Mint Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars {Recipe}

Normally when I make recipes, I make them with someone else in mind – my husband, my kids, my co-workers, friends, etc.  Very rarely do I make something that’s just for me.   And for that reason, I don’t make a lot of mint recipes.  My husband is not a fan, my kids tend to avoid it, and my co-workers would prefer to pass.  But me?  Well I love mint.  In fact, if you ask me, Chocolate + Mint = Sheer Perfection.  Mint Chocolate Chip is my absolute favorite ice cream flavor and a Thin Mint cookie can turn my day from bad to good.  And I’m pretty much in love with those Mint Oreos I posted about late last year.  Yum.

But every now and again I find a mint recipe that looks so good that I just have to try it…even if I’m the only one who is going to eat it.  Because it just looks that good.  And I was pretty sure that I’d found that exact recipe in a mouthwatering mint cheesecake recipe on Pinterest earlier this week.  But in normal fashion, I didn’t pin it, and I wasn’t able to find it when I went back to make it.  Unwilling to give up on the recipe (it looked amazing, there was no way I was going to give up on it), I found another recipe and modified it a bit to include chocolate chips and an Oreo crust.  The result?  Delicious!  And just in time for St. Patrick’s Day – even though they’d be great any time…

Okay, so the portion size on this one is probably a little too big to eat all by myself, but something tells me that I’m going to give it my very best shot before bringing the rest of them over to my friend’s house on Sunday!

You will need:
20 Oreo cookies, with cream removed and finely crushed
3 Tbsp butter, melted
3 packages cream cheese (8 oz. each), softened
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz.)
3 eggs
1 tsp peppermint extract
1 tsp green food coloring or food gel (approximate)
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1 tsp flour

Step 1 – Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Step 2 – Combine finely crushed cookies with the melted butter.  Once well combine, press crumb mixture into the bottom of a 13 x 9 until it’s thin and even.

Step 3 – Place cream cheese in a large mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Slowly add sweetened condensed milk, then eggs, and then peppermint beating on medium speed until well combined.

Step 4 – Add food coloring or gel to desired color.  I used approximately 1/4 tsp of green food gel, so you may need more if you’re using the liquid drops.

Step 5 – Coat one half of the chocolate chips in flour (1/2 cup).  I found that the simplest way to do this is to actually drop the teaspoon of flour into the measuring cup your using to hold your 1/2 cup of chips, and then stirring.  Once coated, fold the chips into the cheesecake mixture, stirring until well distributed.

Step 6 – Pour chocolate chip cheesecake mixture into a 13 x 9 pan.  Just before putting into into the oven, top with the remaining chocolate chips (those chips do not need to be coated in flour).

Step 7 – Bake for 1 hour or until you can press down on the cheesecake and it springs back.

Note: Try to avoid over baking this one.  I left mine in for an additional 10 minutes because, although it sprung back when touched, I was concern it wasn’t quite “done”.  Turns out they were done and all I ended up doing was browning the edge pieces, which took away from the pretty green color I was trying to create.  Trust me, once it springs back – take it out of the oven!

Step 8 – Cool at room temperature, then chill for 2-4 hours.

Enjoy!