Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars
When I sent a picture of these bars to Hubby at work to show him what I had done during my day off, his response was simple “YES PLEASE”. As I’ve mentioned, Hubby is a HUGE cookie dough fan. As much as he claims not to be a big sweets/dessert guy, he will never deny his love of cookie dough. So when I saw these pop up in my Google Reader, there was no doubt that I had to add them to my must-bake list.
And due to that love of cookie dough, these bars jumped right to the top of that must-bake list. And boy am I glad they did. In fact, I think everyone who got to taste these guys is glad they made it to the top of the must-bake list.
These bars start with a base of a graham cracker crust with mini chocolate chips in it. Yes please. Next comes a cheesecake layer. Yes please. And last, but definitely not least, comes a layer of cookie dough crumbles. Yes Please.
The combination of these three layers results in amazingly delicious cookie bar that you will not be forgetting about any time soon. You get a great crunchiness from the graham cracker crust, then a great creaminess from the cheesecake layer, and then the delicious crumbliness from the cookie dough. I this this cookie dough recipe would be great to mix in to some ice cream. Like I mentioned, it yielded large crumbles of cookie dough, as opposed to the smooth cookie dough frosting that I’ve used on brownies and mini cupcakes.
A couple notes, I doubled this recipe since I was baking for a large group. I used a 9×13 pan and had to bake them for about double the baking time listed. I have shown the recipe below as a single batch. The original recipe has a chocolate drizzle over the top. I left it off literally because I forgot about it, but it would add another layer of indulgence to these bars.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars
Yield: 16
Ingredients:
For the Crust
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
5 Tbsp butter, melted
2/3 cup mini chocolate chips
For the Cookie Dough
5 Tbsp butter, room temp.
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp coarse salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup flour
1 cup chocolate chips
For the Cheesecake Filling
10 oz. cream cheese, room temp.
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325.
For the crust
Grease a 8x8 pan with butter, line pan with parchment paper and butter the paper, leaving enough to extend over the sides.
Crush graham crackers into crumbs to make 1 & 1/2 cups. Add to butter and stir until crumbs are moistened. Stir in chocolate chips.
Press crust mixture into bottom of pan. Bake for 6 minutes. Set pan on wire rack to cool.
For cookie dough
Using mixer and the paddle attachment, mix butter, brown sugar, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract at medium speed until smooth. Adjust mixer speed to low and add flour. Mix just until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips. Set aside.
For cheesecake
Using mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add egg and vanilla extract, beating just until blended.
Pour batter into cooled, 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 cool completely. Place in the refrigerator to chill several hours.
Recipe adapted from Bake at 350
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
Give me a moment to compose myself… ok. This is the cake that my dreams are made of! Carrot cake and cheesecake are my two favorite cakes, so combine them into one amazing dessert, and I’m in total bliss. It looks phenomenal, and I would dominate a big slice ;).
This cake was phenomenal!!!!! I have now made 3 versions and I think the carrot was the best. Everyone raved over it and we all thought it was better the 2nd day! YUM is an understatement!
I’m confused, how did the become a red velvet cake during the assembly?
beantownbaker — January 27th, 2013 @ 4:07 pm
That was a typo in the recipe since this was based on the red velvet cheesecake cake that I had made. I fixed it. Hope that helps.
Do i have to put the cheesecake pan in a roaster with water? I dont have a roaster? Before I purchase one I thought Id ask. Ive made many cheesecakes in the past and never did this
Thanks
beantownbaker — April 1st, 2013 @ 8:35 am
Yes, you are using a water bath to bake the cheesecake. So the water should come up about half way on the side of the pan that the cheesecake is in. I usually use a disposable roasting pan since I don’t have a roaster either. Hope that helps.
Just made this for Easter and everyone loved it.. Thank you
beantownbaker — April 1st, 2013 @ 8:36 am
Glad it was a success for you. This is a great Easter cake.
I made this for Easter today as well, and it was great, everyone said so. I couldn’t eat much, it’s SO thick and rich. I don’t think it would have been half as great without the cheesecake. LOVE that and what a super easy recipe for the cheesecake.
The cake was quite a bit more work than I am used to, and I had to change a few things up based on what I had, in cae this helps anyone else…
I didn’t have brown sugar, subbed coconut palm sugar.
I used toasted almonds instead of pecans and was pleasantly surprised that I actually like them when toasted, as I don’t normally like them at all, they were so light and crispy.
I do not have a stand mixer, I used my Ninja blender with the whipping cream attachement (I didn’t know that it would work but it worked just fine!)
My food processor is broke and couldn’t find my grater, so I used my blender for the carrots, worked just fine.
I skipped the parchment paper bc I was out and that was no biggie.
The cake looked picture perfect and tasted amazing, no complaints here. Thank you!!!
beantownbaker — April 1st, 2013 @ 8:37 am
So glad this worked out for you. Thanks for coming back and posting the changes you made. I am sure they will be helpful for other readers.
Toasted almonds are one of my favorite nuts! What a great substitution.
How many people will this feed? It is a combo of my two favorite things so I want to make it for a Bunco group.
beantownbaker — July 21st, 2013 @ 3:51 pm
It will easily serve 12-16
I made this for my mom’s 60th birthday and everyone loved it. My dad announced that it was his favorite cake ever, so…I’m about to go buy the ingredients to make it again for HIS 60th next week 🙂 Thanks!
beantownbaker — October 15th, 2013 @ 5:02 pm
Wow! Now that’s a compliment! So glad everyone enjoyed it 🙂
Hey there!
Wonderful recipe 🙂 just curious, when you assembled the cake, is the top layer bottom side up, or right side up? Did you trim the rounded top off?
Thanks!
beantownbaker — December 10th, 2013 @ 4:56 pm
If I remember correctly, my layers came out pretty flat. If they were round, I would trim the top off. I always put the top layer upside down when I’m stacking a layer cake.
Made this for Easter, for my husband’s side of the family. Perfect cake recipe! Takes time to make, but nothing difficult. Turned out beautifully and tasted wonderful. I didn’t tell anyone about the cheesecake layer, so when I cut the first piece everyone was just thrilled to see that middle layer. The cake is a feast for both the eyes and the palate. It also travels well, which is a bonus for a 3-layer cake. I will make this cake again, and again, and again. Thanks!!!
beantownbaker — April 27th, 2014 @ 2:46 pm
So glad you enjoyed it!!
Just tried to make this… and I am curious if other people who had success used the volume or weight measures??
I used the weight and was quite precise BUT the cake is now seemingly exploding in my oven.. I am thinking some of the ounces are wrong but am not sure. (I have checked the recipe about 5 times to make sure i measured correctly too…)
Quite disappointed but hopefully I can still salvage something from it.
hi! I wanted to make this for Easter tmrw..but I only have 10″ pans..both for the cheesecake & cake..can u PLEASE help me w/ the adjustments? I tried googling it, but it’s just not happening & I WANT to make this recipe..it has 5 stars! THANK U, THANK U!
what I left out, was, I don’t want my cakes to be thin..I LOVE/prefer a high cake 🙂
Hello! Will the cheesecake tend to soften and tilt or sink in if it’s in a slightly warm environment or if I make it into a 5-6″ layer cake? I’m thinking of having one cake layer at the bottom, then the cheesecake, then the rest of the 2-4 layers cake layers. I am wondering if the cake will hold (with the cheesecake layer) if I put a center dowel?