White and Dark Chocolate Cream Cheese Chocolate Cake Bars
User Reviews
4.4
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Prep Time
10 mins
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Cook Time
27 mins
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Additional Time
23 mins
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Total Time
1 hr
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Servings
24
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Calories
115 kcal
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Course
Baked Goods
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Cuisine
American
White and Dark Chocolate Cream Cheese Chocolate Cake Bars
Description
The bars begin with a devil’s food cake mix blended with softened butter, egg, vanilla extract, and optionally a bit of cold brewed coffee or water to deepen flavor and help dough consistency. The batter is thick and sticky, pressed evenly in a foil-lined pan, then topped with a mix of semi-sweet and white chocolate chips. Parallelly, a cream cheese layer is prepared by combining sweetened condensed milk, softened cream cheese, and vanilla extract to create a glossy topping.
Baking for about 24 to 27 minutes softens the base and sets the cream cheese layer, yielding bars with a moist, decadent crumb and a creamy top contrasted by the chocolate chip melting points. After cooling, bars can be sliced and chilled further for easier serving.
Storing leftovers in the refrigerator maintains their texture for up to one week; freezing extends shelf life to three months without significant quality loss.
Ingredients
Cake Bars
- 1 Devil’s Food cake mix or your favorite boxed chocolate cake mix, box
- ½ cup butter 1 stick, softened, unsalted
- 1 egg large
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract bourbon vanilla is especially nice
- 1 to 2 tablespoons cold brewed coffee optional if necessary, or water
- ¾ cup chocolate chips semi-sweet
- ¾ cup white chocolate chips
Cream Cheese Layer
- 1 can 14-ounces sweetened condensed milk
- ½ cup cream cheese 4 ounces, softened; whipped cream cheese optional
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract clear imitation vanilla extract will keep this layer whiter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and prepare a 9-by-13 inch pan by lining it with aluminum foil and then spraying it with cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, butter, egg, vanilla and mix either with a mixer, with a spoon, or with your hands, kneading it together. The batter will be extremely thick and will be difficult to combine, but keep stirring or use your fingers and knead it together, adding the coffee (will deepen the flavor and does not make them taste like coffee) or water if necessary.
- Press the dough it into the prepared pan. It will be tacky, sticky, and a bit tricky to work with, but keep pressing, spreading, and finessing it.
- Sprinkle the white and dark chocolate chips evenly over the top.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the sweetened condensed milk, cream cheese, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and stir until well combined, and pour mixture evenly over dough, using a spatula to gently spread and even it if necessary.
- Bake for 24 to 27 minutes, or until edges of bars begin to barely brown and pull away slightly from the sides of the pan, or until the middle has barely set, taking care not to overbake. Note that the middle will not seem very well set and will be jiggly upon removing from oven and that is okay, you want to keep these gooey. They will continue to set up more after they have cooled.
- Allow bars to cool well before slicing and serving.
Notes
- Store the cake bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week to maintain freshness.
- To extend storage, freeze the bars for up to three months; thaw in the refrigerator before serving.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 24Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 115 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Serving | 1 | |
| Calories | 115kcal | 6% |
| Carbohydrates | 10g | 3% |
| Protein | 1g | 2% |
| Fat | 8g | 12% |
| Saturated Fat | 5g | 25% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 3g | 18% |
| Cholesterol | 22mg | 7% |
| Sodium | 32mg | 1% |
| Sugar | 9g | 18% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
4.4
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