Oreo Cheesecake Bars

I wanted to make a dessert for my dad for father's day.  I called him and asked him what he would like.  He said he wasn't picky and he didn't like anything with coconut or key lime pie.  Thanks for narrowing it down Dad!  I decided to do a bar type of dessert since it was for a barbecue setting and I knew I didn't want to make brownies.  I set about searching my favorite blog haunts and came across two possibilities.  A raspberry strudel bar or an Oreo cheesecake bar.  I couldn't decide so I asked Joe which he would like and his vote was Oreo cheesecake so that is what I went with.  I found the recipe at Annie's Eats.  Her recipe was for an 8x8 sized pan so I adapted it slightly for the 9x13 pan that I would be using.  They were very easy and straight forward to make especially since I have both a food processor and stand mixer.  The recipe is very versatile and could be changed to use other mix ingredients as well.  Definitely a recipe that I will be playing with in the future.

Oreo Cheesecake Bars
Adapted from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
For the crust:
32 Oreo cookies
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake:
24 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs plus 2 egg yolks
20 Oreo cookies, roughly chopped

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Line a 9x13 inch baking dish with foil.  To make crust, place the Oreos in the bowl of a food processor.  Process, pulsing, until the cookies are finely ground.  Add in the melted butter and pulse until the cookie crumbs are moistened.  Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking pan.  Press the crumbs into an even layer over the bottom of the pan.  Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then set aside and prepare the filling while maintaining the oven temperature.

To make the filling, add the cream cheese to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and smooth, about 2 minutes.  Mix in the sugar until well combined.  Blend in the sour cream, vanilla and salt.  Beat in the eggs and egg yolks on medium-high speed until incorporated, scraping down the bowl as needed.  Stir in the chopped Oreos with a rubber spatula.

Pour the cheesecake batter over the prepared crust, smoothing the top with a spatula.  Bake for about 42 minutes until the cheesecake is set around the edges but slightly wobbly in the center.  Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool about 1 hour to room temperature.  Cover the pan and refrigerate until well chilled, about 3 hours.

To cut the bars, pull the cake from the pan by lifting the foil up out of the pan.  Place on a cutting board.  Peel away the foil and slice into bars.  Clean the knife blade between each slice to keep the edges neat.  Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.