Snickers Cheesecake Bars

Baking and cooking are two things that I truly enjoy doing every day. There's something calming about chopping vegetables, or cutting butter into flour. When you're caught up in school with classes all day, or work, it's so much quicker to make something simple in between writing essays, doing anthropology labs, or reading dense international political economy textbooks.

Pasta with Homemade Pumpkin Sauce I made this week...so yummy

But I never feel more satisfied than when I take the time to cook something that turns out to be absolutely scrumptious. I was reminded this week of how much I enjoy being in the kitchen, and cooking/baking for others. Whenever I feel like doing something nice for a friend, I immediately want to make them a dessert that I know they'll love.

Bailey and I at my birthday dinner... Margaritas! :)

This week I decided I wanted to make something nice for my friend Bailey, who has been working really hard and needed something sweet to brighten her week. So when I decided to do the October Chocolate Party, I thought why not double dip!



Candy is quite a broad choice for an ingredient month... There's so many categories of candy, where do you start?! I knew I wanted to make her cheesecake (because I asked what she would want if I were to bake her annnyyything. I love asking people that). There was a catch with this Chocolate party, and Bailey baking gift combination. Bailey does not like chocolate very much. She'll eat things with minimal milk chocolate, anything white chocolate, but nooothing dark. So I went with Snickers (very little milk chocolate) for the candy part, and topped the bars with white chocolate chips, and I'm thinking she'll like it.



Ingredients: Adapted from The Recipe Critic

9 cinnamon graham crackers
5 tbsp melted butter
16 ounces cream cheese, room temp
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup granulated sugar
12-15 fun size snickers, chopped
1/3 cup white chocolate chips (or any kind you want)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an 8 by 8 baking dish by lining it with foil (allow for enough foil to fold over the edges of the pan for easy bar removal).

In a medium bowl, crush the graham crackers with a pastry cutter until they are nothing but crumbs. I had fun doing this by hand, but feel free to toss them into a food processor.

Then dribble over the melted butter and mix with a rubber spatula. Press into the bottom of the pan, and bake for 9-10 minutes. Let cool.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese, egg, vanilla and sugar until smooth. Fold in the snickers bits by hand.

Pour the filling over the crust, and smooth over with a spatula. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over top, and slightly press them down with your palms.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until the filling is set. Let cool for half an hour out of the oven, then cover and chill in the fridge at least 3 hours before cutting. Using a large chef's knife, cut the bars into somewhat (hehe) even bars.
 

And there ya go. Cheesecake can be difficult to deal with when it comes to springform pans etc, but making bars is so easy! And just as tasty (if not more). Yay for baking, friends, and feeling the kitchen inspiration once again!

Wanna be part of the Chocolate Party fun?

Join the Chocolate Party! Here’s how to participate (the rules):

1. Blog about your chocolate treat. Your recipe must include the two ingredients we choose. It can be a simple no bake treat or a sophisticated layer cake, the complexity level of the recipe is totally up to you.

2. Include a link back to this post or the Chocolate party page. Optional, add the Chocolate Party logo in your blog post or on your sidebar.

3. Your recipe must be published during the current month. Please do not link old recipes, they will be deleted.