A luxurious custard is one of our favorite dessert indulgences…and so is cheesecake, so when we came across a recipe that combined the two, well, this seemed like an opportunity to bring our favorites together into one amazing dish! And to make this a little “healthier” we’ve added a few diced pears, because fruit = healthy, right? (Wink.) The pears are totally optional, but we love the subtle sweetness and texture that they bring to the finished product.

This dessert isn’t too fussy but sure tastes like something fancy. We love the sweet creaminess that the custard brings to the usual cheesecake routine and the crumble topping adds just the right amount of light and sweet crunch. Speaking of crunch, one of the things that we like about this dessert is that it doesn’t have much of a crust. We took a little shortcut here with a refrigerated pie crust, but a homemade version would do well here too.

As much as we love a good crust, sometimes it can be overwhelming, especially in a dessert like this, where we really want the pie filling itself to be the star of the show. A thin crust means each bite is sweet perfection; a cool custardy cheesecake with a sugary topping and there’s no overbearing crust to get in the way.

We like that this can be made ahead of time, so it’s the perfect dessert for a dinner party. It can be pulled out of the refrigerator when dinner is served and it will be ready to slice into once the meal has ended and the coffee is brewed. From a dinner party dessert to a delightful bake sale treat, our crumble-topped custard cheesecake bars are a sweet treat that is sure to be oohed and ahhed over.