chocolate chip cookie cheesecake bars

day 15 of project 365
our a/c is out...so it is too hot to function right now; therefore, my brain doesn't really have much to offer, but i will leave you with this. an awesome recipe that i tried today from Brandy's Baking. they heated up the house baking in the oven (believe me, i would not have been baking if i had realized the a/c was completely not working. had i realized my true predicament, i would have gone with an icebox dessert), but since they are refrigerated, they were refreshing and cool once it was time to eat them.

chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake bars

Ingredients (9-12 servings)

Crust:
·      1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (Note from me: I had no graham crackers, so I improvised with an old single serving bag of Fudge Stripe cookies and a handful of mini almond biscotti cookies from TJs)
·      5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough:
·      5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
·      1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
·      3 tablespoons granulated sugar
·      1/4 teaspoon salt
·      1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
·      3/4 cup flour
·      2/3 cup chocolate chips

Cheesecake Filling:
·      10 oz cream cheese, room temperature
·      1/4 cup sugar
·      1 large egg, room temperature
·      1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line an 8" square baking pan with parchment paper or foil allowing a little overhang and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

2. Mix the melted butter and graham cracker crumbs until thoroughly combined. Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 6 minutes. Remove pan to a cooling rack. Leave your oven on while you prepare the dough.

3. While the crust is cooling, prepare the chocolate chip cookie dough. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt and vanilla until smooth and thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. Mix in the flour on low speed, and mix until just incorporated. Mix in the chocolate chips. Set aside. (*Note from Brandy: This mixture is going to be dry...that’s okay. It’s rather like a crumble topping. You’re going to crumble it on top of the cheesecake layer. Note from me: See...I might have just messed up the ingredients or something, but my mixture was far from dry. It was probably my mistake, but we'll see when i try this recipe again.)

4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer cream together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Mix in the egg and vanilla on low speed just until incorporated. Pour the cheesecake batter into the prepared crust. Distribute the cookie dough onto the top of the cheesecake batter in teaspoon-sized clumps. Be sure to use all of the dough.

5. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the top feels dry and firm (the cookie dough) and the entire pan looks set if given a gentle shake. Move bars to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely. Chill in refrigerator overnight or for at least a couple hours.

6. Lift the bars out by the overhang and cut into squares for serving.

Source: My Baking Addiction via Brandy's Baking