Cookie Cheesecake Bars

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Vegetarian/Nut-free

Skill Level: Beginner/Intermediate

Yield: 16 bars

Prep Time: 20-25 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes, plus 3-4 hours cooling and chilling time

Equipment Needed:

• Rimmed baking sheet 

• 8x8-inch baking pan

• Mixing bowl 

• Electric stand mixer

• Food processor  
  

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut

• 1 box Girl Scout Trefoils or other shortbread cookies (9 ounces)

• 1/3 cup butter, melted

• Pinch Kosher salt

• Cooking spray

• 1 box Girl Scout Caramel deLite cookies or other cookies of your choice (7 ounces)

• 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, left out at room temperature for at least 1 hour

• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt, left out at room temperature for at least 1 hour

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon table salt

• 2 large eggs, left out at room temperature for at least 1 hour

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spread coconut out on a baking sheet in an even layer. Toast coconut for 7-10 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes, until coconut is fragrant and golden brown in color. Once you have removed the coconut from the oven, turn the temperature down to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Make a foil sling for your pan by taking two separate sheets of tin foil that are about 5 inches or so longer than the pan, and fold in the sides to make them the same width as the pan. Center one piece of foil in the pan so that there are 2-3 inches of foil sticking off each side, kind of like wings. Center the other piece of foil on top of the first, going the opposite direction so that now you have foil wings on all sides of the pan. Generously coat the foil with cooking spray (see photo example in tips below)

3. Add the entire box of Trefoils along with the toasted coconut to the bowl of a food processor and process until your are left with fine crumbs.

4. In a mixing bowl, combine the coconut-cookie crumbs, melted butter, and pinch of Kosher salt. Mix until completely combined.

5. Add the crust mixture to the prepared pan. Using your hand or the bottom of a measuring cup, press the crust mixture firmly into the bottom of the pan, doing your best to make an even layer. A little bit of the crust will come up the sides; this is fine and you don't need to worry about making sure it is going up the exact same amount on each side.

6. Add the entire box of Caramel deLites to a mixing bowl or gallon-sized Ziploc bag. Use a rolling pin, meat tenderizer, or potato masher to break the cookies into irregularly-shaped pieces. Remove about1/2 of a cup of the pieces and set aside to put on the top of the bars.

7. In a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, beat the softened cream cheese, Greek yogurt, sugar, and salt on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

8. Add the vanilla and one egg and beat until just combined. Add the second egg and beat until just combined. Do not overmix here.

9. Add the caramel deLite cookie pieces (keep reserved pieces set aside), and fold in by hand using a rubber/silicone spatula or wooden spoon.

10. Add the cream cheese mixture to the pan, using a spatula to help ease the mixture into corners and smooth the top. Drop the pan on the counter a couple of times to help eliminate bubbles.

11. Place the pan in the oven on the center rack, pushing the pan all the way to the back of the oven. Bake for 45 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the cooking time.

12. At the 45 minute mark, turn off the oven. The cheesecake bars will not look like they are quite done, but don't fret! Take the reserved cookie pieces and sprinkle them evenly over the top of the bars. Leave the pan sitting in the back of the oven, with the oven off and the door cracked open, for one hour. Allowing the bars to cool down gradually like this should help prevent cracking.

13. After an hour of cooling in the oven, remove the pan and allow to cool for one more hour on a cooling rack.

14. Transfer the bars to the refrigerator, and chill for 1-2 more hours, or overnight. Store leftover bars in the refrigerator for 5-7 days.

To Serve: I transferred the whole block of bars to a cutting board before I cut them into 16 squares. To do this, use your foil "wings" to remove the bars from the pan. Next, take a cutting mat or board and place it on top of the pan before flipping the pan over. Remove the pan, and peel the foil off the bottom of the bars. Put another cutting mat or board over the bottom of the bars, and placing one hand at the center of each of the two mats, flip the bars back over so they are now facing right-side up on a cutting mat.

Tips:

Photo example of the foil sling. Be sure to push the foil into the edges and corners with your fingers.

• My goal with this recipe was to use Girl Scout cookies, but of course those aren't always available! Any shortbread cookie such as Walker's Shortbread Rounds will work for the crust, or I think you could even use graham crackers. A good substitution for the Caramel deLites are Keebler's Coconut Dreams or Clover Valley Coconut Fudge and Caramel cookies. You could also substitute another type of cookie such as Oreos or chocolate chip cookies for a different type of cookie cheesecake bar.

• Watch your coconut carefully while toasting; it can go from just fine to burnt pretty quickly.

• If you do not have a food processor or blender to make your cookie crumbs, put your cookies in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag and use a meat tenderizer or rolling pin to smash the cookies into fine crumbs. Chop your toasted coconut, then mix in with the cookie crumbs before adding the melted butter and salt.

• Sour cream could be substituted for the Greek yogurt.

• Using room temperature cream cheese, Greek yogurt, and eggs will create a smoother mixture and ultimately a better product than if you use them straight out of the fridge. The ingredients will disperse more quickly and mix more thoroughly if they are not cold.

• Overbeaten eggs can cause bubbles and cracks in cheesecake due to the extra air you incorporate into them, which is why you want to take care when adding the eggs and only mix until everything has just combined.

• I would suggest making sure the pieces that are going on top of your bars are a little on the smaller side; some of mine were pretty big and this posed an issue when I was cutting my bars because the cookies were pretty much impossible to cut through without destroying parts of the delicate cheesecake. I ended up just rearranging my cookie pieces a bit as I cut, but next time I would make smaller pieces and avoid the issue.

• This method yields a soft and creamy cheesecake, which I loved. If you prefer a firmer cheesecake, you could try baking for an additional 5-10 minutes.

• Although the cooling methods I've described here add on a considerable amount of time, it is passive/hands-off time, which is nice. If you have an opportunity to plan ahead, I would recommend making these bars the day before you need them so they can chill overnight.

The Story:

My daughter joined a Girl Scout troop for the first time this year. I don't think she really knew what to expect (nor did I, if I'm honest), but she had tried Girl Scout cookies before, and since she is my daughter she allowed her taste buds to help make her decision and allowed me to persuade her to give it a shot.

Ready to make her entrepreneurial dreams come true!

Once we got into "cookie season," she was hooked. Organization is this kid's favorite past time, and she reveled in all that cookie season entailed: carrying cases of cookies down to the guest room and organizing them by flavor, coming up with a sales pitch, loading cookies up in the wagon and selling door-to-door around the neighborhood, and bagging up online orders to deliver to friends and family.

I feel like Trefoils are an underrated member of the GS cookie family, but I love them!

I love a good seasonal theme and a good challenge, so once we had all of the cookies in our house I knew I wanted to come up with a few recipes that used Girl Scout cookies. The first one I came up with was pretty simple but extremely delicious; a Thin Mint truffle that was rich, minty and divine. You can find the recipe on my Instagram page if it sounds like your cup of tea :)

They weren't the cutest things ever (I wished my green drizzle was a little thinner and more delicate), but sooo tasty!

I knew I wanted to make some type of bar with a Trefoils cookie crust, and that is where the idea for these creamy, amazing cookie cheesecake bars was born. I know that other types of cheesecake bars that are similar to this one exist, but I'm telling you, these will top them all.

My husband is really not much of a dessert person; it used to be a point of contention when we went out to eat because I often wanted to order dessert, but since I knew he wouldn't help me eat it and I didn't want to eat dessert alone, I would have to refrain. However, Caramel deLite cookies are one treat that he wilingly eats and enjoys. Upon trying these bars during our family taste test, he even proclaimed that they were "dangerous," which is NOT an adjective he reserves for sweets.

Enjoy these sweet, coconutty, dreamy bars with a cup of coffee, tea or on their own; you really can't lose. Share them with the Caramel deLite or Trefoils lover in your life :)

Happy tasting!