Summer time is birthday time for our family.  In a five-week span we celebrate the following birthdays … my hubby (the peanut butter addict), son #2, son #3, one nephew, one brother-in-law, one sister-in-law and mine!   My two sons’ birthdays are one day apart … not good planning on our part.  If we aren’t careful, we could suffer from birthday cake overload.  We have learned to have birthday dessert … not always cake.  This is one of those desserts!

Before we start … let me explain that I sometimes use mixes for cakes or brownies.  But, I always make cookies from scratch … never a mix … never ready made cookie dough … except for this recipe.  I have had this recipe for many years, it calls for ready made refrigerated sugar cookie dough.  After making these cheesecake bars several times, I thought it was silly to buy sugar cookie dough … so I made my own dough.  I don’t know why … but the cookies made with the ready made refrigerated dough won the contest.   I felt defeated … the Pillsbury Doughboy won … well, at least he’s cute!

I have altered the recipe to fit our family’s tastes … I live with picky people! Today we have one half blueberry and one half chocolate chip.

This is what you will need … sugar cookie dough, cream cheese, sugar, an egg, blueberry pie filling, chocolate chips and oil spray …

Spray a 9″ x 13″ pan … then press the room temperature sugar cookie dough on the bottom and slightly up the sides of the pan …

Beat the softened cream cheese and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer …

Add the egg and beat until smooth …

It should look smooth like this … if you didn’t drop it on the floor like I did!  Good news … the mixer survived and it didn’t even crack a floor tile!

Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over the crust …

Sprinkle chocolate chips over half of the pan to make Son #2 happy …

I can’t forget Son #3 … so dollop (that’s a technical term) blueberry pie filling on the other half …

Using a butter or dinner knife, swirl the pie filling with the cream cheese and press the chocolate chips in the cream cheese a little …

Bake … and cool completely before cutting …

The original recipe called for blueberry pie filling only … I like to add a little lemon zest in the cream cheese.  I am giving you the recipe for the way I made it … one half blueberry and one half chocolate chip.  This is one of those recipes that can be changed to fit your needs.  Have fun with it!

Cheesecake Bars with Sugar Cookie Crust

1 16.5 ounce package of refrigerated sugar cookie dough (room temperature)

8 ounces cream cheese (softened)

1 egg

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup blueberry pie filling (1-1/2 cups if making all blueberry)

3/4 cup chocolate chips (1-1/2 cups if making all chocolate chip)

1.  Press dough evenly in a greased 9″ x 13″ baking pan.

2.  In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar.  Add egg and beat until smooth.

3.  Spread cream cheese mixture over cookie dough.

4.  Dollop pie filling on half of the cheese mixture and sprinkle chocolate chips on the other half.

5.  Using a knife, swirl the pie filling and cream cheese mixture.  Press the chocolate in the cream cheese mixture.

6.  Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until edges of crust are golden brown.

7.  Cool completely, cut into bars, refrigerate.

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