Turtle cheesecake bars

If you like both cheesecake and Turtle candies, here is a combination you will love.

Turtle Cheesecake Bars

For the crust-

3 cups pecans, finely chopped

1/3 cup sugar

1 stick butter, unsalted

¼ tsp salt

Or you could just use Oreo cheesecake crust or crust mix. Your choice. For me, anything Oreo is good!

For the filling-

24 oz cream cheese, softened

3 eggs

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

¾ cup sugar

¼ full-fat Greek yogurt or sour cream

1 tbsp vanilla extract

For the topping-

1 11-oz bag caramel candy, unwrapped

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup toasted pecans, coarsely chopped

6 tbsp, divided

Preheat oven to 300F.

In a medium bowl, combine crust ingredients. Line a 13”x9” pan with parchment paper, extending it over the long side of the pan. Press the crust onto the bottom of the pan and bake for 20 minutes. After the crust bakes, sprinkle on the semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Meanwhile, combine yogurt or sour cream, cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl. Then, add the eggs one at a time and spread the completed cream mixture over the chips. Bake for 50 more minutes. Once it's done, let the cheesecake stand for about an hour before putting in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 350F. Toast pecans for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, put 4 tbsp milk and the caramels in a bowl and microwave in 30-second increments until melted and smooth. When it's done pour over cheesecake and sprinkle on the pecans. Now, do the same with the chocolate chips-mix with the other 2 tbsp milk and microwave in 30-second increments until the chocolate is smooth. Drizzle it over the cake, let it set, and serve.

Variations:

Instead of melting the caramels in the microwave, some people use ready-made caramel dip. I suppose you could also use dark confectioner's chocolate, or alternately melt and drizzle dark and milk chocolate. It's up to you. I don't care which, just as long as you bring me a few!

Enjoy!