S'more Cheesecake Bars

You know what?

Sometimes it pays off to spend 2 hours reading about different cheesecakes, mini cheesecakes, and chocolate cheesecakes to figure out a way to properly adapt my cheesecake recipes to a mini chocolate cheesecake. And when paired with a graham cracker crust and toasted marshmallows on top? It REALLY pays off.

I wanted to make something delicious and cold for book club this week. It's almost the end of summer and I haven't taken advantage of all the different baking and dessert opportunities. I have about 5 other s'more ideas now that I finally bought a mini kitchen torch. I have ideas for ice cream, fruity things, and basically anything that you could and should eat during the summer. Thankfully, the weather in LA tends to get warmer in August and September, so I still have some time.



I had this idea to do mini cheesecakes in the same vein of all the other cheesecake recipes I have on this blog, but then I realized I didn't have a muffin tin so that plan quickly got scrapped. The bars worked just as well and were just as adorable (and delicious).

The graham cracker crust was just enough graham cracker, because let's be honest, they're my least favorite part of the whole s'more package. The chocolate cheesecake is a good blend of tangy cheesecake with rich chocolate taste. The toasted marshmallows are my favorite part. Warm, gooey and toasty. I may or may not have piled the toasted marshmallows high both on top of the cheesecake and on the side while eating it.

S'more Cheesecake Bars

makes 16 bars

For the Crust:
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

For the Cheesecake:
5 ounces semi-sweet or dark chocolate, melted
16 oz (2-8 oz packages) cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/3 cup heavy cream

1 10-oz bag mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x9 square baking dish with parchment paper and lightly spray with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter until it looks like wet sand. Pour into baking dish and press mixture down hard. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool on wire rack. Reduce oven to 325 degrees F.

In a microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate in 30 second intervals, stirring between each one.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together softened cream cheese and sour cream until smooth and combined, about 2 minutes. Add sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and vanilla. Mix in eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Gently mix in heavy cream until just incorporated. Stir in melted chocolate. Pour batter over cooled graham cracker crust (it'll be thick) and make sure it's evenly distributed.

Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until the cheesecake barely jiggles in the center and a knife comes out almost clean. Cover cheesecake with 3/4 of the mini marshmallows and put back in the oven for a few minutes, just until the marshmallows start to melt together.

Let cool to room temperature then refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight. Top cheesecake with remaining mini marshmallows and use a kitchen torch to toast marshmallows.

[source: adapted from my recipes; inspired by Annie's Eats]