Chocolate Cheesecake Bars!

What to make for my very first blog?  I have many recipes that I know are wonderful and that I get requests for but of course I have to do things the difficult way and make a brand new recipe that I've never tried!  I needed to make an easy dessert to go along with a dinner meeting I catered tonight and when I saw this recipe for Chocolate Cheesecake Bars I knew I found a winner.   I love cheesecake, it is one of my all time favorite desserts.  I love it for it's creamy texture, rich filling, and fabulous graham cracker crust.  The only thing that would make cheesecake even better would be to make it with chocolate!  So that's what I did, this recipe is chocolate crust with chocolate filling topped with a rich chocolate glaze!

This is an easy recipe to make.  The only problem I had was with finding the chocolate cookies to make the crust.  I ended up substituting graham cracker crumbs mixed with Dutch processed cocoa powder.  You could not tell the difference, the crust was still fabulous!  I posted pictures of the finished product on fb and got rave reviews so I knew this had to be my first recipe post.  I hope you all enjoy the recipe!

Recipe adapted from Foodnetwork:

Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

Crust:

20 chocolate wafer cookies

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon instant espresso

Filling:

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

2 large eggs, room temperature

Glaze:

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon light or dark corn syrup

2 tablespoons sour cream, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8-inch square baking dish with foil.

For the crust: Process the chocolate wafers in a food processor with the butter, sugar and espresso until fine. Evenly press the crust into the prepared dish covering the bottom completely. Bake until the crust sets, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the filling: Put the chocolate in a double boiler set over a slow simmer and stir until melted and smooth.

Blend the cream cheese, sugar, and sour cream together in the food processor until smooth. Scrape down the sides, as needed. Add the eggs and pulse until just incorporated. With the food processor running, pour the chocolate into the wet ingredients and mix until smooth.

Pour the filling evenly over the crust. Bake until filling puffs slightly around the edges, but is still a bit wobbly in the center, about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool on a rack.

For the Glaze: Put the chocolate, butter and corn syrup in microwave safe bowl. Heat glaze in the microwave at 75 percent power until melted, about 2 minutes. Stir the ingredients together until smooth; add the sour cream. Spread glaze evenly over the warm cake and refrigerate for at least 3 hours but preferably overnight.  Cut into small bars or squares. Serve chilled or room temperature.

Makes 16 servings.