A few months ago, a coworker of mine requested I bring something with Nutella for a small get together we were having. Not wanting to pass up an excuse to bake, I willingly obliged. There was only one problem. I didn’t have many quick recipes in my repertoire that included this delicious hazelnut, chocolate spread.
It didn’t take much brainstorming for me to become fixated on the idea of Nutella cheesecake bars. I love changing anything from its primary form into a bar, like cookies, pies or cakes, because it’s so much faster. Usually, one type of batter gets dumped into a pan, bakes all at once in the oven and, once it’s done, you can cut it into as many individual servings as you need. It’s the perfect option for baking in a pinch, or in my case, after a long day at work.
Anyways, back to these Nutella cheesecake bars. The combination of a chocolate crust, cheesecake filling hinted with Nutella and a rich Nutella swirl is divine. The cheesecake base is tangy, which balances out the huge globs of Nutella swirled throughout. The chocolate crust is a perfect match, adding another level of chocolaty-ness (yes, these are so good they require making up a word). If you don’t want as much chocolate flavor, you can make the crust with graham crackers, like the original recipe, but I’m of the opinion that, the more chocolate, the better.
My coworkers were very glad we had a small get together and they could all take a few bars home. I even got to keep some for myself. And now, all of my friends back in the U.S. who were drooling over the Instagram picture of these many months ago, can make them too. You’re welcome.
Nutella Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
Crust
- ½ 14oz package chocolate wafer cookies, such as Oreo cookies (filling removed)
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Filling
- 16 ounces cream cheese (2 standard packages or 450g), softened to room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon Nutella or chocolate hazelnut spread, divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
- Grease and line a 8x8 baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper with enough to overhang on the sides. Set aside.
Make the crust:
- Using a food processor or blender, pulverize the Oreos into a fine crumb.
- Add melted butter and pulse until combined.
- Press into the lined pan.
- Bake for 5 minutes. Allow to cool as you prepare the filling.
For the filling:
- Beat cream cheese, egg, sugar, vanilla extract and 1 Tbs Nutella together in a stand mixer until smooth and creamy, about 3 full minutes.
- Spoon filling onto the crust.
- Warm the remaining 1/3 cup of Nutella in microwave until slightly lose, about 15 seconds.
- Drop large spoonfuls of Nutella on top of filling and swirl gently with a knife.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cheesecake has set up and the edges are lightly browned. The bars will be very puffy, but will sink slightly down as they cool.
- Allow to cool for 30 minutes at room temperature on a wire rack.
- Chill in the refrigerator for at least three hours.
- Lift the foil out of the pan and cut into squares.
- Store bars in a covered container for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction
Serving Size: 1 bar Calories: 236kcal Carbohydrate: 18g Fat: 17g Protein: 3g