As you might recall, we recently posted a Pinterest Tested recipe for Salted Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Bark, where we had a ton of leftover pretzel-caramel pieces leftover since the chocolate didn’t adhere very well and separated from it. Now I am not one to waste food or time so I scooped up the leftovers and put them in the fridge for a rainy day. Then it dawned on me- these would make a delicious cheesecake crust! I pulled up my favorite cheesecake recipe on AllRecipes for the filling and got to work! These were so yummy! I made them cupcake size just for fun.

Jen’s Caramel Pretzel Crusted Strawberry Cheesecake Bites

 I started by crushing up the leftover pretzel-caramel pieces from our Pinterest Tested: Salted Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Bark recipe, mixing the finely crushed crust with some melted butter, and then pressed down firmly into cupcake liners.

 Then, I whipped up a batch of my favorite cheesecake filling, poured into the individual cupcakes, and baked according to the cheesecake filling recipe.

 Almost done! You can eat these plain or add a topping- I added some canned strawberry pie filling.

Voila! Let these settle and cool overnight (or a least for a few hours), and enjoy!

Do it yourself:

*Makes 12 cheesecakes in a regular cupcake tin

Make the pretzel caramel bark (don’t add any chocolate or sea salt) – half the recipe for just 12 cheesecakes like mine -, let cool overnight, remove from pan, and crush in a plastic bag until finely ground. Add a few tablespoons of melted butter (I used about 2) to the mixture, stir until well coated, and then firmly press crust into lined cupcake pans.

Whip up Chantal’s New York Cheesecake filling (skip the crust part) – I quartered the recipe because I didn’t need so much filling for just 12 cupcakes – and pour onto individual crusts in cupcake pan.

After baking, let cool for about an hour in fridge, then spoon canned strawberry pie filling onto the top of each cheesecake-cupcake. Be careful not to put too much- it can get messy!

Let cool overnight (ideally) and enjoy!

- J