Toffee Cheesecake Bars

Valentine's Day. The kitchen-table date, the second year of the practice Dr. Langley suggested—one evening a week, candles and good dishes and no books or phones, choosing to be present rather than ending up present. This is a practice that has changed things. I don't say that easily or as a compliment to the practice. I say it because it is true: the choosing, the explicit decision to be here with this person rather than just happening to be in the same room, has changed the texture of our evenings, the quality of our company, the way we know each other in year twenty-nine of this marriage.

I made crème brûlée for Valentine's Day. I have not made crème brûlée in a long time—it requires a kitchen torch, which I have but rarely use, and a patience with custard that I always have but don't always deploy for two people on a weeknight. But it was Valentine's Day and the good dishes were out and the candles were on and Calvin looked at the crème brûlée in its little ramekins and said, "Loretta, where did this come from?" I said, "From my kitchen, Calvin," and he said, "I know. I mean—where did it come from? This isn't what you make." I said, "A person can make new things." He looked at the crème brûlée for a moment and then at me and he said, "Yes. Yes, she can." I cracked the sugar crust with the torch—the satisfying caramelization, the amber shell forming under the heat—and Calvin watched with the expression of a man who has been surprised by the same woman for twenty-nine years and who is not tired of being surprised. Good. Neither am I.

The crème brûlée was the point — the torch, the amber crust, the little ramekins on the good dishes — but what I want you to take away is the principle underneath it: a creamy, custard-rich dessert with a caramelized, toffee-sweet finish is a language all its own, and you don’t need a kitchen torch to speak it. These Toffee Cheesecake Bars are what I’d make the following week, or any week when the candles are out and the phones are put away and someone across the table deserves to be a little surprised. The buttery crust, the cool cheesecake layer, the crunch of toffee on top — it is the same conversation, different words.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 55 minutes (plus 2 hours chilling) | Servings: 16 bars

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
16 oz (2 packages) cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup toffee bits (such as Heath baking bits)
1/4 cup caramel sauce, for drizzling
Pinch of flaky sea salt

Instructions

Heat oven. Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a 9x13-inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving overhang on two sides for easy lifting.
Make the crust. Stir together graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and 2 tablespoons sugar until the mixture resembles wet sand. Press firmly and evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake 8 minutes, then set aside to cool slightly.
Make the filling. Beat softened cream cheese and 2/3 cup sugar with a hand mixer on medium speed until completely smooth, about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating just until incorporated after each. Mix in vanilla and sour cream until smooth. Do not overmix.
Layer and bake. Pour the cheesecake filling over the warm crust and spread into an even layer. Scatter 1/2 cup of the toffee bits evenly over the top. Bake 25–28 minutes, until the edges are set and the center has only a slight jiggle.
Cool and chill. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature on a wire rack, about 1 hour. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 2 hours, or overnight, until fully set.
Finish and serve. Use the parchment overhang to lift the slab onto a cutting board. Drizzle caramel sauce over the top, scatter the remaining 1/4 cup toffee bits, and finish with a pinch of flaky sea salt. Cut into 16 bars with a sharp knife wiped clean between cuts.

Nutrition (per serving)

Toffee Cheesecake Bars — The Night I Surprised Him Again