Hello Chickens! This week we’re moving to the Bars & Brownies section of our cookbook. When I think of bars or squares, I think of summer. Growing up, my family had a cabin on a nearby lake. During the week … between working full-time and raising three kids… Mom would bake cookies and squares for our weekends away. And not just crispy cereal treats, multi-layer masterpieces that were crunchy and gooey, with chocolate or marshmallows, sometimes fruits and oats. Many had that delicious crumble topping. It wasn’t until my Mom passed away that I truly appreciated all of her work in the kitchen for Dad and us kids. Can you imagine … I used to wish for Mom to just buy some cookies as a “treat”. Boy, I was a brat! Okay, on to our bake.
Today I baked Marbled Chocolate Cheesecake Bars by Elaine Hanson of Waite Park, Minnesota.
Marbled Chocolate Cheesecake Bars
¾ cup water
½ cup butter
1 ½ squares unsweetened chocolate (1 ½ ounces)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 eggs
½ cup sour cream
Cream Cheese Mixture:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp vanilla
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
- In a small saucepan, combine the water, butter and chocolate; cook and stir over low heat until smooth. Cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Add eggs and sour cream; beat on low just until combined. Stir in chocolate mixture until smooth.
- In another bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla; set aside. Spread chocolate batter into a greased 15”x10”x1” baking pan. Drop cream cheese mixture by tablespoonfuls over batter; cut through the batter with a knife to swirl. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.
- Bake at 375F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars.
Another simple and straightforward bake. As I type out this recipe, I realize that I only added 1 tsp vanilla instead of 1 tbsp! The cream cheese portion of the bar still tastes great and has that bit of tang to it. I wonder if a whole tblsp would be too much vanilla? Silly chicken … is there such thing as too much vanilla?
I would actually classify this as a cake and not a bar. A bar, to me, is crumbly or crunchy, or gooey like a brownie. This recipe is very cake-like. It has a nice crumb and it definitely cuts like a cake. If you need something for a crowd, this is a good one. My cookie sheet is slightly larger at 17”x11 ¼” x 1” and there was plenty of batter. Even with my larger pan, I yielded 4 dozen slices while the recipe says about 6 dozen … those are pretty tiny slices!
Did you know … to give batters a marbled look, spoon one batter in a random pattern over the other batter. Cut through the batter with a knife. Be careful not to overdo it or the two batters will blend together and you’ll lose the effect. Thank you, taste of home!
What does Norma say about these bars? This chicken liked these quite a lot – but, I agree they are definitely more a cake than a bar. They reminded me of a Dutch sponge cake that a friend of mine used make—with a little tang from the cream cheese and sour cream and a lighter chocolate taste.
TEMPTATION LEVEL out of 10:I’d be happy to have them for desert any time – but, I wouldn’t be raiding the pantry at 2:00 O’clock in the morning trying to sneak an extra piece! A high 6 out of 10.
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