Carefully add butter, one piece at a time, and heat and stir until melted. Use caution, as mixture will bubble and sputter when butter is added. Pour in warm cream and whisk quickly until mixture bubbles up. Remove pan from heat and continue to whisk as the bubbles calm down. Whisk in kosher salt and then set sauce aside to cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Transfer sauce to a jar and store in refrigerator.

Assemble the bars: Once the bars have chilled at least an hour or up to overnight, remove from refrigerator and cut into bars. Place bars on serving plates. Using a spoon, drizzle some of the salted honey sauce over each cheesecake bar (or pass sauce at the table so everyone can drizzle their own). Sprinkle a few pecan pieces and a tiny bit of coarse flaked salt over top and serve. Store any leftover cheesecake bars and sauce in the refrigerator.

Recipe notes

--Labneh is a type of Middle Eastern fermented yogurt cheese -- comparable to cream cheese -- that has been strained to remove the whey. If you can't find it at the store, you can easily make your own. This following recipe makes just the amount you will need for these cheesecake bars.

--To make homemade labneh: In a bowl, combine 28 ounces of plain whole-milk Greek yogurt (such as four 7-ounce containers of Fage brand yogurt) and 1 teaspoon of salt. Pour mixture into a bowl that has been lined with a double layer of cheesecloth. Gather cheesecloth around yogurt into a bundle and tie it from one of your kitchen cupboard handles, with the bowl on the counter underneath the yogurt bundle to catch the liquid. Let the yogurt drain for 24 hours. It doesn't need to be refrigerated, but if this makes you squeamish, go ahead and rig up the system in your refrigerator.

--You will have more than enough salted honey sauce to garnish these bars, but the extras are lovely over ice cream, brownies, apple or pear slices, pretzels, pancakes, or anywhere you need a sweet drizzle. Store leftovers in a jar in the refrigerator, covered, up to one month.

--An 8-inch square pan makes 9 generous servings. You could cut the rich cheesecake bars into smaller pieces, and everyone would be satisfied. Or use a 9-inch square pan, which will result in slightly thinner crust and filling, but will more easily cut into 12 servings.

(Jessie Shafer is a contributor to TheKitchn.com, a nationally known blog for people who love food and home cooking. Submit any comments or questions to editorial@thekitchn.com.)