Chocolate Cheesecake Candy Cane Bars

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I made these for a holiday party at work, and people rhapsodized about them. The crust is lovely, and that little bit of coffee adds some nice depth to the flavor. Overall, however, the bars were was too rich for my blood, and I even left off the chocolate ganache since the cheesecake filling already seemed like overkill. Another poster wisely advised adding 1 T. flour and 3 oz. extra cream cheese to the filling to make the bars firmer (more like cheesecake than mousse and I would second that suggestion. I also baked it 10 min. longer than called for, and that proved to be a good choice. The recipe needs some tweaks, and the candy canes, while pretty, don't work so well flavor-wise with the other ingredients. All that said, I'm totally making these again.

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Although the flavor was good, they must be cooked longer than the recipe indicates. I followed the recipe exactly and took them out when the edges were slightly puffed and the center was still jiggly. The next day I cut them and discovered they were horribly underdone. The edges were cooked perfectly but the center was almost liquid.Had I cooked them any longer, the edges would be overcooked. All that work to end up with bars that cannot be served. I would not make this recipe again.

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This was my first attempt at cheesecake, and I found the recipe very easy to follow. It turned out great! I made it for my family and everyone like it. The only complaint was that there wasn't enough. I'll have to make a double batch next time.

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not 'easy'. 3 different components take time to prepare.

I doubled the batch - put 3 packets of cream cheese in instead of recipes' 2.
Used oreo cookies with center cream taken out but you need 20 whole cookies, I was counting each 'wafer' half as one.

Do make it the day before for it to 'set' up. Then you can lift it out of tin and remove foil easily. Do use the knife in hot water technique.

These are VERY rich. I actually think the smaller you can cut them into squares the better, so people can have the choice of two if they want. Look more dainty for bringing to a party that way.

Give yourself a couple of hours to make it from beginining to end.

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I made these for my family for Christmas and they were a big hit. Super moist and chocolatey. Just make sure to spray the foil! They will stick if you don't. Overall, very delicious!

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I made this cookie for the first time and with or without the candy cane bits on the top, these were the best ones of the year! I used ground espresso coffee beans in the crust and it gave them an amazing flavor. I wouldn't othewise change a thing! They were perfect! I froze some of the leftovers and thawed them today, still perfect! I will probably be making them again for St. Valentine's Day as well. The only cookie my husband asked me to make a second batch just for him! I put the second batch in the oven on a higher level to keep the crust safe, just in case..........

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I have to agree with the person that thought this was more involved than what would be classified as "easy". First of all, I followed the directions exactly. My first problem was that I should have known to lower the oven temp due to my using a dark coated pan. They remind you on the back of a cake box but not in a lot of recipes so the end result was the bottom being slightly burnt. Secondly, although it looked like I evenly spread the cheesecake layer on, it puffed up and down but the sides remained higher so when I put the last layer on, it wouldn't spread evenly. I guess I also like the sweet rather than bittersweet so it was just too rich and that's coming from a chocolate lover! I only got one rave review. I personally thought that if it was a regular cream cheese middle, that would have made it much better. I'll try something else next time.

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These bars were well worth the effort to make them. The instructions were clear; however, it took more time than the recipe indicated. I too used Oreo cookies to make the crust. After reading a number of other postings, I decided to add three more ounces of cream cheese and a rounded tablespoon of flour to the filling, to render the filling more like cheesecake and less like chocolate mousse. Because reviews indicated that the filling was very sweet, I used a little less sugar. As suggested by another posting, I also used bowls for mixing rather than a food processor. This gave me more control of the texture. To avoid the microwave mess some bakers experienced, I melted chocolate for the filling and the topping in a bowl over a pan of water on low heat.

I used a very hot sharp knife to cut the bars and had no problems whatsoever. My cheese cake filling stood up and saluted! With these minor changes to the recipe, it will be a staple for special occassions. My guests wanted the recipe.

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These turned out great with my first batch. I used a KitchenAid mixer for making the filling instead of the food processor. For the semisweet chocolate, I had a big bag of Tollhouse chocolate chips from Costco, so I just used those in the filling. Works great! Also, I mixed the filling until it was the texture of a soft mousse so that I had to spoon it in, not pour it in as the recipe stated. I then baked it for the minimum amount of time & it came out perfect for both batches that I made.
For the candy canes, I found peppermint chips at the grocery store that was in like a slightly larger spice jar. It was nice not having to break up any candy - a real time saver & no mess!
I loved that they have you line the sides & bottom of the pan with foil. The next day when I went to cut them, I decided it might be easier to just lift the whole thing out of the pan & then cut them. It was! Just use a sharp knife that you warmed in hot water & clean it after each cut, as someone else suggested.
I gave these as gifts & everyone loved them! I'll be baking more batches of these soon for our house as we gave them all away. Merry Christmas, everyone!

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I've only made it once so far, but after seeing how quickly it disappeared, I'll be making it again! I did have a few problems, it definitely did not come out "clean" for me, it came out very messy. I made this during the blizzard since I was stuck in the house but ran out of tinfoil, so I wasn't able to line the pan with tin foil as the directions called for. Because of this I believe the crust and cheesecake mouse didn't stick together well and that layer came apart when I was cutting and serving. I'm sure after my first run it'll come out much better the next time around!