Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

So I made these to take to a lunch/play day buuut that got canceled so i'm stuck with a big 'ol plate of these guys. Good thing my brother is coming to town for his reserve weekend, maybe he can take some of these back to his co-workers. I love eating desserts but I can't always be eating the whole plate by myself! It's no good for my girlish figure! Atleast that's what I try to tell myself in efforts to stop pigging out. P.S. i've already eaten like 3 of these, today.
Ok, in all honesty i'm not really a big cheesecake fan. Even going to The Cheesecake Factory it always looks and sounds good but when I eat it I feel like it was good, but not that good. So since those are my feelings on cheesecake, when I saw these bars I thought they looked/sounded reallly good.. and they were actually really good!! I think because it also had cookie dough on it, it wasn't pure cheesecake. However they tasted a little like the smore's bars but with cheesecake instead of marshmallow. I gotta say I still like the smore's bars better but if you're a cheesecake person these are right up your alley! Anyway I definitely think i'll be making these again sometime.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars
cookies and cups


Ingredients:
Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

5 T. butter, melted

2/3 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cookie Dough:
5 tablespoons butter~room temperature

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

3 T. granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup AP flour

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Cheesecake Filling:
10 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping: (optional, I didn't do the topping. I felt the cookie dough had a high chip to dough ratio so the extra drizzling wasn't needed)

1/3 cup semi sweet chips

1/2 T. butter

Directions:

For crust:
Preheat oven to 325°.
Line 9x9 in. square pan (I used 8x8) with foil, leaving enough to extend over the sides. Spray or butter the foil.
Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter until crumbs are moistened. Stir in chocolate chips.
Press crust mixture into bottom of pan and 1 inch up sides. Bake for 6 minutes. Set pan on wire rack to cool.
For cookie dough:
Using mixer, mix butter, brown sugar, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract at medium speed until smooth. Adjust mixer speed to low and add flour. Mix just until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips. Set aside.
For cheesecake/filling:
Using mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add egg and vanilla extract, beating just until blended.
Pour batter into cooled, baked crust. Drop cookie dough by teaspoonfuls over the top of the filling. Bake about 30 minutes, or until set. Transfer to wire rack.
Topping:
For chocolate topping, melt 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips in the microwave. Add about 1/2 tablespoon of butter to make chocolate smooth.
Using a ziplock bag with corner cut off, drizzle chocolate on bars.
Cool bars in pan completely, about an hour. Or refrigerate, 1/2 hour.Using the edges of the foil, lift the bars from the pan.
Cut into bars and serve.