Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars {Guest Post} Cooking With Libby

As most of you know I recently moved into a new house, so things have been a bit disorganized and crazy. I have been really busy unpacking which leaves little time for blogging.

I have asked a few friends if they would fill in and do a few guest posts for me. I want to say thank you to everyone who has agreed because it has been a huge lifesaver.

Today I want to welcome Libby who is the face behind one of my favorite food blogs. Cooking with Libby. Libby and I go together like peas and carrots. We both love comfort food, so our cooking style is very similar.

I guess that's why we get along so well. I'm hoping to be back within the next couple days with another yummy recipe post. Until then I hope you enjoy today's guest.

Hello everyone :) I'm Libby from Cooking With Libby. I want to thank Tina for this wonderful opportunity to do a guest post on her site today.

I've been a fan of hers for quite some time and it's such a great honor to be able to do this for her :) Before I get to the recipe, let me tell y'all a little about me.

I'm a Military Wife of 8 years to the most wonderful man on the planet. We are stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base in the northern part of Louisiana.

I'm also a Stay at Home Mom to two of the most beautiful and crazy children who are under the age of 4. It can be insanely chaotic over here at times, but I love it!

Now, onto the recipe............... Chocolate Chip and Cheesecake...what a fantastic combination! Even better when they are mixed together to form an ooey-gooey brownie bar such as the one above ;)

There is a story behind this dessert and I'm actually shocked I haven't shared it with y'all yet. I must have been around 25 or 26 years old when I discovered this recipe.

Husband Man and I had just gotten married and had received orders to move down here to Louisiana. If you are Military, or were Military, then you know how much our enlisted folks love to throw barbecues.

It seemed at least once a month, someone within our nice, circle of friends would throw a barbecue and we all took turns hosting them at each other's houses. If you didn't live in a house, not to worry....we always found a way to throw one.. LOL

Being a young, Military Wife at that time, I didn't want to show up empty handed. Upon the advice of my mom (who is also a former Military Wife), I took the liberty of supplying the desserts for all the barbecues.

This dessert was the very, very, very first dessert I ever made and bought to the very first barbecue we attended.

The recipe stuck with us for years in our little, tight-knit group...and before each barbecue, someone would always request that these bars be made. Over the years, I have made other desserts, however, this is the main one that would be requested.

Even though all of our friends have moved away, the memories of these special get-togethers will always be with us, especially when I make these bars ;)

Thank you again Tina for this wonderful opportunity to guest post on Mommy's Kitchen. I hope that some of you will come join me and the family over at Cooking With Libby. We'd love to have y'all ;)

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients:
1 - (30 oz.) pkg. of chocolate chip cookie dough, such as Pillsbury
2 - (8 oz.) packages of regular Cream Cheese, room temperature
1 - egg
1/4 - cup granulated sugar
1/2 - tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut chocolate chip cookie dough in half. Cover the bottom of an ungreased 13x9 inch baking pan or casserole dish with half of the dough, forming a crust.

Use your hands for this as if you were filling a pie plate with a homemade pie crust. Bake for 10 minutes.

While baking, beat the cream cheese, egg (or egg substitute), sugar (or no calorie sugar sweetener), and vanilla in a bowl until well blended.

Take the crust out and spread the cream cheese mixture on the top being sure to cover the entire top. It will be ooey and gooey and may blend with the crust and this is OK :)

Take the other half of the cookie dough and crumble it on top of the cream cheese coating, being sure to cover it all.

Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving. Store in the fridge, due to the cream cheese

Note: You can also use other cookie dough flavors instead of chocolate chip. Peanut butter, M & M, etc...

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