Get the Recipe: Speculoos Cheesecake Bars Recipe
Take these easy cheesecake bars to the next level with a swirl of speculoos, the utterly addicting cookie butter from Trader Joe's. The cheesecake bars are also made with a speculoos cookie crumb crust, giving these cheesecake bars extra flavor and crunch.
Ingredients
For the Speculoos Cookie Crust
- 1 ½ cups (5.25 ounces or 149 grams) finely-processed speculoos cookie crumbs (see baker's notes)
- 3 tablespoons (1.5 ounces or 43 grams) melted unsalted butter
- a pinch of kosher salt
For the Speculoos Cheesecake Filling
- 1 ½ cups (12 ounces or 340 grams) cream cheese, at room temperature
- ½ cup (3.5 ounces or 99 ounces) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- ½ cup (4 ounces or 113 grams) sour cream, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon speculoos cookie butter, slightly warmed (see baker's notes)
Instructions
For the Speculoos Cheesecake Bars
- First, make the crust: position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 (F). Line an 8-inch cake pan with a sheet of aluminum foil, leaving at least a 2-inch overhang on two opposite sides. Layer a second sheet of foil on top, perpendicular to the first, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the remaining sides.
- In a medium bowl, combine the cookie crumbs, melted butter, and salt and toss with your fingers until the mixture looks like wet sand. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and use a tart tamper or your hands to press it evenly over the bottom of the pan, all the way to the edges. (You can use the bottom of a coffee mug or heavy glass to pound the crumbs in place—you want to apply some pressure here so the crust holds its shape.)
- Bake for 12 minutes. The crust will look underbaked and feel soft to the touch when you remove it from the oven, but will firm up as it cools. Cool the crust on a wire rack while you make the filling.
Next, make the filling: lower the oven temperature to 325 (F).
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium-low until soft, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute, using a rubber spatula to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as necessary. Reduce the mixer to low and add the eggs one at a time, adding the next egg only after the previous one is fully incorporated, scraping down the bottom and sides of the bowl after each addition. With the mixer on low, add the sour cream all at once and beat until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl once more, and beat on medium-high for an additional 30 seconds.
- Pour the filling over the crust and use an offset spatula to smooth the top. Drizzle the warmed speculoos cookie butter over the batter and use a butter knife to carefully swirl it into the bars. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the edges are set but the center still wobbles slightly. Cool the bars completely on a wire rack. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the filling is firm, at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
- Run a butter knife or an offset spatula along the edges of the pan and use the overhanging foil as handles to lift the bars out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Use a hot knife to slice into 2-inch squares and serve. The cheesecake bars can be stores in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
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