While you do need the oven for these Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars, these sweet treats are a light, bright COLD dessert to enjoy during summer’s hottest days.
Disclaimer: This post and recipe was created for #SummerDessertWeek! I was sent samples by some of the sponsor companies but as always opinions are 100% mine.
Welcome to this year’s #SummerDessertWeek event hosted by Angie from Big Bear’s Wife. You’re going to be in for a treat this year because we have 28 blogs/bloggers creating summer themed dessert recipes all week! We’re sharing them with the hashtag #SummerDessertWeek on social media and you’ll find some of the links in this post as well. Plus, we also have some great giveaways for you this week thanks to our amazing sponsors!
Scroll down, to below the recipe, to take a look at the prizes and to enter to win one! 
Cheesecake is my husband’s favorite dessert, but it’s not something I make often. It just takes too long, and really, I need to be hosting a crowd otherwise my husband and I will go up a pant size. It’s just too much for the two of us. So this dessert was a fun alternative. It still makes quiet a bit, but it’s easier to pack a plate and share with a neighbor or the coworkers. With the flavors, this is really an evergreen recipe – one you can make all year round. However, since it’s served chilled, it’s a great summer dessert option. With a brown sugar cookie crust and a vanilla and chocolate cheesecake layer, this sweet treat made my husband, son and coworkers quite happy.
Recipe Notes for Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars:
- The original recipe suggested that this dish only made a dozen servings, but those would have been pretty huge slices. I adjusted the serving size to a smaller square piece, or about 20 servings.
- All sugar used in this recipe is from our Spring Dessert Week sponsor, Dixie Crystals. Huge thanks to Dixie Crystals for their generosity in sponsoring this event!
- Crust: Do not double the crust. I did, because I generally love a good thick crust, but it was too crunchy and hard.
- Variation: Use a more typical graham cracker crust, with graham crackers, a tablespoon or two of sugar, and melted butter. This will forever be my favorite.
Check out the amazing #SummerDessertWeek recipes from our bloggers today!
- Strawberry Banana Sorbet from Big Bear’s Wife
- Sugar Cookie Fruit Pizzas from Semi Homemade Recipes
- Strawberry Banana Oatmeal Cookies from Eat Move Make
- Strawberry Upside Down Cake from It’s Shanaka
- Margarita Bundt Cake from Fake Ginger
- Air Fryer Blackberry Hand Pies from Blogghetti
- Grape Jello Pie from 4 Sons ‘R’ Us
- Lime Raspberry Hand Pies from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
- Summertime Blue Apple Pie from For the Love of Food
- Waffle Ice Cream Sandwiches from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
- Strawberry Peach Poke Cake from Our Good Life
- S’mores Mug Cake from Family Around the Table
- White Chocolate Peach Crumb Bars from Sweet Beginnings
- Strawberry Pizzelles from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
- Hocus Pocus Buns from Savory Experiments
- Cookies and Cream Ice Cream from Devour Dinner
- Small Batch Emergency Air Fryer Brownies from Shockingly Delicious
- Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars from Books n’ Cooks (below!)
- Strawberry Crunch Cheesecake from SugarYums
- Crescent Roll Peach Dumplings from Cheese Curd In Paradise
- Rum Raisin Brownies from Food Hunter’s Guide to Cuisine
- Chocolate Chocolate Chip Shortbread from Pastry Chef Online
- Drumstick Cheesecake Cups from Sweet ReciPEAs
- Sheet Pan No Bake Banana Split Cheesecake from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread from Comfortably Domestic
- Baltimore Strawberry Pie from Cookaholic Wife
Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars
While you do need the oven for these Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars, these sweet treats are a light, bright dessert to enjoy all summer long.
Ingredients
Ingredients for the Cookie Crust:
- cooking spray
- 1 c. all-purpose flour
- 1/3 c. light brown sugar packed
- 1/2 c. unsalted butter at room temperature
Ingredients for the Cheesecake Layer:
- 3 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature
- 3/4 c. granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1/3 c. sour cream
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 c. mini semisweet chocolate chips
Ingredients for the Drizzle:
- 1 c. mini semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
Make the Crust:
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Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 13x9 inch pan and set aside.
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In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together flour, light brown sugar. and butter until well combined. Mixture should be crumbly.
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Turn mixture out onto prepared pan and with clean hands, press into an even layer along the bottom. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove and set on a wire rack, until done with cheesecake layer.
Make the Cheesecake Layer:
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While crust is baking, prepare the cheesecake layer. In a clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese on medium speed until creamy and smooth. Scrape down sides of the bowl and return to medium speed. Gradually add granulated sugar.
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Reduce speed to medium-low and slowly add the following, one at a time: eggs, sour cream, and vanilla extract. Scrape down sides of the bowl and mix until all ingredients are blended. With the mixer still running, add 1 c. mini chocolate chips.
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Pour mixture onto prepared crust and return to oven. Bake for about 25 minutes, until cheesecake layer is set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
Chocolate Drizzle & Refrigerate:
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When cheesecake is completely cooled, melt remaining 1 c. chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl (cooking at 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until melted). Transfer melted chocolate to a ziplock baggie. Snip the end off the baggie and drizzle chocolate in a criss-cross pattern over cheesecake bars.
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Refrigerate, covered in plastic wrap, for 8-12 hours before serving.
Adapted from Southern Living Best Loved Cookies: 50 Melt-in-Your-Mouth Southern Morsels p. 83.
PRIZES:
Prize #1 — Dixie Crystals is giving away 1 (one) 4.2 Quart (4 Liter) Electric Air Fryer
Prize #2 — Circulon is giving away a TOTAL BAKEWARE 6-Piece Nonstick Bakeware Set – Two 9-Inch Round Cake Pans, 9-Inch Square Cake Pan, 9-Inch x 5-Inch Loaf Pan, 9-Inch x 13-Inch Rectangular Cake Pan, 10-Inch x 15-Inch Cookie Pan
Rafflecopter removed in September 2022, after the giveaway had ended, for improved reader experience.
Giveaway open to US Residents 18 years or older.. All entries will be verified. No PO Boxes Please. Prizes will be sent directly from sponsors to winners, bloggers are not responsible for prizes. This giveaway runs from July 26th until July 31st at 11:59PMEST. Winners will be selected soon afterwards and contacted by e-mail. Winners will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. There are a total of 2 (two) prizes and therefore we will have a total of 2 (two) winners. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law.
Disclaimer: These posts and recipes are part of the week long event, #SummerDessertWeek but all opinions are 100% mine! We would like Thank our amazing sponsors: Dixie Crystals and Circulon. These wonderful sponsors provided the prize packs for our giveaways and also sent samples and products to the #SummerDessertWeek bloggers to use in their recipes.
These look so delicious and totally worth turning the oven on for!
These bars look like they will hold together better than traditional cheesecake, making them easier to carry around, not eat directly off of a plate with a fork.
Wow it’s great that a bar looks so elegant! These would be great at a summer event!
Yum! I love Cheesecake and easy to make Bars are delicious too.
Oh my goodness, huge hit with my family!!
OMG! this is addictive! I love it! Amazing recipe!