Thai Tea Cheesecake Bars with Cardamom Graham Cracker
Makes 16 cheesecake bars
Thai Tea Cheesecake with a Cardamom Graham
My grandma loves cheesecake, well let start again, my grandma loves the Cheesecake Factory.
We spent a lot of time there throughout my childhood because when my grandparents weren’t at the restaurant, they wanted to be inundated with so much choice that they could really eat whatever they wanted. I had a lot of formative memories there, with them, like when I was 13 and my grandpa saw my back acne and begged to bring me to the emergency room. I barely touched my overflowing play of sesame chicken after that.
A lot of life has been lived at the Cheesecake Factory for the Domrongchai family, and a lot of cheesecakes have been consumed. I don’t know how much this relates back to the recipe, but I think a lot about my grandma whenever I'm cooking... so let me introduce you to my Thai Tea cheesecake bars with a cardamom graham cracker base. This is one of this recipes that I know my grandma would love… maybe not as much as a strawberry cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory though.
Ingredients
- 12-14 graham crackers
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 cup granulated sugar, divided
- 1 tablespoon ground cardamom
- 16 ounces cream cheese, completely softened to room temperature (two blocks)
- 1/4 cup sour cream, at room temperature
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons Thai tea concentrate
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 8x8 pan with parchment paper.
- In a food processor (or mortar and pestle like me), pulse the crackers until ground (doesn’t have to be finely done). Put into a large mixing bowl.
- Add the ground cardamom, 1/3 cup sugar, and melted butter nad mix until combined.
- Add the graham-cardamom mixture into the bottom of the baking pan, pressing down to smooth with the bottom of a cup or mug. Bake for 12 and set aside to cool
- Make the filling: In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar until just combined. Add the sour cream and eggs until smooth. Add in Thai tea concentrate, vanilla extract, lemon juice, salt, and blend until just combined.
- Pour mixture into the 8x8 baking dish (tap against counter a few times to smooth out and release air bubbles). Bake for 45 minutes until edges are slightly puffed; transfer to a rack to let cool for an hour before covering with foil and letting it sit in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight before slicing and serving.
