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Halloween Cheesecake Bars

Halloween Cheesecake Bars are the perfect Halloween dessert to show off your spooky spirit. Creamy cheesecake with a cookie crust, these orange and black Halloween Cheesecake Bars are the perfect easy dessert to celebrate Halloween.
These Halloween Cheesecake Bars are the perfect Halloween sweets dessert to show off your spooky spirit. Creamy cheesecake with a cookie crust, these black and orange Halloween Cheesecake Bars are the perfect easy dessert to celebrate Halloween.
Heather - A Wicked Whisk
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Serving Size 16 Portions

Ingredients

Cookie Crust

  • 20 - 25 chocolate sandwich cookies
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons butter melted

Cheesecake Filling

  • 3 8 ounce packages of cream cheese softened
  • 3/4 cup sour cream
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Orange and Black Food Coloring

Instructions

  • To make Halloween Cheesecake Bars, start by preheating your oven to 325 degrees and adding a large pan of water to your bottom oven rack. 
  • Begin your cheesecake bars by adding your chocolate sandwich cookies to a food processor and pulse until pulverized. If you do not have a food processor, no worries, simply add them to a large zip top bag, push out the extra air and then seal up the bag. Gently beat the cookies with something heavy like a pan or a rolling pin until they are reduced to crumbs. 
  • Combine the cookie crumbs, melted butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl and then pour the cookie mixture into a 9 x 13 baking pan lined with parchment paper. Using your fingers or a spoon, firmly press the cookies evenly on the bottom and sides of the baking pan to make your crust. Set aside. 
  • In a large mixing bowl, beat softened cream cheese until creamy and then add in sugar and salt and mix well. One by one, add in eggs and beat until each is incorporated before adding in the next one. Add in sour cream and vanilla and continue mixing until you have a creamy filling. Transfer 1 1/3 cup of cheesecake filling evenly into two separate bowls and add orange food coloring to one bowl and black to the other. Mix the food coloring in to combine. 
  • Pour the white cheesecake filling on top of the cookie crust crust and smooth until even. Using a spoon, pour alternating lines of black cheesecake filling and orange cheesecake filling down the length of the cheesecake. Swirl the colors into the cheesecake filing using the back of knife (or a chopstick!) to create a beautiful swirl pattern. The more swirls, the better.. 
  • Bake in oven for 50-55 minutes or until center is no longer wobbly. When baking time is done, turn off oven, open oven door and let your Halloween Cheesecake Bars sit for one hour in the open oven. Remove from oven and refrigerate overnight before pulling up on parchment paper and removing from baking pan. Cut into squares and serve!

Notes

PRO TIPS FOR MAKING HALLOWEEN CHEESECAKE BARS

  • Be sure to beat your cream cheese until they are creamy and fluffy.  If you skip the creaming step, you will end up with large lumps of cream cheese in your cheesecake bars.
  • Use room temperature ingredients like cream cheese, eggs and sour cream.  They mix and emulsify better at room temperature.
  • Don’t care for a chocolate sandwich cookie crust? The Oreo style cookies can easily be replaced with 1 1/2 cups of graham crackers crumbs.  Then add the melted butter as called for and mix to combine.  Follow the remaining instructions to make your Halloween Cheesecake Bars.
  • If your black and orange lines are uneven or messy, don’t sweat it .. it’s all getting swirled together anyways ????
  • Give clear vanilla extract a try in light colored batters.  Your batter will not tint due to brown vanilla extract. You can find it in your spice/extract section of most grocery stores.