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Philadelphia Caramel Cheesecake Bars

"Take cheesecake bars over-the-top with a drizzle of caramel and a dusting of chopped pecans."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cream cheese match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,746 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

The recipe

32 bars
Prep15 min

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Heat the oven to 325°F (163°C). Line a 9x13-inch pan with foil or parchment, leaving an overhang on the sides.

  2. Stir the graham crumbs, half of the ground pecans and the melted butter together. Press the mixture firmly into the bottom of the pan and bake for 10 minutes. Let it cool while you make the filling.

  3. In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the sour cream and vanilla until combined.

  4. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing on low speed just until each is blended. Do not overbeat.

  5. Pour the filling over the cooled crust. Drizzle the caramel topping over the top and swirl gently with a knife. Sprinkle the remaining pecans over the surface.

  6. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the edges are set and the center barely jiggles. The center should reach 160°F (71°C) because of the raw eggs. Cool on a rack, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

  7. Lift the bars out using the overhang, cut into bars with a sharp knife, and serve cold.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Butter + cream cheesetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,746 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  2. Butter + creamtop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together41,494 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together35,031 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Honey + vanillatop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,262 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Pecans + cream cheesetop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together465 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

Sugar and vanilla share little aroma chemistry, yet 35,031 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the pecans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (honey, butter, cream cheese, sugar, cream, vanilla, egg):

  1. Pecansthe original
  2. Almondabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against honey, butter, cream cheese, sugar, cream, vanilla, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).