Prepare. Prep your baking dish with parchment paper that hangs over the sides of the dish. You can give the parchment a quick spray with nonstick. Also, preheat your oven to 350f.
Crust. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine together the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar. Mix these ingredients until well combined (this step can also be done in a food processor). Then press the mixture into your prepared baking dish and bake for 10 minutes to set.
Filling. To make the cheesecake filling, beat together the softened cream cheese with the sugar on medium speed until smooth and then stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Set your mixer on slow speed and add the vanilla extract and eggs (one at a time) until just combined.
Bake. Transfer the filling to the cooled graham cracker crust, evenly spreading it out. Return the baking dish to the oven and bake until the center is almost set (about 30 minutes). Then allow the cheesecake to cool to room temperature.
Topping. To make the pecan pie topping, combine together the brown sugar, corn syrup, heavy cream, and butter in a saucepan on medium heat, stirring constantly. Once the mixture begins to boil allow it to boil for about an minute before removing the saucepan from the heat. Then stir in the vanilla extract and chopped pecans. Let this mixture sit for a few minutes to cool.
Top. To add the topping to the cheesecake bars, use a large spoon to drop dollops of the topping over the cooled bars. Then use a rubber spatula or similar item to evenly spread the topping out over the bars.
Set. Once the cheesecake bars have cooled to room temperature, you can cover them and transfer them to your refrigerator to fully set (about four hours).
Serve. When your bars have fully set you can use the overhanging parchment paper to lift the bars from the baking dish. Slice the cheesecake in half and then continue to slice the halves in half until your have 24 (or whatever amount you want) servings.