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Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars
These Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars basically speak for themselves. They’re bar cookies where two layers of chocolate chip cookie dough sandwich a layer of creamy vanilla cheesecake – and they deliver all the flavor of both cheesecake and chocolate chip cookies in every bite. As a bonus, these bars are pretty easy to make and are guaranteed to be a hit every time you bake a batch.

Chocolate chip cookie dough is the base of this recipe. The buttery dough is a fairly standard chocolate chip cookie dough, with a good brown sugar flavor and packed with chocolate chips and chopped walnuts. The slightly sweet cheesecake layer sits just over this first layer of cookie dough, and is topped with a crumbled layer of cookie dough that toasts up in the oven to take on just a hint of crunch. It’s a great – and dangerously addictive – blend of two popular desserts. Because of the cheesecake layer, these bars should be chilled and served cold, so that the filling has a firm and cheesecake-like texture. Cut your bars into small servings if you want to serve them as snacks, and larger squares if you prefer to plate these and turn them into a full size dessert.

My favorite things about these bar cookies are actually the chocolate chips and walnuts that are added to the cookie dough. There are a lot of semisweet chocolate chips in this cookie dough and they deliver a big punch of chocolate flavor, as well as serving to temper the sweetness of the cookie-cheesecake combination. The walnuts also help to temper the bars’ sweetness, and they also add a welcome element of crunchiness to every bite. You can use toasted or untoasted nuts, and you can also substitute pecans or even almonds for the walnuts for a change of pace in these bars.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
2/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (or pecans)

8 oz (1 package) cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9×9-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil and lightly grease.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, followed by vanilla extract. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans.
In another large bowl, beat together cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla until well blended.
Place 1 1/2 cups of the chocolate chip cookie dough into the prepared pan and press firmly into an even layer. If necessary, use a few extra pinches of dough to patch any holes.
Spread cream cheese mixture over the cookie dough base. Break up remaining cookie dough with your fingertips until it is crumbly, then sprinkle evenly over the cream cheese layer.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, until cheesecake is set and cookie dough is golden brown.
Allow to cool completely in the pan, then chill before serving.
Use the aluminum foil to easily lift the bars out of the pan for slicing.

Makes 16 bars.

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13 Comments
  • Cindy
    August 10, 2012

    When we downsized I didn’t keep my 9×9 pan and now I can’t find one anywhere locally!

  • I adore cheesecake in all dessert! this one look so yummy. Great job.

  • Cecilia
    August 12, 2012

    Hey Nicole

    Im new to this site and I didnt know what I was missing! I love love your site! Thanks for sharing your gift and love for food. More power!

    Cheers!

  • Katrina
    August 12, 2012

    Ooh, these look good. I like that they have a cookie base, rather than the similar ones I’ve seen for a couple years that have a graham crust base. I’ll have to make these soon. Hope we can get this little blog post stealing issue we share taken care of soon. grrr You must be out of town. ๐Ÿ˜‰

  • Bgv
    August 12, 2012

    thanks for sharing the recipe for your chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake bars. i’ll definitely try making them once we get over this triple digit heat. somehow, i didn’t see where the flour gets added. is it right to assume that you add it after putting the eggs and vanilla?

    thanks much. i always enjoy browsing your site. i’m sure you have a lot of keeper recipes but the one thing i always go back to is your sour cream pound cake. bestest ever! thanks!

  • judysunshine
    August 12, 2012

    These look so delish I just had to make some – they’re in the oven baking right now! Can’t wait to eat a cooked one. I ate lots of the raw batter – yum! 25 minutes to go…

    (One step you missed in typing out your recipe is adding the flour/soda/salt into the egg/sugar/vanilla mixture for the cookies. I assumed it should happen right before adding the chocolate chips & nuts.)

  • Michelle MacPhearson
    August 13, 2012

    Wow. I can’t wait to serve this to my kids I am sure they will ask for more. Thanks for sharing!

  • Lizzie
    October 24, 2012

    Made these with pumpkin cream cheese from Trader Joes! They may be the best thing ever. The only thing I would advise is to make a bit more cookie dough- there’s not enough to cover the top I find. Other than that, these are my new favorite dessert! They’re best frozen.

  • Phoebe
    October 31, 2012

    These look absolutely delicious!

  • Bri
    November 1, 2012

    These are so good. Really sweet, but perfect for anyone who loves the taste of cookie dough. I made this without the nuts and added extra chips. I loved the cheesecake part!

  • Christin
    February 3, 2013

    I loved this recipe! I hate graham cracker crusts so the cookie crust was a wonderful change. The recipe turned out great (could not stop eating them!) I added the flour mixture after I added the vanilla. Also, I found there was more than enough cookie dough to cover the top. (I did not have a 9×9 pan so I used a 11×7 instead)

  • Laura
    November 29, 2013

    This are soooo good,i did these one time and now everyone wants me to do these for every party…And the recipe is so easy…Love this,thanks for putting this online=)

  • Angelique
    December 13, 2013

    Every time I make these, they’re gone almost instantly. Thank you for sharing this ๐Ÿ˜›

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