Today is one of those days where I wish this post could write itself. I got home last night at 2:30 am from a dinner party, and then stayed up till 3:30 to eat suhoor, after which my body decided that it forgot how to go to sleep, leaving me up for another hour and a half. And even though I slept 9 straight hours, I woke up feeling really uncomfortable and I've currently got some weird stomach pains going on that I can't figure out if they're from all the variety of food I had yesterday or if I'm hungry. So yeah, I'm pretty much drained.
But, someone has to tell you guys about these cheesecake bars and I'm thinking that it won't be a magical self-writing post, no matter how tight I close my eyes and wish for that to be the case. So, I'm just going to get right on with this.
These bars, they're really good. Like, really really good. So good that even though I had the option of not making them for the dinner party I went to because I already made them, and instead make something new that I could additionally post for you guys, I chose to make them again. That's a brave decision to be made by a food blogger, and all because of how amazing these are.
I've mentioned to you guys before that I love when two desserts are combined into one and this dessert is a prime example of that. A soft, chewy snickerdoodle base is topped with a light, creamy cheesecake filling and then more mini snickerdoodle cookies are dolloped on top of that. It's basically impossible for that NOT to taste good.
And you don't even have to really love cheesecake or really love snickerdoodles to love these. I guarantee, they'll be a winner with your taste buds.
Snickerdoodle Cheesecake Bars
Yield: 16 bars
For the cinnamon sugar:
Ingredients:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
For the cookie base:
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 and 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
For the cheesecake layer:
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
pinch of vanilla powder (or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract)
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8x8 inch baking pan, line with parchment paper, then butter the parchment paper. Set aside. (Alternatively, you can just butter the pan.)
In a small bowl, mix together sugar and cinnamon until cinnamon is fully incorporated. Sprinkle 1/8 cup of this mixture onto the bottom and up the sides of the baking pan. Reserve remaining mixture.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or using an electric hand mixer), cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl, then add egg and beat until well blended. Scrape down bowl again and beat for an additional minute.
Add flour, baking soda, salt, and cream of tartar, and beat until combined. Take 3/4 of the dough and evenly press it down onto the bottom of the prepared pan. (The other 1/4 of the dough will be used for cookies). The dough will be slightly sticky so it helps to use an offset spatula to spread it out. Sprinkle some of the reserved cinnamon sugar mixture over the dough.
In another bowl using an electric hand mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth and well-blended. Add egg and vanilla and beat on low speed until combined. Then, add flour and beat for an additional 30 seconds, just until mixed in.
Pour cheesecake batter on top of the cookie dough, using an offset spatula or back of a spoon to evenly spread it out.
Make small balls out of the remaining cookie dough. Roll them in the cinnamon sugar mixture, then drop them randomly on top of the cheesecake, making sure they don't touch each other.
Bake for 25-30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to let cool down to room temperature, then refrigerate for 1 hour. Cut into bars and serve.
Adapted from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody
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