Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Bars

When Kristen and Mookie were here last Thursday evening for a long-overdue dinner, I had to come up with a suitable dessert. On that occasion, what jumped to mind was the terrific dulce de leche cheesecake bars that spin into the rotation from time to time. With an ample layer of full-flavored cheesecake filling atop a Biscoff cookie crust, and then topped with a spreadable adaptation of more dulce de leche, these squares sit in lovely repose on plates but only briefly.

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"Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Bars," by Cindy Mushet. In Bon Appétit, June 2010, p. 96.

Apple Crisp Cheesecake Bars/Apple Chai Cream Cheese Strudel

Apple featured prominently in a couple of recent desserts here. The first of those was Friday a week ago, when a joyful gathering of dearest friends of the Roediger House occurred, and our sweet finisher was apple crisp cheesecake bars. I went to work on this marvel mid-day, prepping the brown sugar shortbread crust, whipping up the chilled rolled oat crisp topping, mixing together the vanilla bean cheesecake layer, and dicing a mix of Granny Smith and Honeycrisp apples with sugar and spices. Once assembled, into the oven it went and by early afternoon it was ready to cool down and then be chilled. It’s been just shy of three years since I made a batch of these, and this was only their fifth appearance here. It was music to my ears to hear the high praise from the assembled crew, which signals pretty clearly that once every three years is not enough.

We ended up with only a couple of cheesecake bars left, but with fellow Tar Heel Kelly coming for the succeeding Sunday night meal, I took inspiration from its insufficient remains and created a variation for a different dessert: apple chai cream cheese strudel. Starting with refrigerated puff pastry saved me a lot of trouble; then I cooked some finely-diced Honeycrisp apple with plenty of brown sugar and cinnamon, and I whipped cream cheese with sugar and egg yolk and chai spice. The rolled-out puff pastry was sliced just so, in order to create an elegant strudel braid to seal it all up. A nice egg wash and some turbinado sugar sprinkled on top set it up for a proper baking time. I finished it off with an eggnog glaze just before serving up our plates to round out our Sunday dinner hour—and our bellies, I suppose!

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"Apple Crisp Cheesecake Bars," from Meghan McGarry of ButtercreamBlondie.com. [Published 03 October 2014 / Updated 09 December 2023]

Adapted from "Easy Apple Strudel with Puff Pastry,” by Hyegyoung K. (Holly) Ford, founder of the blog Beyond Kimchee. [Published 15 September 2021 / Updated 02 June 2025]

Chai-Spiced Sweetened Cream Cheese Filling loosely adapted from "Blueberry Cream Cheese Pastry Braid," from Sally McKenney of Sally's Baking Addiction. [Published 16 February 2014 / Updated 25 April 2025]

Girl Scout Cookie Lemon Shortbread Cheesecake

Back at month's beginning, on February's first day, it was a pleasure to relish in the visit of former WFU student Alison with her husband Josh and their three terrific kids. In our catch-up conversation was the report that her daughter is a Girl Scout and that naturally turns a conversation, especially at this time of the year, to Girl Scout cookies. I told her about the recipe we'd enjoyed here for almost a decade, where two kinds of Girl Scout cookies are key ingredients in a lemon shortbread cheesecake. I sent her home with a recipe and then she surprised me with a package in the mail, containing the boxes of cookies I'd need to make it myself. Therein lay a happy mandate, and I tackled it at the beginning of Presidents' Day week. Then it was a marvelous dessert following another evening with more chicken salad on Tuesday night. It's pretty straightforward and uncomplicated and a real gem for the supper patrons when those Girl Scout cookies are wisely obtained.

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"Lemon Shortbread Cheesecake," by Rosalia Roger of Lincoln, Nebraska. Originally published in Taste of Home, February/March, 2016, p. 64-65.

Lemon Cheesecake with Biscoff Crust

Following our supper gathering for six last Sunday, featuring supper-sized baked beans, all in celebration of Kristen and Amy's March birthdays, I also had some dessert: lemon cheesecake with a Biscoff crust. The last time I made this? Pretty much exactly one year ago, also for that birthday celebration! Oh, it's so very delicious, even when it's not the season for Meyer lemons as the recipe calls for. This sweet finisher was befitting of the ladies we'd gathered to honor, two outstanding leaders in their respective fields, and always fun and delightful to hang out with.

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Based on "Meyer Lemon Cheesecake with Biscoff Crust," by Lucy Mercer on Food52.com. [Published 17 February 2022]

Girl Scout Cookie Lemon Shortbread Cheesecake

Not quite a decade ago, an issue of Taste of Home included a few recipes for desserts that could be made from Girl Scout cookies. The one that my eye was drawn to was for a lemon shortbread cheesecake, a shortcut simple amalgamation of two different Girl Scout cookies, along with a terrific homemade lemon curd on top, which is what really makes it especially appealing. It's been a hit around here, even though I confess to having mixed feelings about it. That helps me keep my personal slices a tad more modest.

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"Lemon Shortbread Cheesecake," by Rosalia Roger of Lincoln, Nebraska. Originally published in Taste of Home, February/March, 2016, p. 64-65.

Creamy No-Bake Cheesecake for the Crew

Following our baked ziti dinner last Sunday night, with six of us at the table, we returned after a brief hangtime break to partake of the evening's dessert option: creamy no-bake cheesecake. Not so very hard to put together, and light and delightful in its finished form, this sweet treat brought a fine evening to a close, just as our anticipation of the Monday icks began to settle on us.

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"Easy No-Bake Cheesecake," by Stella Parks, BraveTart and pastry wizard, and now an Editor Emeritus of SeriousEats.com. [Recipe Updated 30 October 2019 and 01 March 2023]

Red Velvet Cheesecake

After botching one pie on the final weekend of August, I was left with a whole extra chocolate/vanilla cookie crust, formed and baked in a regular pie dish. I dove into my cheesecakes recipe notebook, settling on a red velvet version that I could pare down by one-third to fit the available space. (The filling was just the right amount, in fact!) I baked it to what seemed like the right degree of doneness on that Sunday afternoon; then, on Monday, I whipped up the sweetened cream cheese topping so that it could serve as dessert on August's final Monday evening.

While I definitely dig red velvet creations, and have a wonderfully varied track record of them (ice cream, layer cake, sheet cake, pound cake, cinnamon rolls, cookies, pots de crème, and frosted sugar cookies), this was just the second time I've made a red velvet cheesecake...and first time with this specific recipe.

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"Red Velvet Cheesecake," by Karen Dively (Chapin, South Carolina). Published online by Taste of Home. [Updated 28 July 2023]

Creamy No-Bake Cheesecake

Last Friday's gathering of the good bunch had a fine finisher in the form of a creamy, fluffy, slightly tangy no-bake cheesecake on a Biscoff crust. It was a fitting end to another great evening with these dear friends, on top of that delicious Brunswick stew and plenty of time hanging out and laughing (and playing some pool) up on the third floor. We finished the night back around that cozy kitchen table, all reasonably pleased with how the cheesecake turned out, and realizing we'd just have to stop while it was all still fun.

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"How to Make the Best No-Bake Cheesecake," by Stella Parks, BraveTart and pastry wizard, and now an Editor Emeritus of SeriousEats.com. [Recipe Updated 30 October 2019]

Snackables and a Sweet for the Super Superintendents

When indulging in the unparalleled joy of a long-overdue reunion with two amazing colleagues from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, one should offer in return some indulgences to help the visit be sweet and savored.

A staple for decades back home in Buies Creek, as part of entertaining and get-togethers and especially Christmas family gatherings—and a tribute to the prime Eastern North Carolina agricultural offering—sugar(ed) peanuts are an addictive snack. Starting with raw shelled peanuts, preferably still in their red skins, they are boiled in what is essentially a simple syrup before getting a good baking in a low-temp oven. The sugar crystallizes as an adorning shell and the actual number consumed in a sitting remains classified. This is one time I'm happy to work for peanuts.

While I wanted to avoid repetition, I did make a new batch of pimento cheese even though I'd served that to Donna and Ebbie when they were here before. Donna made the insightful discovery that a bit of toasting of slices from Monday night's maple milk bread creates a pretty remarkable landing spot for the pimento cheese, as an alternative to the usual dependence on Wheat Thins.

Our mornings were helped along by bowls of fresh fruit, along with our coffees or teas. None of us are real breakfast eaters so this all worked out splendidly.

The dessert I made to follow Monday evening's meal was aplenty and appreciated enough to carry us through the rest of their all-too-short time here: apple crisp cheesecake bars on a brown sugar shortbread crust, with a drizzle of bourbon caramel sauce I made a while back. Our squares looked too large each evening, upon first glance, but grew disappointingly smaller with each tasty bite.

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"South Carolina-Style Pimento Cheese." Recipe worked out by me, based on Sharon's Palmetto Pimento Cheese.

"Sugar Peanuts," long a staple of holiday gatherings in the Jones Family household. Recipe from my mother.

"Apple Crisp Cheesecake Bars," from Meghan McGarry of ButtercreamBlondie.com. [Published 03 October 2014]

Banana Pudding Cheesecake Bars

Sunday's dessert creation involved a new recipe I'd grabbed last summer but had not gotten around to yet: banana pudding cheesecake bars. As I believe I've muttered about in previous blog posts, I love bananas and I love banana pudding and I'm glad I've discovered banana bread pancakes and I've come around to banana bread. Other banana-flavored things, not so much (roasted banana ice cream, banana sheet cake).

Confession: this is the dessert I made when I had set out cream cheese by mistake—I'd thought it was needed for the recent eggnog cinnamon rolls but I was misremembering the recipe. It was a matter of not letting it go to waste. Further honesty: I wanted to make a dessert that would not tempt me much. Well, as sometimes happens, a new recipe is a grand experiment and also the only time it will be served here. These banana pudding cheesecake bars were absolutely awful, so after a sample piece, the rest of it was tossed into the garbage...and the recipe was removed from the notebook and tossed into the rubbish bin.

Sunday was another one of those miserable winter days that I really am not fond of: grey, cold, rainy, unbearable, with temps that would not quite break out of the thirties. Nonetheless, when the precipitation backed off to sort of spitting, I bundled up and ventured off on a long downtown walk, clocking in right at five-and-a-half miles. It is a testament to the inspiration, motivation, and hostage-taking made possible by my Apple Watch: it was Sunday, and I wanted that victorious notification of a perfect week of activity and workouts.

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"Banana Pudding Cheesecake Bars," from Jocelyn Delk Adams of Grandbaby-Cakes.com. [Published 27 April 2015 / Updated 28 June 2022]

Meyer Lemon Cheesecake with Biscoff Crust

With the gathering of a festive five last Monday night for dinner and a movie, a dessert worthy of its consumers was required. Still in the lemon sphere this holiday, I piloted a new recipe for Meyer lemon cheesecake with a Biscoff crust, capped with sweetened sour cream topping and adorned with spooned specialness in the form of homemade Meyer lemon curd.

We decided it ranked among our best Roediger House cheesecake experiences ever, which I humbly submit is possibly saying something.

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"Meyer Lemon Cheesecake with Biscoff Crust," by Lucy Mercer on Food52.com. [Published 17 February 2022]

"Lemon Curd," from Charlotte Rutledge of King Arthur Baking.

Meal No. 3221: Halloween Movies Gathering

Not that Halloween itself is a big deal around here anymore, but it's still worthy of some marking in some small way. In 2022, that meant bringing the Roediger House regulars over for a movie and some fun foods suitable for supper last Friday. On the menu: cheeseburger sliders on homemade slider rolls, party ham biscuits, and tortilla chips with southwestern dip. The movie: 1994's Interview with the Vampire, appropriate since more recently AMC's 2022 series based on the same novel has been part of the television lineup.

In the cabinet was still a second package of store-bought Hawaiian sweet rolls, from the previous weekend's Wake Forest friends brunch affair, which was dedicated to this repeat batch of party ham biscuits (pictured above). Since I was committed to trying the cheeseburger sliders recipe I'd recently come across (photo below), I let it inspire me to try my hand at homemade slider rolls. Boy, did they turn out soft and gorgeous and pleassantly golden brown!

The dough came together nicely and was a breeze to work with. What still needs improvement is my ability to equally divide and shape dough!

After the two rising times, the baking led to a gorgeous result:

Of course, one must then be sure that those lovely tops were brushed with a not-inconsequential amount of melted butter:

American cheese on the bottom layer of the split rolls, with the browned seasoned ground beef and sautéed finely-diced onions, finished in the skillet with that homemade beef-and-cheddar-melts sauce...

...then topped with freshly-grated sharp cheddar cheese and baked to a melty goodness (refer to earlier photo above).

Ah, but how about dessert? Check: dulce de leche cheesecake bars, a particular favorite of Gern's and a wise choice given he had just celebrated a birthday. Apparently it's been almost exactly five years since I made these delicious little treats.

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"Southwestern Dip," in Betty Crocker Monthly Recipes, December 2001.

"Cheeseburger Sliders" [Published 27 March 2020] and "Soft Dinner Rolls" [Published 20 November 2020], by Natasha Kravchuk of Natasha's Kitchen.

"Beef & Cheddar Melts Sauce," a Roediger House creation.

"Party Ham Biscuits," a recipe shared with the Jones family by fellow UNC alum Susan Brown. I recorded her version in my recipe collection in 1988. There are various takes on this recipe, of course. Pretty popular is the "caramelized" version, such as this one: "Caramelized Ham & Swiss Buns," by Iris Weihemuller of Baxter, MN, in Taste of Home, December 2013, p. 59.

Horseradish Sauce based on "Horseradish Sauce Recipe," from Natasha Kravchuk of Natasha's Kitchen. [Published 07 February 2019]

"Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Bars," by Cindy Mushet. In Bon Appétit, June 2010, p. 96.

Apple Crisp Cheesecake Bars

On Saturday night two weeks ago, after a delicious seasonally-appropriate chowder gathering for the most faithful regulars of the Roediger House, I brought out for dessert a similarly suitable sweet something that corresponded with the advent of autumn: nicely spiced apple crisp cheesecake bars on a brown sugar shortbread crust. The blog tells me this is its third appearance here, having been introduced following a dinner with Amy and Gern back in early 2020. I had made it again not so long ago, but had some leftover maple cream sauce to put on top of it, which made it seem like a rather different dessert. This latest offering was pretty darned delicious and pretty much did us all in once we finished.

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"Apple Crisp Cheesecake Bars," from Meghan McGarry of ButtercreamBlondie.com. [Published 03 October 2014]

Apple Crisp Cheesecake Bars

While it's quite a production in putting it all together, there is no comparison to the wonderfulness in the result when one decides to tackle apple crisp cheesecake bars, suitable for company of treasured friends. These are rather amazing and did not require the adornment of my leftover maple cream sauce or homemade sweet vanilla ice milk. But there you have it.

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"Apple Crisp Cheesecake Bars," from Meghan McGarry of ButtercreamBlondie.com. [Published 03 October 2014]

The Best Lemon Cheesecake. Ever.

...or so goes its bombastic self-title, from the recipe source. It served as dessert last Saturday night, when Amy and Gern were over: lemon cheesecake. It's been forever since I made a standard springform-pan cheesecake, it seems, and I'd been meaning to try something new but also with the promise of a bright flavor following our spicy Mexican chicken and rice.

The partakers seemed to like it, and it did have a light-and-yet-sturdy creaminess that gave it good mouth-feel, one might say. I might have realized as I was eating my slice that it's good but not as appealing as the amazing Atlantic Beach pie, and it does not have the light lift and sweet zing of the from-scratch no-bake cheesecake I've made a couple of times.

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Adapted from "The Best Lemon Cheesecake. Ever." From Jolina, the Unlikely Baker.

Meal No. 2883: Braised Chicken and Brussels Sprouts

Back on Monday, July 5th, I wanted another decent meal that would suit the demands of a table of six folks. Because it's usually dependably good, I decided to go with braised chicken thighs with Brussels sprouts and shallots, and then I also made a large pan of apple and bacon stuffing to help balance it all out. Quite frankly, I wish it had all been better. I was a bit disappointed.

But we could not let the evening end without some sweet treat. How convenient, then, that there was an easy go-to recipe that I was trying out for the second time: a no-bake cheesecake with a Biscoff cookie crust. Fortunately, I was able to whip it up pretty quickly the night before, after cleaning up from our grilled cheeseburgers for July 4th. I've not forgotten how alluring a traditional cheesecake can be, but this whipped, creamy, and slightly tangy version is light and different and ideal for summer.

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"Braised Chicken and Brussels Sprouts," in Everyday Food, Issue 97, November 2012, p. 22.

Apple and Bacon Stuffing adapted from "Basic Stuffing," from Food Network Magazine.

"How to Make the Best No-Bake Cheesecake," by Stella Parks, BraveTart and pastry wizard, and now an Editor Emeritus of SeriousEats.com. [Recipe Updated 30 October 2019]

Creamy No-Bake Cheesecake

Monday a week ago, I managed to pull out yet another amazing new dessert, which turned out excellent mostly because it was one more winning recipe from the remarkable Stella Parks via SeriousEats.com. On the dessert plates: creamy, light, tangy and sweet no-bake cheesecake.

Even the piece that flipped over and missed the plate was still pretty darned awesome.

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"How to Make the Best No-Bake Cheesecake," by Stella Parks, BraveTart and pastry wizard, and now an Editor Emeritus of SeriousEats.com. [Recipe Updated 30 October 2019]

Eggnog, Eggnog Cheesecake Cake, and Eggnog Ice Cream

I suppose the feels of the Christmas season have made a bare and tiny entrance at the Roediger House, because last Saturday was an all-eggnog-all-day kind of kitchen endeavor. It started with making the base for eggnog ice cream, that I tucked away to chill in the fridge so that I could churn it in the ice cream maker the next day. 

Then, in a big pot on the cooktop, I made a batch of homemade eggnog. The preference here is that it be Baptist and alcohol-free, so it might not be to everyone's liking. 

Then I finished up those kitchen explorations with a new monstrosity: eggnog cheesecake cake. Yep: that's a layer of eggnog cheesecake between a couple of homemade spice cake layers, together with a delightful eggnog frosting.

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"Homemade Eggnog," by Beverly Sims. In Cuckoo Cooks from Gilboa Christian Church in Cuckoo, Virginia.

"Eggnog Ice Cream," by David Lebovitz. In The Perfect Scoop. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press (2007), p. 58.

"Eggnog Cheesecake Cake," from Aimee Shugarman of ShugarySweets.com. [Published 19 December 2018 and Updated 04 December 2020]

Apple Crisp Cheesecake Bars

When Amy and Gern were here Sunday a week ago for a low-key supper together, I was hyped to try a new recipe that I'd come across to serve for our dessert. Unfortunately, I was sloppy in allowing for the necessary cool-down and chilling time that would have been called for, but I served it up nonetheless...and we were all much happier for it! There was enough to share with them and with Mookie and Kristen, which left still plenty that sat around for a few days, begging to be indulged in, a temptation that it was impossible to resist. Behold: apple crisp cheesecake bars...a multi-bowl preparation extravaganza while putting together, but with a marvelously unique result that pleased its receivers. They were pretty incredible, and that is certainly no April Fool's joke!

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"Apple Crisp Cheesecake Bars," from Meghan McGarry of ButtercreamBlondie.com. [Published 03 October 2014]

Carrot Cake Cheesecake Cake

That's a lot of "cakes" in the title, but that's the name on the recipe I was using, and that's probably the best way to describe for you the monstrosity that was served for dessert back on February 9th. It's a three-layer cake, with spiced carrot cake on top and bottom but a creamy cheesecake sandwiched in the middle. All of it is then adorned with a sweet and delicious cream cheese frosting. It got reasonably rave reviews from the dinner guests, although I'm sure it could be tinkered with and made much better. Still, it was a fun small challenge and I'm glad it turned out pretty well in the end.

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"Carrot Cake and Cheesecake Cake," from Jen the Beantown Baker. [Published 13 April 2011]