Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

I have been in a ridiculous cooking-mode all week. I guess I missed baking and cooking a lot more than I thought while I was at college. 



Chocolate Cheesecake

• 1-1/2 cups finely crushed Oreo cookie crumbs (about half the package) 
• 3 tbsp. melted butter 
• 2 8oz packages of softened cream cheese 
• 3/4 c. sugar 
• 2 eggs 
• 1/3 cup dutch-process cocoa (1.38 oz) 
• a handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips 

Preheat your oven to 325 F.
Line a 9x9 baking dish with tinfoil, then coat it with cooking spray.

If you don't have a food processor (like me), place your Oreos in a plastic bag and smash them with a rolling pin until they're good and crumbly. They don't have to be perfect and small chunks of cookie are fine. After crushing the Oreo cookies, mix them with the melted butter and press into the bottom of the pan tightly. Cook crust for about 10 minutes.

Mix the cream cheese, sugar, and eggs in a mixing bowl on medium (or with a hand mixer) until creamy, then mix in the cocoa until everything is combined. Pour cheesecake batter into the prepared pan with crust and spread evenly. Coat top of cheesecake with chocolate chips.

Bake 35-40 minutes, until set. Let cool on a wire rack and then refrigerate for at least 2 hours before slicing into bars.