St. Patrick's Chocolate & Mint Cheesecake Bars

In honor of my Irish heritage and maiden name, I am dedicating these to my children. My kids love mint and I put this recipe together for St. Patrick's Day a few years back. It turned out better then anticipated. I want to share with others this recipe and hope others enjoy this as much as my family does.

• Preparation Time: 20 mins
• Cooking Time: 55 mins
• Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins
• Calories: 369 Calories

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter, softened
• 3 eggs
• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 6 drops green food coloring, or as needed
• 3 drops creme de menthe candy flavoring (such as Wilton®), or as needed

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

Step 2

Beat cake mix and butter with an electric mixer on low speed in a bowl until crumbly, 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside 1 cup for topping.

Step 3

Press remaining crumb mixture into bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan.

Step 4

Place in preheated oven and bake until edges begin to crisp, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool slightly.

Step 5

Beat cream cheese and frosting with an electric mixer on medium speed in a bowl until smooth, 3 to 5 minutes.

Step 6

Drop eggs one at a time into the cream cheese mixture and beat until blended, 2 to 3 minutes.

Step 7

Pour in 6 drops green food coloring, or more for a darker color; beat until color is blended, about 2 minutes.

Step 8

Beat in creme de menthe candy flavoring until thoroughly blended, about 2 minutes. Taste and add more flavoring if needed.

Step 9

Pour batter over the chocolate crust in the 9x13 pan.

Step 10

Sprinkle 1 cup reserved crumb mixture over cheesecake batter.

Step 11

Top with 1 cup chocolate and mint morsels; reserve remaining morsels for finishing touches.

Step 12

Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake until set, 42 to 45 minutes.

Step 13

Remove pan from oven and cool completely.

Step 14

Cover and refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours.

Step 15

Pour reserved chocolate and mint morsels into a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave morsels in 45 second intervals; stir until completely melted and smooth.

Step 16

Pour melted chocolate into a resealable plastic bag.

Step 17

Clip a small bottom corner of the bag. Gently squeezing the bag, drizzle melted chocolate over the cooled cake through the clipped corner.

Step 18

Cut cake into bars to serve.