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Friday, August 26, 2011

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

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These rank right up there with the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Bars in terms of popularity from the masses. Rather than make those again for the Cheesecake Extravaganza, I went with something I was equally confident people would love. These went over just as well as anticipated. In fact, I think I refilled the tray of these more than anything else in the first hour or so of the party. Are you surprised though? 

As you can see from the picture, the little bars are packed with cookie dough. I opted to cut them into pretty small squares and serve them in cupcake liners, but you may find yourself just digging into the baking dish with a fork ;) As I sliced these babies, I made sure to cut perfect edges, ensuring that there was plenty of discarded pieces to shovel in my mouth!



One Year Ago: Salsa Verde Bake (LOVE this meal!)


Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars
as seen on Brown-Eyed Baker, adapted from Bake at 350

Ingredients:
for the crust-
-1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 8 whole graham crackers)
-5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

for the cookie dough-
-5 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
-1/3 cup light brown sugar
-1/4 cup all-purpose flour
-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
-3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

for the cheesecake filling-
-10 oz. cream cheese (can use 1/3 less fat), at room temperature
-1/4 cup granulated sugar
-1 egg
-1 tsp vanilla extract

for the chocolate drizzle-
-1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
-1 tsp vegetable shortening

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325F. Lightly grease an 8 x 8 inch baking pan, line with parchment paper, and butter the parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Stir together the graham cracker crumbs with melted butter until crumbs are evenly moistened. Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 6 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.
3. To make the cookie dough, stir together the butter and sugar until smooth. Stir in flour, then the vanilla and chocolate chips. Refrigerate until firm (30 minutes), before rolling dough into teaspoon-sized balls. Place balls on a plate and refrigerate while preparing cheesecake filling.
4. In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth, scraping the bowl if needed. Add the egg and vanilla extract, beating until combined.
5. Remove the cookie dough balls from the fridge and toss with 1 tsp of flour. Drop into the cheesecake filling and mix together carefully. Pour the filling into the cooled crust, spreading evenly over the top. Bake for 30 minutes, until cheesecake filling is set and no longer jiggly. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
6. Remove the bars from the pan and place on a cutting board. Cut into squares. Melt chocolate chips with shortening in the microwave, stirring until smooth. Drizzle chocolate over the bars and allow to set for about 20 minutes. Store leftover cheesecake bars in the frige.