Name: Caramel Cheesecake Bites
Cook time: 1 hour
Total time: 5 hours (includes chilling)
Yield: Makes 32 bars
Ingredients: Buttery Sugar Cookie dough recipe; 20 ounces jarred or canned dulce de leche at room temperature (see Cooks' Notes); 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened; 2/3 cup sugar; 3 large eggs; 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; A 13- by 9-inch baking pan; small offset metal spatula (optional but so helpful); disposable pastry bag (optional)

Image may contain Confectionery Food Sweets and Bread

Caramel Cheesecake BitesChris Gentile

If you choose to bake only one cookie from this collection, make it these bites. The crisp cookie base provides the perfect contrasting setup to the luscious caramel-flavored dulce de leche—caramelized milk—hidden under the creamiest cheesecake layer. The final snazzy drizzle of dulce de leche is not essential, we know, but it makes the bites downright irresistible.

Cooks' Notes:

•Dulce de leche is available in varying-size jars and cans at many supermarkets, specialty foods stores, and Latino shops. Leftovers are delicious in coffee, drizzled over ice cream, or just eaten by the spoonful.
•Cheesecake bites—without the final dulce de leche drizzle—keep chilled in an airtight container in single layers, separated by wax paper 5 days. Drizzle with the optional dulce de leche garnish just before serving.

Recipe notes

See Related Recipes and Cooking Tips

47 Ways to Make Exceptionally Delicious Cheesecake Right Now
If you're going to bake a cheesecake, it might as well be a showstopper.

Caramelized Onion Pasta

Turn humble onions into this thrifty yet luxe pasta dinner.

Heavenly Halva Cake

Serve a thick slice for breakfast or an afternoon pick-me-up.

Vodka Gochujang Pasta

This pasta has some really big energy about it. It’s so extra, it’s the type of thing you should be eating in your bikini while drinking a magnum of rosé, not in Hebden Bridge (or wherever you live), but on a beach on Mykonos.

Our Favorite French Onion Soup

Caramelized onions, melty Gruyère, and a deeply savory broth deliver the kind of comfort that doesn’t need improving.

Kung Pao Cabbage With Tofu

Reliable cabbage is cooked in the punchy sauce and then combined with store-bought baked tofu and roasted cashews for a salad that can also be eaten with rice.

Smothered Italian Sausage

This is what I call a fridge-eater recipe. The key here is getting a nice sear on the sausage and cooking the tomato down until it coats the sausage and vegetables well.

Golden Mushroom Soup With Orzo & a Pat of Butter

This is the type of soup that, at first glance, might seem a little…unexciting. But you’re underestimating the power of mushrooms, which do the heavy lifting.

White Bean Turkey Chili

A dash of cocoa powder adds depth and richness to the broth of this easy turkey chili.

Recipe notes

47 Ways to Make Exceptionally Delicious Cheesecake Right Now