Tom Cruise may have had Renee Zellweger at hello, but chocolate is all you need to capture my heart. Add cookie and cheesecake to the mix and you might as well get a net to catch me as I swoon. I'm not sure where there bars originated. I saw them on several different blogs so I thought I'd throw mine in the cyber mix too. Why not? These are just too good not to share. Even though there are three parts to this recipe, they are easy to make. Give them a try and I promise you will be thanking me!
Just a note: These are really rich, so a little goes a long way!
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars
Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
5 Tablespoons butter, melted
2/3 cup miniature chocolate chips
Cookie Dough:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Cheesecake Filling:
10 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9″-square baking pan. Line pan with parchment paper, leaving enough to extend over the sides. Butter the parchment paper. (I just sprayed my pan with no trouble.)
To prepare the crust combine graham cracker crumbs and butter until crumbs are moistened. Stir in the mini-chocolate chips.
Press crust mixture into bottom of pan and 1 inch up sides. I forgot to go up the sides and it was just fine. Bake for 6 minutes. Set pan on wire rack to cool.
Next Prepare the cookie dough. Using an electric mixer, mix butter, brown sugar, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract at medium speed until smooth. Decrease mixer speed to low and add flour
To prepare the filling, using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar just until smooth. Add egg and vanilla extract, beating just until blended. Pour batter into baked crust. Drop cookie dough by teaspoonfuls over the top of the filling.
Bake about 30 minutes, or until set. Transfer to wire rack.
To decorate with drizzled chocolate, place chocolate in a sandwich bag on a microwave safe dish and microwave in 30 second intervals moving the chocolate around between. Using scissors, cut the very tip off the sandwich bag. The smaller your cut, the smalled the drizzle. I skipped this step...it didn't seem necessary. Okay, I was just being lazy.
Using the edges of the parchment paper, remove bars from pan. Cut into bars and serve.
A couple of things:
1. This recipe is easily doubled.
2. You can make the crust ahead of time.
3. You can make the cookie dough a head of time too.
4. I wouldn't recommend making the cheesecake part ahead of time because it would have to be refrigerated and you'll need it at room temperature to pour over the crust.
