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You are here: Home / All-Time Favorites / Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

January 15, 2014 By Anna 20 Comments

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars From Scratch!

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars are for anyone who likes chocolate chip cookies and cheesecake. That means everyone, right? Well maybe not, but I have a feeling these will disappear quickly at a party. Not that you have to wait until there’s a party to make them. Seriously, this may be the best recipe on Cookie Madness.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

This recipe is based on an old one from Pillsbury which calls for a 16 ounce package of dough. You can certainly go the packaged dough route, but if you have some basic ingredients around it’s pretty easy to make the dough from scratch. The catch with these bars is they need plenty of time to chill, so you have to make them several hours or even a day in advance. Once they are firm, they slice neatly and are quite pretty. They’re also rich, so even though they’re made in an 8 inch pan you can cut them into fairly small pieces.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

Here’s what they look like before going in the oven.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Bars

I probably should have taken an “after” picture so you could see what they like when they come out of the oven.  They really puff up quite a bit to the point where you may question whether or not an 8 inch pan was the right size, but don’t worry — they settle back down as they cool.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars
 
Print
Prep time
10 mins
Cook time
30 mins
Total time
40 mins
 
Creamy cheesecake layered between chocolate chip cookie bars.
Author: Cookie Madness
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Serves: 16
Ingredients
  • 8 tablespoons softened butter (120 grams)
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (100 grams)
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (190 grams)
  • 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
Filling
  • 8 oz softened cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 inch square metal pan with nonstick foil or line with regular foil and grease it.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Beat in both sugars, vanilla, salt and baking soda and continue beating until well mixed, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in the egg.
  3. Add the flour and stir by hand until mixture is well blended. Stir in the chocolate chips. Empty mixture onto a flat surface and shape into a log. Cut off about ¼ of the log and save for future cookies.
  4. Cut remaining log in half and press half into the bottom of the lined pan.
  5. Prepare filling. Beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth, then beat in the vanilla and the egg. When smooth, stir in the chocolate chips. Pour this mixture over the chocolate chip cookie dough base.
  6. Break off very large marble size pieces of remaining dough and flatten. Lay the pieces over the cream cheese mixture, spreading evenly, until you’ve used all the dough. Cream cheese mixture will not be completely covered.
  7. Bake on the rack just below the center of the oven for 30 minutes or until golden. The bars will puff up quite a bit, but will sink somewhat as they cool.
  8. Let cool completely, then chill for at least 3 hours. Lift from pan and cut into squares.
Notes
Alternatively, you may substitute a 16 oz package of refrigerated cookie dough.
3.2.2265

 

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Filed Under: All-Time Favorites, Bake Sale, Cream Cheese, My Top Picks

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Comments

  1. Stephanie @ Plain Chicken says

    January 15, 2014 at 3:23 pm

    I would eat the entire pan of these! They look SO good!

  2. Ashley @ Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen says

    January 15, 2014 at 3:56 pm

    These look great! This would be perfect for my MIL who always wants cookies AND cake. Ha!

  3. Beth says

    January 15, 2014 at 8:49 pm

    These look great! I know what I’m making next!

  4. Carolyn says

    January 16, 2014 at 1:19 pm

    These look ridiculously good.

  5. Karen Schmidt-Dill says

    January 16, 2014 at 4:04 pm

    Oh boy! We are having a mini-blizzard today, all the schools are closed. There is hardly any snow falling but the wind is blowing 30-40 mph and no one wants to go outside! I know what I can make now. Thank you, Anna!

  6. Nancy says

    January 18, 2014 at 11:47 am

    I’ve had these made with the Pillsbury cookie dough (which I generally do not lik), and they were soooo good! I’m sure yours are even better!

  7. Nancy says

    January 18, 2014 at 11:48 am

    I’ve had these made with the Pillsbury cookie dough (which I generally do not like), and they were soooo good! I’m sure yours are even better!

  8. Cynna says

    February 9, 2014 at 11:50 am

    I made these on Thursday, refrigerated them until Saturday, when I served them at a party. Yum! I did make a few minor changes to the recipe and was thrilled with the results. In the dough, I added a 1/4 teaspoon of instant coffee, and cut the salt to a 1/4 teaspoon. For the filling, I cut the sugar to a scant 2 tablespoons and cut the chocolate chips to 3/4 cup. Everyone at the party loved them!

  9. Lori says

    February 16, 2014 at 3:40 pm

    Can I use an 8×8 glass pan? I don’t have a metal one that size.

  10. Anna says

    February 16, 2014 at 4:30 pm

    Hi Lori, I think it will work. The general rule of thumb for using a glass pan is to subtract 25 degrees from the heat and bake a little longer if needed. In this case, that means 325 F.

  11. Cynna says

    February 16, 2014 at 5:53 pm

    If it helps, I used a Pyrex (glass) pan to bake these bars, and set the temperature at 350. I almost always bake bar cookies in Pyrex as it seems to distribute the heat more evenly. (Thanks for the temperature tip, too!)

  12. Anna says

    February 16, 2014 at 6:21 pm

    Cynna, thanks ! That’s good to know since I mostly use metal for bars. I find that glass holds heat really well, so unless the temperature is lowered, the edges or the part of the batter that touches the glass tends to cook a little more and in some cases, forms a crust. With this recipe, that extra bit of heat the dough gets from the glass is probably a good thing.

  13. Cynna says

    February 16, 2014 at 6:41 pm

    Anna–Yes, good points! Either way, the bars were delicious!
    As for baking, I think so much depends, too, on weather, geographical climate, and the oven. I live on the east coast in PA near the Delaware river and always had to adjust my my recipes when we had a winter home in Scottsdale.

  14. Diana says

    March 2, 2014 at 10:32 am

    Do you think that you could double this recipe and bake them in a 9×13 pan?

  15. Anna says

    March 2, 2014 at 11:02 am

    I haven’t tried it, but it would probably work. If you try it, let us know! I think the worst that could happen is that the bars would be slightly underbaked in the center.

  16. Diana says

    March 2, 2014 at 5:32 pm

    I made this and doubled the recipe. Baked it in a glass 9×13 for approx. a hour. BIG hit, my family loves it.

  17. Anna says

    March 2, 2014 at 5:46 pm

    Diana, thanks for the report! I may make a double batch this week for a party. Thanks again for experimenting and reporting back :).

  18. Sue says

    November 12, 2014 at 10:24 am

    I’m glad you mentioned these. I can’t wait for an excuse to try them.

  19. rose says

    January 3, 2015 at 8:18 am

    I’ve made these many times in 2014. I have also used chocolate cream cheese instead of white and they were just wonderful.

  20. Anna says

    January 3, 2015 at 8:21 am

    Chocolate cream cheese? I didn’t know there was such a thing! Neat.

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