May 11, 2017
Cheesecake Cookie Bars!
*This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure for more details!*
Cheesecake cookie bars with a cookie dough base, baked vanilla cheesecake, & dollops of cookie on top
We all know that I love to combine two different bakes into one, right? My lemon drizzle cheesecake, my cheesecake brownies, my brownie doughnuts... there are so many more options when you start merging bakes, and this is one of the best.
Cookie bars
I’ve been trawling the internet for different ways I could develop the delicious and heavenly cookie bar after my Rolo cookie bars and others have been so delicious and addictive. And then I found this from Eating on a Dime. Oh my daaaaays! Cheesecake and cookie bar put together?! YES PLEASE.
I’ve made my version of cheesecake cookie bars for a while now, and I genuinely didn’t realise that I have never posted them on to here?! I tried them so soon after my other cookie bars, that I assumed I had! I used the same base recipe as my other cookie bars because the cookie dough is just elite, and then the same cheesecake mixture from my cheesecake brownies and it was perfect.
Dough
I don’t like to mess with something that I know works, so the cookie base stayed the same, I just switched out the Rolos for chocolate chips. I would say you could use Rolos as well, but it might bake a bit funny with the mixture of caramel and cheesecake (I tried, it was delicious, but very gooey.) but honestly? I prefer the chocolate chips for this one.
- Butter – You can use either block butter or a baking spread for this type of recipe.
- Sugar – I chose all light brown sugar for its rich flavour, but feel free to substitute some or all of it with white granulated sugar, like I do in other cookie recipes.
- Egg – I usually use medium eggs, but one large egg works perfectly fine for this cookie dough if you don’t have a medium egg.
- Vanilla – This is optional, but it adds a lovely depth of flavour.
- Flour – Plain flour is ideal here to avoid a cakey texture in your cookies – I do like to add a little cornflour for texture
- Raising agents – I use bicarbonate of soda, which is a classic choice for cookies. Keep in mind, baking powder is not the same.
- Salt – I like to add sea salt for extra flavor, though you can skip it or use salted butter instead.
- Chocolate chips – you can use any flavour chocolate chips you fancy
Baked cheesecake
This sort of cheesecake really does have to be baked, as the cookie is obviously baked. However, it’s still so creamy and delicious! I bake the cookie bars for a maximum of 30 minutes, as the cheesecake is still ever so slightly wobbly on top, but firm. The cookie isn’t completely solid, and its better that way because it has to be stored in the fridge, the cold will naturally make the cookie firmer.
- Soft cheese – you want to use a full-fat soft cheese in this. You can use any brand of full-fat soft cream cheese
- Egg – like the cookie dough, I use one medium egg.
- Sugar – you can use caster sugar, light brown soft sugar, it depends the flavour you are after
- Vanilla – again, this is optional, but it adds a lovely depth of flavour
Adapting the recipe
You could make this into a chocolate cookie base, by taking out 75g of plain flour, and adding 50g of cocoa powder to the mix. I have done this, and it is also SO deliciously yummy! Honestly, you could try anything with these (within reason) like using M&Ms instead of chocolate chips, or basically any other chocolates I have going spare.
You can also flavour the cheesecake differently, if you like. You can use a bunch of different extracts such as lemon, orange, almond, or even coffee. I love making the cookie dough chocolate flavoured, and adding coffee to the cheesecake mix to make a mocha cheesecake cookie bars.
I love anything cheesecake but combining it with my other favourite bakes is just a game changer! I have made some delicious cheesecake brownies that are a must try, and also a scummy cheesecake loaf cake. Yes thats correct, basically anything with cheesecake added in, is just the elite.
Tips & Tricks
- These cheesecake cookie bars will last for 3-4+ days in the fridge, once made
- You can freeze the cookie bars for 3+ months
- I use a 9″ square tin in my recipe
- Sometimes they can still look a little underdone, but often baked cheesecake can do so. It will still have a ever so slight wobble, and when you touch it, it will spring back, but it shouldn’t be liquid by any means.
Cheesecake Cookie Bars!
Ingredients
Cookie Mix
- 275 g plain flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 115 g unsalted butter
- 55 g granulated sugar
- 135 g light brown sugar
- 1 medium egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 250 g chocolate chips
Cheesecake Mix
- 250 g full fat cream cheese
- 100 g caster sugar
- 1 medium egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 190C/170C fan and line a 9x9inch square tin with parchment paper, and leave to the side for now.
- Add the melted (or softened) butter to a bowl, and add the two sugars.
- Add in the egg, and vanilla, and mix again.
- Add the plain flour, bicarbonate, salt and cornflour and mix again until you have a cookie dough
- Add the chocolate chips and mix with a spatula until distributed evenly
- Add half of the mixture into the bottom of the tin and press down.
- In a bowl, beat the cream cheese until loose, and add the sugar and beat again until combined. Gradually beat in the egg until combined along with the vanilla.
- Pour the cheesecake mixture on top of the cookie bars, and then sprinkle and distribute over bits of the spare cookie dough.
- Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Once baked, leave to cool in the tin completely, and then refrigerate for a couple of hours to set
Notes
- These cheesecake cookie bars will last for 3-4+ days in the fridge, once made
- You can freeze the cookie bars for 3+ months
- I use a 9" square tin in my recipe
- Sometimes they can still look a little underdone, but often baked cheesecake can do so. It will still have a ever so slight wobble, and when you touch it, it will spring back, but it shouldn’t be liquid by any means.
ENJOY!
Find my other recipes on my Recipes Page!
You can find me on:
Instagram
Facebook
Pinterest
Twitter
Youtube
J x
© Jane’s Patisserie. All images & content are copyright protected. Do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words and credit me, or link back to this post for the recipe.
SaveSave
Loved the recipe but I would say use 2/3 on the cookie base leaving 1/3 to sprinkle on the top. I followed the recipe but seemed to have plenty of dough left-over for the top. Don’t worry, it wasn’t a big problem, I popped the surplus dough in a mini heart shaped tin and made a wonderful baked cookie. However, next time I will split the quantity differently.
Hi can I make these cookie bars with just 200g of cream cheese instead of 250g .
Hi! I want to half this recipe, but obviously can’t half the egg! Would you still use 1 medium egg?
Thanks!!
When I’ve done this in the past I’ve cracked the egg into a container to weigh it, whisked it together and then used half the weight of that. Hope that helps x
Do you have suggestions for how I could adjust the flour and add oats to make it an oatmeal cookie base?
I want to make some of your cookie bars for an Easter fayre I am doing in a few weeks time.
Are there any that would be OK to freeze or any other recipes that would be OK to freeze?
Would you freeze whole then cut on defrost or cut into pieces and freeze individually?
Love your recipes by the way. Thanks. X
Hiya! Pretty much all of my recipes you can freeze for up to 3 months – either way would work but I freeze iduvidually! Hope this helps x
Could I use caramel in the cheesecake mix?
Could i use vanilla powder instead of extract as that’s all i have?
I love your bakes but my gas oven must make a massive difference in baking time… these have been in an hour and a half so far and the middle STILL isn’t quite done 😕. Frustrating.
Hiya! Gas ovens may work slightly differently, but we advise sticking to the timings until there is a slight wobble in the middle, then taking them out and leaving to ‘set’ in the fridge overnight. Hope this helps! x
Can I use mascarpone cheese? I have that in my fridge!?
What about freezing the cookie like in the brookies?
I’m not sure what you mean sorry?
You freeze the cookie in the brookie recipe xx
Hi susu i make these with double cheesecake later just extra cooking time turn out amazing thank you so much for yhe recipe jane family loved them
Made these and loved them!
I froze the bottom layer cookie in the tray and also froze balls of the cookie dough on the top to keep the cookie from over cooking. I also did 1.5x the cheesecake quantity because I wanted a thick cheesecake. I only ever use philidephia for cheesecake as I find others too runny.
I then invented a kinda slutty cheesecake! I put Oreos on top of the cookie layer, then topped with cooked and frozen and cut up brownie bites and the dozen cookie dough. Baked for about 35 minutes. Came out amazing!
Loved these! I swapped out 25g flour for cocoa powder and added milk, plain and white choc chips to the cookie mix. I used low fat cream cheese as that was all I had, so I risked it and it paid off. I also added blobs of black cherry jam on top to give it a bit of a black forest vibe. They were amazing, will definitely make again.
Making these at the weekend x Could I use mini eggs instead of chocolate chips?
I don’t see why not! Would be tasty!
I love all your recipes! For some reason my.cookie keeps rising up round the sides do you know why? Could I have compacted too.much cookie to tightly?
Xx
You could have done, but also sometimes that means its under baked x
Absolutely scrummy and a big hit with all the family!
I love making your recipes! 😊 would these work with a peanut butter powder instead of cocoa powder? Thanks xx
I reckon so yes!! x
Hi, I was wondering if I could bake these and then freeze them for a day or two?
If so, should I slice them first and wrap them in something like cling film, or freeze it as one piece and slice when defrosted.
And could I pre make the cookie and the cheese cake recipe and refrigerate it until ready to bake?
Many Thanks,
Heather.
You can, but there wouldn’t be much point in freezing them for such a short time – they do last a few days once baked! – you can make the cookie dough in advance, but I wouldn’t make the cheesecake mix in advance
Can I try these with light Philadelphia cream cheese? 🙂
I personally don’t recommend using lighter/lower fat cream cheese for cheesecake mixes – sorry!!
Hi Rhiannon, a bit late in the day…but I made these with Sainsbury’s own low lat cream cheese and they worked perfectly. Just be careful not to over mix the cheesecake part or it might become too liquid, as the low fat stuff has a higher water content.
Could you make these with a chocolate flavoured cookie base? What would be the best way?
I would take out 25g of flour, and add in 25g of cocoa powder!
I made these today for a isolation bake off for a bit of fun and I won!
The bars are fantastic and the flavour amazing……….went down so well!
Thank you Jane
Can I use caster sugar instead of granulated? And dark brown sugar instead of light? 🙂
Yes that should be fine!
Just made these today, along with the chocolate fudge cake (with cream eggs on). Both turned out awesome !! Thanks a lot 😀 Everyone at my work loves your recipes !
My friends and family really enjoyed these cookies, thanks! It’s a great solution for when you want to bring cheesecake to a picnic but you don’t want to deal with plates and everything. I’m gonna try to make the cheese layer a bit thicker next time. Do you think it’d work?
Hahaha! I think it should be okay with more – just the baking time would increase!