Thursday, September 24, 2009

(White) Chocolate Cheesecake Shortbread Bars



What a combo: chocolate, cheesecake and shortbread. No wonder these are so yummy! They are the perfect little treat to make whan you're craving cheesecake but don't want to commit to a towering spring form pan's worth of it. You can use your favorite chocolate here, just remember to alter the amount of sugar to taste depending on the type you use.

I used low fat vanilla yogurt instead of heavy cream in this recipe. The cheese layer came out just as creamy as ever with a few calories saved as a bonus.



Chocolate Cheesecake Shortbread Bars
adapted from Bars & Squares | 8" square pan

1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened

1 (8 oz.) pkg cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar (or less if using white choc. as it is sweeter)
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (i used white)
2 eggs
2/3 cup heavy cream (i used vanilla yogurt)
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Shortbread crust: In a mixer with the paddle attachment, combine flours and salt. Add the softened butter to the bowl and mix until butter is in pea-sized pieces. Press into a greased 8" square pan. Bake 12-15 minutes or until lightly golden on top.
3. Cheesecake: Melt the chocolate and set aside to cool. Beat cream cheese until smooth then add sugar. Add melted, slightly cooled chocolate then eggs, one by one. Stir in cream and vanilla.
4. Pour the cheesecake filling into the pan on top of the baked shortbread crust when it comes out of the oven. Smooth the top then return to oven for 30-40 minutes or until only slightly jiggly in the centre. Cool thoroughly then reftigerate overnight before serving.

5 comments:

Wandering Coyote said...

Oooh, delicious!

Deborah said...

That looks wonderful! Where do you find the time to do all this baking? Job, single motherhood! Wow! I am impressed. I still haven't made the chesse pennies! Maybe this weekend.

Roz | La Bella Vita Cucina said...

Tia, You stopped by my blog back in August (Cherry Amaretto Crumble post) and so I've just now stopped by to visit yours. I love your blog and will add it to my sidebar and begin to follow your yummy posts! Hope to chat with you again soon! Roz (bella)

eatme_delicious said...

Oh yummmmmm I love cheesecake squares and I agree that they're a nice alternative to making a full on cheesecake. Plus who can resist shortbread combined with cheesecake? And white chocolate?? Yum. Love that you subbed yogurt for the heavy cream. I've never thought of doing that!

Anonymous said...

How cool that you subbed yogurt for the heavy cream - much less guilt! The shortbread crust sounds like a great base for cheesecake.