These Fudgy Chocolate Cheesecake Bars are smooth, chocolatey, rich, and velvety. They are made with just a few ingredients, are NO BAKE, and are the perfect treat to bake ahead of time!
The Oreo crust base adds the perfect crunch, the chocolate cheesecake layer is silky smooth, and the mini chocolate chips on top help pull these bars all together in look, texture, and flavor!
No-Bake Cheesecake
These babies are made of simple, safe ingredients for you to literally inhale without any fear of food poisoning. This is due to the fact that there are no eggs! It whips up super easily and just needs to hang out in the fridge for a few hours before serving.
Chocolate Baking Bars
Just like in one of my all time favorite posts (Flourless Chocolate Cake), this recipe calls for pure baking bars. After research, I learned that chocolate chips have certain stabilizers that prevent them from fully melting. You aren't able to get that thin and silky consistency that we are looking for if you use chocolate chips. ESPECIALLY in this no-bake recipe, there is really nowhere to hide chocolate that isn't fully melted into the texture. This cheesecake is literally built on its smooth, silky texture.
Great news! Baking bars, to my knowledge and experience, are pretty accessible. I use Baker's and Ghiradelli brands most often when working with chocolate baking bars. These bars will likely be in your baking aisle at the grocery store near the chocolate chips. You can also find them online on Amazon, Target, Walmart, etc. You'll likely need two baking bars to get to 8 oz, as most bars are 4 oz.
The Crust
This crust is so so simple. It's a mixture of melted butter and crushed Oreos to create that sweet, crunchy goodness.
The important thing about this crust is making sure that those Oreos are truly crushed. You want CRUMBS. You can do this by hand by placing your Oreos in a plastic bag and using a rolling pin or a fork to crush them, but if you have some other tools that could help you get those Oreos down to crumbs, USE them! A food processor or strong blender could make this process so much easier! You do what works for you- just ensure that they get down to fine crumbs eventually!
Batter Tips
This batter is made up of just a few ingredients. These few ingredients are POWERFUL, though, and there are a few tips and tricks that will ensure your bars turn out perfectly!
- Cream Cheese: I use full-fat cream cheese. Make sure that you use brick cream cheese, not cream cheese spread. You'll want to ensure that your cream cheese is SOFTENED. It should not be very cold to the touch. Leave it on the counter, opened, for about an hour before baking. You could also microwave chopped pieces of the cream cheese in 10 second intervals. This should only take 2-3 intervals or so to reach that soft consistency. I left mine on top of a preheated oven for about 30 minutes.
- Heavy Whipping Cream: Heavy whipping cream will be combined with a small amount of powdered sugar to create a light and airy mixture. It is basically whipped cream! Make sure that your mixture reaches the point where it has medium-stiff peaks. When you remove your beaters from the mixture, the whipping cream will form a peak that curls over at the top. Your mixture should not look wet.
Chilling
This cheesecake will be soft and slightly warm before you put it into your prepared pan. It will need to set in the fridge for at least 3 hours before serving. You can absolutely make it the night before serving... you could even make it the week before serving.
The beauty of this cheesecake is that it lasts in the fridge for much longer than your average treat without its taste or texture changing. Obviously, I wouldn't recommend making it WAY before an event, but if you keep it around for a while, it will be just fine and safe to serve!
Serving and Storing
Serve after at least 3 hours in the fridge. After 3 hours, cover the pan with plastic wrap or aluminum foil to maintain the freshness of the bars. If you have leftovers, make sure that you store them covered in the fridge for up to 1 week.
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Fudgy Chocolate Cheesecake Bars
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Chill Time:3 hours:
- Total Time: 3 hours, 20 minutes
- Yield: 8x8 pan 1x
- Category: Chocolate Cheesecake, Cheesecake, Chocolate, Cheesecake Bars, No-Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Chocolate Cheesecake Bars are smooth, chocolatey, rich, and velvety. They are made with just a few ingredient, require NO bake time, and they are the perfect treat to bake ahead!
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 20 Oreo Cookies, crushed
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
For the Cheesecake
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- 8 oz semi sweet chocolate, pure chocolate baking bars
- ⅔ cup heavy whipping cream + 1 Tablespoon powdered sugar
For the Topping
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
For the Crust
- Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
- Melt butter in the microwave, stirring in 30 second intervals, or melt in a small saucepan over the stove. Allow the melted butter to cool for 5 minutes before using.
- Crush Oreos into fine crumbs using a food processor, blender, or by being incredibly thorough when crushing Oreos in a plastic bag with a rolling pin or fork.
- Combine Oreo crumbs and melted butter together before using your hands, a knife, or a spoon to pack the mixture into the bottom of your prepared pan. Place the pan in the freezer for 5 minutes.
For the Cheesecake
- Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, heating in 30 second increments and stirring after each interval. You can also melt the chocolate in a small saucepan over medium heat. Let the chocolate cool for 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl or in the bowl of your electric mixer, beat softened cream cheese for 3- 5 minutes on medium speed until smooth, creamy, and light.
- Add the powdered sugar and beat for another 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure that the cream cheese and powdered sugar fully combine.
- Mix salt and vanilla extract into the batter.
- Add melted chocolate into the batter, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- In a medium sized bowl, beat heavy whipping cream and 1 Tablespoon of powdered sugar until medium peaks form. The mixture will be bubbly and then turn smooth, creamy, and almost foamy. It may take a few minutes, but be patient. A beater removed from the mixture will create a peak that stands with a slight curl.
- Mix the heavy whipping cream mixture into the cream cheese mixture until smooth and fully combined.
- Pour the cream cheese mixture into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the top with mini chocolate chips. Lightly press the chocolate chips into the cheesecake.
- Place the pan, uncovered, into the fridge for at least 3 hours before serving. If leaving the pan in the fridge longer, cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap after the 3 hour mark to maintain freshness.
Keywords: Chocolate Cheesecake, Cheesecake Bars, Cheesecake Bites, No-Bake Cheesecake
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