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February 8, 2016

Chocolate Espresso Cheesecake Bars

Yesterday, I made a quick and easy dessert to take to a friend's house for Superbowl watching. I didn't take any pictures. I am a bad blogger. However, I want to post the recipe with some suggestions on how to substitute ingredients.

In my weekend cooking classes, students will often ask about substituting ingredients. Recipes are just guidelines, I tell them. Use what you like or what you have. Yet, people are often hesitant to change recipes, fearing they will mess them up.

So, below is the recipe I used to create a decadent, sophisticated dessert...with several ideas to change it up. I had some espresso-flavored shortbread cookies I wanted to get rid of, along with some sour cream in the fridge, and several bars of bittersweet chocolate that I got for Christmas. This recipe was developed using the things I had on hand.

I created the chocolate espresso version from a recipe I found on Pinterest from Sally's Baking Addiction.


My cheesecake bars are not at all "skinny," but her recipe was a good one to follow so that I got my ratios correct. Baking is, after all, very much like chemistry. I modify recipes like this all the time. It makes cooking easier, less stressful, and much more fun.