Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bars
Happy Saturday! Happy 2022! We are ringing in the New Year with a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bars recipe because it just feels right. It’s yummy, it’s kind of sexy, they’re bite size which somehow makes cheesecake even more enjoyable?
These Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake bars are a recipe I found while flipping through my Grandmother’s recipe book.
My sister (who, if you read this blog, you know doesn’t cook) has been holding our Grammy’s recipes hostage since she passed away in 2016 and she recently gave all of them to me. So, you can blame my sister for holding out this recipe and many more to come…
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Now I’m no cheesecake guru, but I’ve made many-a-graham cracker crust in my day, so fear not. Very, very easy. You don’t even have to buy regular graham crackers and crush them up anymore, they sell pre-crushed graham crackers. Some recipes will ask you to pre-bake the crust briefly before adding your filling. Do what you’re told for God’s sake.
And then what’s left, you take the makings of a Reese’s Cup and you put them in a cheesecake? Done. These Nestle Tollhouse Chips are what the original recipe calls for.
But, I will give you a couple of cheesecake pointers and this goes whether you’re baking an actual cheesecake, bars, mini cheesecakes…..
Cheesecake is a process. You will want to make your pretty little dessert the day before or at least several hours before you’re ready to eat it. This recipe takes 30 minutes to bake, but some cheesecakes can take upwards of an hour. Then they must cool completely. Then they should be chilled for optimum eating experience. So yeah, just make it the day before if you can.
Last cheesecake pointer, always let your cream cheese soften before mixing; pop it in the microwave for 15 second intervals and stir if you need to. No one likes clumps of cream cheese in their cheesecake.
So, enough about me. Run to Wal-Mart and grab what you don’t have stocked in the pantry and make these Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bars this weekend while we are home making resolutions to eat healthier!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
- 2 ½ C. Crushed Graham Crackers
- ¼ C. Sugar
- 12 T. Butter, unsalted (1 ½ sticks)
- 2 Blocks Cream Cheese, softened
- ¼ C. Flour
- ½ C. Sugar
- 1 T. Vanilla
- 4 Large Eggs
- 1 2/3 C. Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Peanut Butter Chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325. Prepare a 9x13 baking dish by lining with parchment paper and spraying with Pam or rubbing with butter.
- To make the crust, combine crushed graham crackers, sugar and melted butter. Combine well, but the mixture will still be crumbly. Press into the prepared baking dish into a smooth, even layer. Reserve 1/3 C. of the mixture for topping the cheesecake bars. Sprinkle 2/3 cups of the chocolate and peanut butter chips over the crust and set to the side.
- Beat softened cream cheese, flour, sugar, and vanilla in a stand mixer until thoroughly combined. Scrape down sides, and crack eggs in one at a time, letting each egg incorporate before adding the next.
- Pour mixture over the crust, and then top with the remaining chocolate and peanut butter chips, then the rest of the graham cracker crumbs.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes and then let cool completely.
- Chill in the pan, and then remove by lifting out by the parchment paper, and then cut into squares. Makes about 24 squares.
