Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cheesecake Bites
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Serves: 36-40 cheesecake bites
 
Smooth, creamy cheesecake bars with a graham cracker crust topped with strawberry sauce, frozen and then covered in chocolate and sprinkles. A perfect bite-size little sweet treat!!!
Ingredients
  • For the Crust:
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
  • ⅓ cup finely chopped pecans
  • 8 graham crackers, crushed into fine crumbs (about 1⅓ cups graham cracker crumbs)
  • 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
  • For the Cheesecake:
  • 2 (8 ounce) bricks of cream cheese, softened
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • ⅓ cup milk
  • For the Strawberry Sauce:
  • ½ cup unsweetened frozen strawberries
  • 2 - 4 tablespoons water
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • For the Chocolate Coating:
  • 3-5 ounces dark chocolate or candy melts or almond bark (I used all 3 in the cheesecake bites pictured)
  • 1-2 teaspoons vegetable shortening
  • sprinkles!!!
Instructions
  1. Butter a 9 X 9 square pan. Line it with parchment paper and then butter the paper (this will make lifting the chilled bars out and cutting them later muuuuch easier). Pre-heat the oven to 350.
  2. In a medium bowl combine the melted butter, chopped pecans, graham cracker crumbs, and brown sugar. Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.
  3. In a large bowl beat the cream cheese and granulated sugar until fluffy and smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Mix in the vanilla and milk and beat for another minute or so until smooth.
  4. Pour the batter over the crust and bake for about 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 275 and bake for another 15 minutes. Turn off the oven (but don't open it!!!!) and let the cheesecake cool and come to room temperature (this will keep the bars from cracking -- they continue to cook a little as the oven temperature falls).
  5. While the cheesecake is cooling, place the strawberries, 2 tablespoons of water, and the 1 tablespoon granulated sugar into a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Use a spatula or spoon to smush the berries so that they break down. Add the additional tablespoons of water if needed to thin the sauce a little as it cooks. You can puree the sauce in a blender if you want. I got my sauce to my desired consistency without the blender just by cooking and stirring.
  6. Spread the sauce over the room temperature cheesecake bars and then put them in the freezer.They need to freeze for at least an hour before cutting - 2 hours or overnight is even better.
  7. To cut the bars, lift the parchment paper from the pan and place the whole thing on a cutting board. Cut into 1-2" pieces (size will depend on your preference). Place the cut bites back in the freezer.
  8. Set up a work area by laying out a couple sheets of parchment or wax paper.
  9. Melt the chocolate and shortening over low heat in a small saucepan stirring frequently. To cover the cheesecake bites, place them in the pan one at a time and spoon the melted chocolate over them (tipping the pan slightly sideways helps make the spooning easier) . Lift them out of the pan with a fork and gently shake off the excess chocolate. Place them on the paper you laid out, add sprinkles and let them set and cool.
  10. These are fine stored in the refrigerator but I like mine frozen!!
Notes
These bars cook pretty quickly for cheesecake (30 minutes of actual baking and another 20 minutes to come to room temperature) but the bars will need to freeze for at least an hour before slicing and covering in chocolate. Make sure you allow yourself the time you need. You may want to make the bars one day, freeze overnight, and then cover in chocolate the next.
If you want to skip the chocolate part, the cheesecake bars are EXCELLENT as-is!
Recipe by Sugar Dish Me at https://www.sugardishme.com/chocolate-covered-strawberry-cheesecake-bites/