This post is sponsored by Veetee, but all opinions are my own.
Hey dear readers! I'm back with my second installment in my partnership with Veetee rice. Did you have a chance to check out my Chicken Cordon Bleu Wild Rice Soup? It tastes EXACTLY like the classic dish, only in soup form. My family devoured it in about 3.5 seconds.
For this recipe, I got a bit crazy and used rice in a dessert! I know it sounds weird, and well maybe it is, but trust me when I say it works.
I planned this stunning dessert around our Sunday dinner {Baked Ravioli Lasagna + Short Cut Chopped Caesar Salad}, because what Sunday pasta dinner doesn't go well with cheesecake? I added sea salt and caramel, because you know, sea salt + caramel = perfection.
What I love about Veetee rice is the simplicity. Conveniently packaged in 10 oz. portions, it is perfect to heat up {in just 2 minutes!} to add along with a stir-fry, to mix into meat to amp-up tacos or to bulk up your favorite homemade soup.
I've used their brown rice, long grain white rice, wild rice and so many others. In fact when my supply runs out and I have to go back to cooking rice the normal way I may just shed a tear. Like real tears! Not like the tears I shed over the weekend when one child had an accident in the bathroom, another child slammed her finger in the door and the other child was waiting for me in the van ready to go....ALL AT THE SAME TIME.
It will not be that kind of emergency. But, it will be a sad, sad day.
The bottom of this cheesecake is a crunchy, salty layer of vanilla wafers. The perfect combo to go with the creamy, rich cheesecake layer that is studded with cream cheese {of course!}, sour cream, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla, sugar, caramel and rice!
Yes, rice.
We've all heard of rice pudding, a popular dessert, so I figured why not combine the two? Classic rice pudding is when rice is cooked with milk until creamy and mixed with sugar, salt, cinnamon and often raisins. It is about the only rice dish eaten as a sweet version.
Until now.
Wow. These cheesecake bars hit our table after dinner and everyone stayed silent until their plates were virtually licked clean.
There are a multiude of reasons to put this Salted Caramel Rice Pudding Cheesecake on your next menu that needs a stunner of a dessert.
1. Umm....cheesecake.
2. Salted caramel.
3. It's incredibly easy.
4. Make your friends guess the secret ingredient!
Have fun with this one peeps. It bakes up easily in a 9x13 pan {no fancy springform pan!} and doctoring up a store bought jar of caramel sauce with some sea salt can be mastered by anyone.
Salted Caramel Rice Pudding Cheesecake
Crust:
40 vanilla wafers, crushed
1/4 c. butter, melted
2 T. sugar
Filling:
4 pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 c. sugar
1 c. sour cream
1 T. cinnamon
1 t. vanilla
1 t. sea salt
4 eggs
10 oz. cooked Veetee long grain white rice {or 1 1/2 c. cooked white rice}
3/4 c. caramel topping + additional for topping
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9x13 baking pan with tin foil allowing it to come up the sides. Spray heavily with cooking spray.
2. In a microwave safe bowl melt the butter. Add in the sugar and crushed vanilla wafers and stir. Pour the wet crumb mixture into the pan, spreading out and pressing down to form a crust.
3. In a stand mixer or using a hand mixer start mixing the cream cheese until it's smooth. Add in the sour cream and sugar until fluffy.
4. Add in the eggs one at a time until combined. Mix in the caramel, cinnamon, vanilla, and sea salt. Finally fold in the cooked rice.
5. Pour the cheesecake mixture over the crust.
6. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. The cheesecake will be slightly cracked and a bit firm to the touch, yet still a little jiggly. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Then refrigerate for 4 hours.
7. To serve, cut into squares, drizzle with caramel and sprinkle with additional sea salt. Store extra in the fridge for up to one week.
A big thank you to Veetee for sponsoring this post!
