Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

Oh boy. This is practically the ultimate dessert. Honestly, I'm not sure how much better it gets than these.This past Friday and Saturday was the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, which is celebrated in part by eating dairy foods - like blintzes and of course, cheesecake! And when I knew I was making cheesecake, I couldn't imagine creating anything but this recipe from Bake or Break, for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars.This recipe looks complicated, and the final product definitely looks fancy, but each of the individual components is simple and contain pretty standard ingredients.

Let's begin:

First up is the graham cracker base, which starts with graham cracker crumbs. You can buy these in the store, or make your own (and get out some aggression) by smashing up some graham crackers.
Next, the recipe calls for you to add the melted butter. Followed by the chocolate chips. Of course, since I'm impatient, and the butter was still in the microwave, and the chocolate chips were sitting right there, I added them first. Which meant that when I added the butter, the chips began to melt a little. That's what you get for impatience.
But it still worked fine, and when it was all mixed, I pressed it into a foil pan lined with parchment paper.
Bake that in the oven for 6 minutes. Don't forget it's in there!
Meanwhile, we're going to make the cream cheese filling. Nothing fancy, just the cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla.
Cream it up until it's light and fluffy. Note: the actual recipe calls for you to make the cookie dough first, then the cream cheese filling. Not sure it makes much difference. I suppose the cookie dough is probably easier to clean out of the bowl than the cheese. But I used a different mixer for the cookie dough anyhow. See:
So now you're going to spread the cream cheese filling evenly in the baked graham cracker base. When I did it, some of the crumbs came off and mixed with the cheese - but since I was covering it with the cookie dough anyhow, I wasn't too concerned.

Next came the cookie dough dolloping. Ooh boy. Try not to eat it while you go. Ok, just eat a little bit. There isn't even any raw egg in it! Not that that has ever stopped me before. I pressed the cookie dough pieces down a little bit here, but I think next time I might push a little bit more, to really get them submerged.
After it had baked and cooled, I melted the chocolate, with a little bit of butter for the topping. It was a little thick, so I thinned it out with some milk and plopped it into a ziploc bag and snipped a corner off.
Then I went straight to work with my design.
Isn't it beautiful! I just couldn't stop taking pictures.
Bet you're hungry now. Wouldn't you know, there is even some still left in my fridge. I'll be taking bids now. Cream cheese, cookie dough, graham crackers - is there anything really missing in life?
I should be honest though: this recipe is made for a 9 inch square pan, and I had the audacity to convert it to a 9x13 recipe. Which resulted in a lot of measurements like 7.22 tbsp of butter. So there was a lot of fudging, and a little guessing, but nothing in this recipe worried me, and trust me, it was delicious. So if anyone needs .78 tbsp of butter, give me a call.

Tip of the Day: Make these now! And try not to eat them in one sitting. I dare you.

Recipe: (from Bake or Break)

Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
5 tbsps butter, melted
2/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Cheesecake:
10 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Cookie Dough:
5 tbsps butter, softened
1/3 cup light brown sugar
3 tbsps sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1 cup chocolate chips (I used mini here too)

Topping:
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/2 tbsp butter

Crust:
Stir graham cracker crumbs and melted butter together until combined.
Stir in chocolate chips. Press into a parchment paper lined 9 inch square pan.
Bake for 6 minutes then set on wire rack to cool.

Filling:
Beat together cream cheese and sugar. Add egg and vanilla and blend well.
Pour into baked crust.

Cookie Dough:
Beat butter, sugars, salt and vanilla together until well mixed.
Gradually add in flour, and stir in chocolate chips.
Drop dollops of dough into the filling.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until set.

Melt together the chocolate and butter and drizzle over the top of the baked cheesecake.