Chocolate Almond Cheesecake Bars

As everyone knows, the holidays are an incredibly busy time of the year.  We have Thanksgiving and then a few weeks later are celebrating Christmas.  We even have my son’s birthday between the two holidays, which makes it even crazier.  While I love the holidays, I also like to take time to relax and enjoy our friends, before things get too stressful.  For the last few years we have taken a night off from all the stress, and had a little holiday party where we get together with our close friends, and just enjoy their company and be free of all holiday stress.  I usually use this time to do some holiday baking and cooking.  As my close friends know, I love cooking, so I love sharing that with them. While this year we only had around 12 people come over, it was the perfect number and we had a great time.

I decided that we would have a ‘Drinks & Desserts’ theme, and I would make some tasty baked desserts and whip up a signature cocktail. 

Before everyone arrived, I finished baking the 4 featured desserts, including the Chocolate Almond Cheesecake Bars (scroll to bottom for recipe).  Land O’ Lakes Butter was a star in this recipe and definitely helped in getting the most perfect buttery almond crust on these bars.

I also set up a signature cocktail area, moved the food to the serving table, and finished decorating our Christmas tree…

Right as I set the cheesecake bars onto the table, I heard the doorbell ring! I was so excited for our friends to arrive and start celebrating! Everyone dug right into the desserts and drinks, and we had a great time.

 The kids kept sneaking desserts from the table and at one James had his plate overflowing! Audrey loved the chocolate truffles and there was no hiding it!

After everyone was full of delicious desserts the adults chatted and watched football and the kids played and played.

Being behind the camera is sometimes a pain, because you never get to be in any photos with your friends in family! Luckily my husband volunteered to take a picture of me and my 2 friends in front of our tree.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the drinks and desserts, and everyone could not stop talking about the Chocolate Almond Cheesecake Bars! They were by far the biggest hit, and all the husbands wanted the recipe (for their wives to cook!). 

Print

Chocolate Almond Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients

For the crust

• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup toasted almonds finely ground
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup unsalted and O' Lakes Butter chilled
• Baking spray with flour

For the filling

• 6 oz low fat or neufchâtel found by regular cream cheese cream cheese, softened
• 4 oz regular cream cheese softened
• ⅔ cup sugar
• ½ cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• dash of salt
• 1 egg
• 3 oz semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 TBS 2% milk whole or 1% would work as well
• 2 TBS almonds chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

For the crust

1. 1. Combine flour, ¼ cup ground almonds, and ¼ teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender, two knives, or a fork until mixture resembles coarse meal.
2. 2. Coat a 8-inch square baking dish with baking spray. Sprinkle mixture into the dish and lightly press mixture into bottom of pan until firm.
3. 3. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until golden. Cool crust completely on a wire rack.
4. Reduce oven temperature to 325°.

For the rest

1. 1. Place cream cheeses in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Add sugar, yogurt, vanilla, and dash of salt; beat at low speed until combined. Add egg; beat 1 minute or until well combined.
2. 2. Pour mixture over cooled crust.
3. 3. Place chocolate chips and milk in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds or until melted, stirring after every 15 seconds; stir mixture until smooth.
4. 4. Dollop chocolate mixture by the spoonful over cheesecake mixture; swirl together using the tip of a knife. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons chopped almonds.
5. 5. Bake at 325° for 30 minutes or until almost set in the middle. Cool completely on a wire rack. Cover and refrigerate 6 hours or up to overnight. Cut and serve as bars.
6. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

By using lower fat cream cheese and milk in this recipe, it reduces the calories and fat. If you prefer the full fat version, go ahead and use regular cream cheese and whole milk. Using the lower fat versions did not change the taste what-so-ever in my opinion.

Thanks for visiting!

- Allyson