Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Bars

Today’s recipe comes from Taste of Home. It looked easy and yummy and I love cream cheese. I thought at first I might go the quick route and just use a tube of dough. You know with the time change and all. Got to find that hour somewhere. However, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. You see, most ready made cookie dough whether in a tub or a tube are made with powdered eggs. Powdered Eggs. Frankly, they give me the hebe gebes. It was noted in the recipe that it was fine to use your favorite cookie dough recipe as long as it made two cups. I figured out the quantities by scaling back on my cookie recipe which you will see below. One thing that is very important is that your dough is cold and your pan is well greased.
I took this to church this morning right out of the refrigerator. Shortgirl made a suggestion that it should be heated slightly before serving. When I got home, and near a microwave, I tried it heated. Wonderful. If you try it cold, it taste like a chocolate chip cheesecake with a brown sugar cookie crust. If you try it warm it takes on a different flavor like a Sopapilla Cheesecake with melted chocolate and brown sugar. Thanks shortgirl for the suggestion! It greatly improved this recipe. So keep in mind, chilled dough, greased pan, heat slightly before serving, and you will have success.

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Bars
Ingredients
1 tube (18 ounces) refrigerated (ready made) chocolate chip cookie dough
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg

or

1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
¼ c + 2 tabs granulated sugar
¼ c + 2 tabs packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup Semi Sweet Chocolate Morsels
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg

Directions:
If you are using refrigerated (ready made) dough; cut cookie dough in half.
If you are making your own dough, combine flour, baking soda, salt, butter, sugars, vanilla, and an egg in a medium sized bowl. Beat until well mixed. Chill dough for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
For crust, press half (1 cup) of the dough (ready made or your own) onto the bottom of a well greased 8-in. square baking pan. In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and egg until smooth. Spread over crust. Crumble remaining dough (1 cup) over top. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 12-16 servings.