Easy Cheesecake Bars

Whenever my father-in-law comes to visit, I make him a cheesecake. I usually make my secret family cheesecake recipe (it's extra super duper creamy), but lately I've been switching it up a little more.

This time I sort of made up my own recipe, which I usually never do with baking, but cheesecake is forgiving. It didn't look gorgeous (that's what happens when I try to get fancy and decorate cakes) but my father-in-law gave it two thumbs up and my sister-in-law, who is on a diet, had seconds. High praise indeed.

Cookie Dough Cheesecake

Chocolate chip cookie dough

2 lbs. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs

Press cookie dough into the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. I used a tube of refrigerated dough because I'm a cheater and it was on sale. Obviously, you can use homemade if you are less lazy than me. Bake it at 325 degrees for ten minutes. It won't be cooked all the way, but that's ok.

While the crust is baking, blend the remaining four ingredients until smooth and well incorporated. Try not to beat in too much air. Pour over the cookie dough crust and continue to bake for another 45 minutes.

Remove from oven and let come to room temperature before refrigerating overnight. If you're a dummy like me, open an old jar of hot fudge sauce (for ice cream) and glop it on top hoping it will make some sort of pretty swirl. If I was to do it again, I would warm up the fudge, pour it in a baggie, cut off the corner and then decorate the cake.