gigantic mess all over it.)

Filling:

3 8-oz packages cream cheese, room temp

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1/2 cup dulce de leche 

2 teaspoons vanilla 

Glaze:

2/3 cup dulce de leche

2-3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream (never claimed it to be healthy)

10 caramel chews

Sea Salt (or regular Kosher, which is what I used...it wasn't as pretty, but tasted just as delicious)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat 13x9x2 inch pan coated with nonstick spray.  Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and cinnamon in medium bowl.  Add melted butter; stir until coated.  Transfer crumb mixture to pan.  Press evenly onto bottom of pan.  Bake until crust is light golden, about 10 minutes (no, mine took way longer).  Cool completely on rack.

 2.  Blend the cream cheese and sugar together until smooth and creamy.  Add the eggs one at a tie, blending for 3 to 5 seconds each time until incorporated.  Add in the dulce de leche and vanilla and blend until just mixed.  Spread the batter evenly over the cooled crust and bake until the cheesecake mixture is just set in center and the edges are puffed and slightly cracked, about 38 minutes.  Transfer to rack and cool completely.

3.  One the cheesecake bar is cooled, poor 2/3 cup dulce de leche sauce and the three tablespoons of whipping cream in a glass measuring cup.  Microwave at 10 second intervals stirring between each interval.  Do this until the mixture is smooth and combined.  next, take about 10 caramel chews and heat them into the microwave for 15-20 seconds until just melted.  Quickly dump the melted caramel chews into the dulce de leche mixture and stir continuously until combined.  (This was THE HARDEST step of all; sticky caramel an dulce de leche means everything sticks to you for awhile.)  You want the caramel topping to be soft and gooey, but not too runny that it pours down the side of your bar once you cut it.  Cover and chill until ready to serve.

4.  Lastly, when you're ready to serve the bars sprinkle the caramel glaze lightly with the sea salt (or Kosher).  I just spread it all over before even putting it in the refrigerator, but to each his own.

I wish I could tell you how amazing this thing tastes.  As you can tell, my bar looks upside down.  That's what happens when you don't cook the crust enough.  Although, the longer it sat, the more formed it became.  

Yep, these also come in handy after a terrible work Monday.