Day 36: Marbled Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

So far, cooking in my DO has been easier than I thought it would be. Some days are still frustrating, but for the most part I've found that it is hard to ruin a DO dish. Baking has been the exception for me, and I would suspect that baking is the reason more people don't cook DO. I did find one tip that makes baking easier. If you think about it, you would never make treats or breads of any kind without preheating your oven, and that should also apply to your dutch oven. So today I tried it. I put my DO lid on top of my chimney about 5 minutes before the coals were ready and let it get nice and hot. Then I put it on my DO, added coals and let it cook. And what do you know, these bars cooked PERFECTLY! For the first time a baking recipe cooked in the proper time stated on the recipe! I was thrilled. Tomorrow I am going to make even more biscuits and see how it works. But for today, I am going to eat chocolate!

Marbled Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

14" dutch oven

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup butter, no substitutes

1 1/2 squares unsweetened chocolate

2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

cream cheese mixture:

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 Tbs. vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips

In a small DO (or saucepan) combine the water, butter and chocolate; cook and stir over low heat until smooth. Cool. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Add the eggs and sour cream; beat on low just until combined. Stir in chocolate mixture until smooth. In another bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla; set aside. Spread chocolate batter in a 14" DO (or a 10 x 15 pan). Drop the cream cheese mixture by tablespoons full over the batter; cut through the batter with a knife to swirl. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake at 375 degrees using 12 coals on the bottom and 22 on top for 20-25 minutes or until it tests done with a toothpick. Makes about 3 dozen.

The Finished Product

What I Learned

Seriously, preheat your ovens. The difference between today's baking and the baking I have done so far is unbelievable. Hopefully it continues to make a difference. I will let you know in future posts!

The Review

Chocolate and cheesecake with DO flavor. Need I say more? This one had me at chocolate. These were perfect! And that is surprising since I used baking powder instead of baking soda. I wonder if they would have been better with the right ingredients? :P I am going to have to hide these from my kids, or they will all be gone by 3:15 today. These get an A for taste and how well they cooked.