Cheesecake bars for St. Patrick’s Day. Photo
courtesy McCormick.

These cheesecake bars, with contrasting layers of green, white and dark brown, combine creamy cheesecake with refreshing peppermint, a chocolate cookie crust and a rich dark chocolate drizzle. The recipe is courtesy of McCormick, which has many more delicious recipes at McCormick.com.

The recipe makes 24 servings. Prep time is 20 minutes, cook time is 30 minutes, and the cheesecake must be refrigerated for 4 hours. If you want to make it after St. Patrick’s Day, you can omit the green food coloring.

GREEN WITH ENVY CHEESECAKE BARS

Ingredients

Preparation

1. Make crust. Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix cookie crumbs and butter. Press firmly onto bottom of foil-lined 9-inch square baking pan. Refrigerate until ready to use.

2. Make batter. Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add sour cream and peppermint extract; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating on low speed after each addition just until blended. Pour 1/2 of the batter over crust. Tint remaining batter green with food color. Pour over batter in pan.

3. Bake. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool completely on wire rack. TIP: Put a pan of water on the bottom rack of the oven. Known as a bain-marie, the moisture keeps the cheesecake from cracking.

4. Refrigerate. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Lift out of pan onto cutting board. Cut into bars.

5. Drizzle. Drizzle bars with melted chocolate. Serve. Store uneaten bars in the refrigerator.

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