Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

In search for something easy yet different this weekend, I always go to my second love which is cheesecake. This version is actually perfect to use up my blocks of cream cheese and my packets of  graham cracker crumbs. Though I love making almost everything from scratch, I still get my graham cracker crumbs from a packet. I just find it so convenient to have on hand and I can whip up a cheesecake any time the craving hits. For this particular craving I made Elinor Klivans' Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bar, phew! that is definitely a mouthful and sounds very delicious. I got this recipe off her book nicely named The Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook, with a title like that who could blame me for having a copy of it and ogling on the awesome pictures for quite sometime now. The ogling has finally stopped after months and months of just flipping through it and now have decided to bake something off of it. You're definitely in for a treat!

As I grew older, I found out that I like graham cracker crust. Like is actually such a light term for it, on how I feel about it. Having read that this particular sweet would require a graham cracker crust with chocolate chips in them is such a nice treat! To be honest I had to restrain myself from eating it as is. Be sure to use your favorite chocolate chips for this since you can clearly taste the chocolate through the layers of cheesecake and the chocolate chip dough. From then on everything about this is such a breeze, the only thing that is difficult about this, I guess is waiting for it to cool down when it finished baking.
Honestly speaking when I was making this I thought that there must be some typo in the recipe because the cheesecake layer did not even cover half of the rolled up cookie dough. You can clearly see in the photos that the cookie doughs are peeking out which added an interesting touch. Lastly, to make it more visually appealing and taste more sinful, melt of good quality chocolate and drizzle on the cooled bars. Delish! Next time though I'm planning to split the recipe in half, so that the dough balls will be completely submerge in the cheesecake layer so when you bite into it there's a surprise. though I think either way it would taste great.
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH CHEESECAKE BARS
Adapted froElinor Klivans


CRUST:
  • 1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
  • 5 T unsalted butter, melted
  • 2/3 cup miniature chocolate chips
DOUGH:
  • 5 T unsalted butter @ room temp.
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 3 T white sugar
  • 1/8 t salt
  • 1 t vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
FILLING:
  • 10 ounces cream cheese @ room temp.
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg @ room temp.
  • 1 t vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  1. Make the crust: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and line a 9" square pan. 
  2. In a medium bowl, stir the crumbs and melted butter until the crumbs are evenly moistened. Stir in the chocolate chips.
  3. Press the crumb mixture evenly over the bottom and 1" up the sides of the prepared pan. Bake for 6 minutes and transfer to a wire rack.
  4. Make the dough: Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, sugars, salt and vanilla until light and fluffy. On low speed mix in the flour, just until incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips. Set aside.
  5. Make the filing: Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar on low speed until just smooth. Mix in the egg and vanilla beating just to blend them in.
  6. Pour cheesecake batter into the crust. Drop teaspoonfuls of the cookie dough over the top of the batter.
  7. Bake until the top feels dry and firm and look set if given a gentle shake, about 30 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack.
  8. Put the 1/3 cup of semisweet chocolate in a heat proof bowl and in 10 seconds intervals zap the chips in the microwave. Stir often to avoid burning of the chocolates. Stir until all is melted and everything is very smooth. Use a teaspoon to gently drizzle thin lines of melted chocolate over the top of the bars. Cool completely for 1 hour. The chocolate will set once the bars are cool.
  9. Loosen the sides of the bar and using the parchment paper lining lift the bars from the pan. Using a large, knife cut the bars into 16 pieces, wiping the knife clean as needed and slide the bars off the parchment.
  10. The bars can be covered and stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.
  11. Serve cold or at room temperature.

    nikcreate

    I'm a nine to five pencil pusher who loves to play with flour and paper during my free time. Dreams of going to Europe and eat croissants and make pastries all day long!

    1 comment:

    1. Ohh that looks so good. I love the crust idea.

      ReplyDelete