I don't pretend that the things that go on in my head make any sense, which is why I can admit that I had a whole argument with myself today. "Make peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, self." "No, make cheesecake, self." "Cookies." "Cheesecake." "COOKIES." "CHEESCAKE."
The argument went on and on and only ended because it occurred to me that I could make both.
I spent another five minutes or so arguing with myself about how exactly to go about making both when I decided to see if Google had any ideas.
Of course it did.
In fact, it had a GREAT idea.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Bars by Pinch of Yum.
It's cheesecake surrounded by cookie.
It's genius.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup instant oatmeal
2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 8-oz package of cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Now make the cookie dough. First up, the butter, sugar, brown sugar, and peanut butter. Place them in a large mixing bowl and mix at medium speed until everything is light and fluffy.
3. Add the egg and vanilla and mix some more.
4. In a separate bowl, place the flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk it all together then add it to the sugar/butter mixture. Mix it for a minute or two to combine everything.
5. Add the oatmeal and chocolate chips and stir. Set the cookie dough mix aside for a minute.
6. Now it's time to make the cheesecake filling. Throw the cream cheese, egg, sugar, and vanilla into a medium bowl. Make your mixer earn its keep for a minute or two, or until everything is well mixed.
7. Grab a 9-inch square pan.
8. Put half of the cookie dough into the bottom of the pan and smoosh it down until it has made a nice level base.
9. Pour the cheesecake mixture on top of the cookie. Smooth it out with a spatula as desired.
10. Grab the rest of the cookie dough. Break it into small chunks and drop those chunks on top of the cheesecake. No worries about whether it's pretty or not because the cookie dough will spread a bit while baking.
11. Speaking of baking, once you have everything in your baking dish, cover it with aluminum foil and bake it at 325 for 20 minutes.
12. At the 20 minute mark, take the foil off. Bake for another 15-20 minutes at 325 degrees. It's done when the cookie on top turns a lovely golden brown and the cheesecake is set.