Reeses Cheesecake Bars

This yummy recipe (and above pic) was found on a Blog by the name of Baked Bree! http://bakedbree.com/reeses-cheesecake-bars#axzz1S6JKOFtf Which I totally recommend you visit! I was looking for something sweet to make for my boyfriend's birthday. I knew he loved Reeses and cheesecake and I somehow found this recipe that combines both!

Now, I will admit I have never before made a full out cheesecake and after reading many horrifying cooking blog catastrophes, I was quite intimidated when this was kind of an after thought sort of endeavor. I didn't have a ridiculous amount of time on my hands not to mention patience to do something new and what seemed to be kind of complicated! Luckily, I came across this awesome recipe!

I even messed up on part of these bars, but they still turned out tasty! I will warn you they are VERY rich! I have not even eaten a whole square (which is quite small might I add), and I felt I had eaten my fair share of sweetness!

Now, a few things I always look for in a recipe is not only that it seems fairly easy and not too time consuming, but also that you do not need to buy a boat load of ingredients and give out a lot of cash in the process. I am a college kid. I usually lack the money and/or resources to do many of these meals while at school. So, when I am at home I may have the kitchen but my mind is still wired to think cheap and easy! And I am not ashamed of it! :) This sweet treat complies with both I must admit! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!:)

I tried to group these ingredients in the way they will be mixed!

*If I knew then what I knew now, someone would've reminded me of the following!
-pay attention to whether its calling for brown sugar or white sugar

-preheat your oven to 325 degrees

-set out your cream cheese ahead of time so it is at room temperature

-cover your finished product with foil when refrigerate for 3 hours before cutting!

First you will need:
(Group one-crust)
7 graham crackers (we used honey but any will suffice)
6 tablespoons melted butter (recommended cooled, but I will admit I didn't have the patience and it turned out just fine:))
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/8 teaspoon salt

(Group two-filling)
2 packages cream cheese, room temp.
2/3 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cups sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
12 whole Reese's Peanut Butter cups
2 ounces semi sweet chocolate, melted

Non-Food Ingredients
Processor or mixer
Bowl(s)
Measuring cups
Spoon
Spatula
Knife
Foil
8 Inch Baking Pan

Let's Begin!:)
The Crust:
On the original recipe I used, it did not give the exact degree to cook the crust in, but rather the entire cheesecake, therefore I just assumed to use the same. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

Now, line your 8 inch baking pan with foil. It is recommended to allow extra foil to hang over the edges so that it is easier to pull the bars out of the pan before cutting them. *Keep in mind it is easy to underestimate the amount of foil needed. Once you form it to the pan it many times turns out to have much less excess foil than you may anticipate. I actually had some issues with this as my pictures will show! Who knew foil would be so much trouble? It gave my mom and I a laugh, however I would advise you to not underestimate the edge hang over amount as well as be gentle and not make holes while forming your foil. Not that it is a huge deal, but you do not want little foil chunks in your bars! :)

Put your graham crackers in the food processor and pulse until they become fine. If you do not have a processor, I have heard of various other methods, one being to put your graham crackers in a ziplock bag. Seal the bag and then go over them with a rolling pin or even putting pressure on some kind of spoon would probably work. If I did not have one I would google for ideas!:)



If you are using a processor,go ahead and add in your 6 tablespoons of melted butter, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of flour, and 1/8 tespoon of salt. Pulse until combined. If you are like me and do not have a processor, go ahead and add your crushed graham crackers into a bowl and with a mixer combine the ingredients listed previously, butter, brown sugar, flour and salt. *One mistake I made here was I added both the brown and granulated sugars at the same time. This didn't ruin the crust or anything, but only the BROWN sugar is intended to be added at this time.

Press the crumbs into the bottom of the foil lined pan. It is up to you whether or not to build up the crust on the sides or not. I recommend using the bottom of a measuring cup or any kind of cup to spread evenly.
Bake the crust for 12 to 15 minutes until the crust appears to be firming and becoming more of a brown color. Allow this to cool a bit before adding the filling.

The Filling:
Now, either in your processor or in a bowl, mix the 2 packages of cream cheese. At first it may be quite sticky and thick, but just keep mixing and it will become more smooth. Approx. for 3 minutes.
After it appears smooth, add in the 2/3 cups sugar. Again, pulse with the processor or mix with your mixers until fully combined.

Using your spatula, scrape the excess off of the sides of the bowl and add in one egg at a time while mixing thoroughly in between.
Next add the 1/4 cups sour cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Again mix thoroughly. Now you are done with the filling!

It is completely up to you as to how many Resses you choose to put inside of the cheesecake and how many you want to use as garnishes. I planned out that I wanted to cut my cheesecake bars into 16 pieces (4x4), therefore I chose to use 8 Reeses in the filling and cut 4 of them into fourths for the garnishes. It can work however you want to do it!:) After cutting up however many Reeses you want in the filling into chunks, place them evenly throughout the batter you just poured into the crust.


Place the cheesecake into the oven and bake about 35-40 Minutes, until it is set on the outside but still jiggly in the middle! Rotate the pan halfway through baking.
Let the bars cool for 2 hours.
Refridgerate for 3 hours.
Pull the bars from the pan and cut the bars into desired sizes.

Put your 2 ounces of chocolate in a microwavable dish and cook for 1-2 minutes. Really however long it takes until it is melted enough to drizzle over the bars. The first time I used the drizzling technique in a different recipe it ended up being more of a globbing than a drizzling (ha!) but keep in mind that you really can't mess this up, it's chocolate!! After you drizzle enough for your liking, place your pieces of Reeses you saved for garnishes on top of your bars. I dipped one side of them in the left over melted chocolate to ensure it would stay put but that is completely optional!

Place back in the fridge to cool and Wah-Lah! There you have it! Reese's Cheesecake Bars! Enjoy! :)