Peppermint Mocha Cheesecake Bars
Packed with holiday spirit + peppermint + chocolate, these Peppermint Mocha Cheesecake Bars are sure to be a hit in your house!
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T-2 days until the big man in the red suit shows up! Have you been naughty or nice this year? For your sake, I’m hoping it’s nice. I mean no one wants a lump of coal in their stocking. You can’t do much of anything with a lump of coal. (Unless you want to bury it for a couple thousand years and hope it turns into a diamond…) Since there really isn’t enough time to influence the whole naughty vs. nice debate at this point, I say we resort to the next best strategy. That’s right…all out bribery.
It’s too late to write Santa a letter. So scratch that idea. I mean you might be able to email him, but what are the chances that Santa is actually checking his email right now. It’s 2 days ’til Christmas, people! We have to resort to more practical ideas given our timeline.
One of the best ideas is to go out and buy as many Christmas lights as possible. Then climb up on your roof (try not to fall off), and string those lights every which way. (Bonus points for creating a bull’s eye on your roof.) We want that house to light up the night sky! That way, Santa is sure to spot your roof as he and Rudolph fly by. But there is a fine line here. If you put up too many lights, then you run the risk of blinding Santa (and perhaps the neighbors, too). No one needs a crashed sleigh full of toys in their front yard…umm, hold on. We might be onto something here, guys…
Ok, maybe that wasn’t our best idea. Let’s just fall back to the one method that we know produces results. Food! Santa loves delicious food, and I’m told that he really loves peppermint and chocolate. And that’s where these Peppermint Mocha Cheesecake Bars come in. These bad boys are going to be your key to Christmas presents! Santa can’t resist eating 1…or 2…or 3 of these bars. Trust me. I know Santa. And he loved these cheesecake bars!
Cheesecake has to be one of my all-time favorite desserts. I hated it when I was a kid, but I think that was partially because my little sister loved it. And using that powerful 8-year-old-boy logic, I decided that if my sister liked cheesecake, then cheesecake was clearly not very good. Fortunately, I overcame that flawed logic, and cheesecake is now one of my favorite desserts.
I used International Delight’s Peppermint Mocha creamer to infuse a bit of holiday spirit into these Peppermint Mocha Cheesecake Bars. We’ve had a house full of family for the last few weeks, and we’ve been enjoying a splash of Peppermint Mocha creamer in our morning coffee. Nothing quite beats drinking a mug of hot coffee by a roaring fireplace at this time of the year. (Ok, the fireplace isn’t exactly roaring with this weather we’re having…but you get the point.) The only thing that beats a hot cup of coffee? Cheesecake bars. That is unless you serve these Peppermint Mocha Cheesecake Bars with a cup of hot coffee!
I love whipping up all sorts of fun cheesecake flavors, but there is something even more alluring about whipping up cheesecake bars. For some reason, it seems like bars are so much easier to make than a whole cheesecake. And bars also disappear a bit faster than a ‘regular’ cheesecake, too. If you need to influence Santa a little bit this year, then might I suggest putting out a plate of these Peppermint Mocha Cheesecake Bars on Christmas Eve? I can promise you that they’ll all be gone by the next morning!
Were you naughty or nice this year?
What are some other good tips to attract Santa? (I’m taking notes for when our son is old enough to learn about Santa!)
Peppermint Mocha Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 18 chocolate sandwich cookies separated and filling removed
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
For the Cheesecake
- 16 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup International Delight Peppermint Mocha creamer
- 3 large eggs
- {Optional garnish} crumbled candy canes
Instructions
For the Crust
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Place the cookies (filling removed) and brown sugar in a food processor or mini-chopper. Pulse until finely ground. Transfer mixture into a large bowl.
- Remove 2 Tbsp of mixture and set aside to use as topping later.
- Stir the melted butter into the remaining mixture and then press into bottom and sides of an 8”x8” baking pan.
- Bake crust for 10 minutes.
- Remove pan from oven and set aside to cool.
For the Cheesecake
- Using a countertop mixer, cream the cream cheese and sugar together until light and fluffy (3 minutes on medium-high speed).
- Add the vanilla and creamer and mix for 1-2 minutes on medium-high speed. (Tip: Don’t forget to scrape sides of bowl to ensure even mixing.)
- Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Pour mixture on top of cooled crust. Bake for 33-35 minutes, or until center of cheesecake is set.
- Sprinkle the 2 Tbsp of reserved crumbled cookies on top of the cheesecake.
- Refrigerate until cold before slicing.
- {Optional garnish} Top with crumbled candy canes before serving.
This conversation is sponsored by International Delight. The opinions and text are all mine.
Nothing like a little bribery to sweeten the pot! I think these cheesecake bars would do the trick! Who could possibly resist these and I’m certain they’d put a smile on the big guy’s face….and everyone’s face!
Hey< I have no shame about bribing Santa! I mean Santa loves cheesecake...he told me! 🙂 Thanks so much, Kathy...and Marry Christmas!
I should warn you about this “bribe Santa” plan. I have it on good authority that the North Pole is engaged in a sting operation in which they send fake Santas to your house with hidden cameras. Once they catch you in the act, Dateline NBC comes out and shames you on national television. It’s not pretty, David. So, just between you and me – I happen to know a guy who knows a guy who knows an elf that can probably pull some strings behind the scene. All I ask is that you send me a couple of these cheesecakes, FedEx, in refrigerated packaging.
Wait what. Fake Santas? Hidden cameras? Sting operations? But if you have an elf behind the scenes who can make things happen, then we definitely need to talk. A year’s supply of cheesecake just got loaded onto my drone and it’s heading your way! Stupid Dateline…
these are absolutely beautiful! you can never have enough of cheesecake! Happy Holidays & Merry Christmas to you & your family David! 🙂
Thank you so much, Manali! Merry Christmas to you, too!
You are totally cracking me up with your Christmas lights bull’s eye! I’m sure Santa won’t be able to resist these cheesecake bars! Enjoy your first Christmas holiday as a dad. Merry Christmas!
Hey, over here, Santa! I’ll resort to all kinds of tricks and gimmicks when it comes to getting the big man to visit my house. Haha! 🙂 Thanks so much, Rachelle…and I hope you and Chris have an awesome Christmas!
Hi David! Cheesecake is my son’s favorite dessert and I am sure he will like this one! He believed in Santa until he was twelve because he just “knew” I couldn’t afford all the presents! Still makes me smile! 🙂 Have a glorious holiday you three!!
Haha…your son sounds like quite the character, Dorothy! I hope you get to hang out with him sometime during the holidays this year. Thank you so much for being a good friend, and very Merry Christmas wishes to you and Gary!
David, I think e-mailing to Santa isn’t that bad idea! Do you think he is personally checking out and reading all received letters? No way! He’s got a dozens of elves (aka customer service team) to do that. But you can be quite sure he will love these scrumptious treats! By the way, did I mention I have a read suit and a fake white beard? So please leave a double amount of this dessert..and don’t worry about milk. Or vodka. Merry Christmas, David (and Spiced family). Xoxoxo.
Yeah, emailing Santa is about like tossing a letter into the ocean and hope it ends up on the other side. It won’t happen. You gotta go all out and entice Santa every which way possible. You have a Santa outfit, too? That makes two of us, Ben! We clearly need to get together and confuse people next year. Haha! Merry Christmas to you and your family!!
The big guy in the red suit would dig on these, as would I. You still have my address, right?
I’m with you as cheesecake has to be one of my all time fav desserts. I think I’d double that crust and be in heaven. 🙂
Merry Christmas to you and your new family Dave. Great getting to know you better this past year and for all these amazing recipes. #WolfPackRocks
Hmmm…I think I do still have your address, Kevin. But the problem is that the big man ate all of these bars on his East coast travels. So I have none left to send. Oops! 🙂 And doubling the crust sounds like a great idea to me! Next batch….
Did bribing Santa work? I hope so. I mean, I hope he pit stopped your joint first with the jolt of mocha-ness in these. Peppermint mocha + cheesecake = yes.
Oh it absolutely worked! Santa let us sleep until 8am. (Nevermind the fact that we were up at 1am, 3:30am and 6am.) Hope Santa brought you some epic presents this year, Arman!