Check out this fun way to use leftover candy! Our Milky Way Cheesecake is delicious and can be served whole or cut into bars!
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Milky Way Cheesecake Bars Recipe
In an effort to rid the house of our massive amount of leftover Halloween candy, I've been scouring the internet for creative baking ideas. I cam across this Snickers Cheesecake Bars recipe, and as much as I love Snickers...I ate them all on Halloween.
I did, however, have a ton of fun sized Milky Way leftover, so I just switched up the recipe a bit and came up with this Milky Way Cheesecake Bars Recipe!
I'm honestly a little shocked at how incredible they turned out! I've tried adding Milky Way to my brownies in the past and they always seem to turn into little pools of hard caramel...
I think the difference in the Milky Way Cheesecake Bars recipe is that they are serve chilled, so the denseness of the melted Milky Way bars blends beautifully with the rest of the bar.
Why you will love our Milky Way Cheesecake
And of course, like most of the recipes that I try, I added extra chocolate chips.
What can I say, I love chocolate! I have never been a huge fan of cheesecake, so the more chocolate involved, the bigger the likelihood that I will enjoy it.
If you love plain, old fashioned cheesecake just as it is, then you will probably like this Milky Way Cheesecake Bars Recipe without the additional chocolate chips.
You'll also notice that I used a regular graham cracker crust for my cheesecake bars - you can use Oreo as per Sally's original recipe, but I had graham crackers on hand and don't usually buy store-bought cookies, so I wasn't about to buy some just for this recipe. The star of this recipe is the creamy, cheesecakiness (that's a word, right?), and the crust is really just an afterthought.
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Dessert Recipes
Milky Way Cheesecake Bars Recipe
Ingredients needed to make our Milky Way Cheesecake Bars Recipe
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
5 tablespoons coconut oil (you can also use melted butter)
16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 egg
⅓ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ cups chopped Milky Way pieces
½ cup chocolate chips for the filling (I used dark chocolate chips)
¼ cup chocolate chips for the topping
¼ cup mini chocolate chips for the topping
Note: Like I said, I love chocolate chips...you can use just ½ a cup of chocolate chips in the filling and leave it at that, or you can add the additional chocolate chips on top - totally up to you! The photos in this post are with using everything I've listed in the ingredients.
Directions for how to make our Milky Way Cheesecake Bars Recipe
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together the coconut oil - or melted butter, depending on what you used - and graham cracker crumbs and pat down into a 8x8 baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 9 minutes and then allow to cool while you prepare the filling.
For the filling: Beat cream cheese, egg, sugar, and vanilla extract together until smooth and creamy, it should take you two or three minutes. Mix in the Milky Way pieces and chocolate chips and pour over your cooled crust. Top with additional chocolate chips and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the cheesecake is firm and the edges are golden brown.
Cool for about 30 minutes and then refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. Just cut into bars and enjoy!
Milky Way Cheesecake
Ingredients
- 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
- 5 tablespoons coconut oil you can also use melted butter
- 16 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 1 egg
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups chopped Milky Way pieces
- ½ cup chocolate chips for the filling I used dark chocolate chips
- ¼ cup chocolate chips for the topping
- ¼ cup mini chocolate chips for the topping
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix together the coconut oil - or melted butter, depending on what you used - and graham cracker crumbs and pat down into a 8x8 baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 9 minutes and then allow to cool while you prepare the filling.
- For the filling: Beat cream cheese, egg, sugar, and vanilla extract together until smooth and creamy, it should take you two or three minutes. Mix in the Milky Way pieces and chocolate chips and pour over your cooled crust. Top with additional chocolate chips and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the cheesecake is firm and the edges are golden brown.
- Cool for about 30 minutes and then refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. Just cut into bars and enjoy!
Anne - Mommy Has to Work
Those look amazing!! I could eat that right now!
Toni
YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY You are so creative
Lisa - Between the Kids
Oh YUMMM!! I love the regular and mini chocolate chips! Just adds that dimension of awesomeness to this recipe!
Penelope
They not only sound tasty, they look so cool!
HilLesha
I usually don't like Milky Way, but WOW! I can't resist anything with cheesecake in the title. 😉
Donna
I love anything cheesecake! And those look divine!
Mellisa
These look amazing! I bet it would be a great dessert for Thanksgiving.
Stefanie
I don't like Milky Way, but these bars look yummy!
Robin Gagnon
Yum, that is a combo I can get into... trying to cut back on sugar right now though 🙁
Colleen
Your blog is dangerous, especially when one is trying to eat well LOL!!!!!
Tiff
Milky way and cheesecake in the same sentence sounds dangerously delicious. Nom nom!!!
courtney
Pretty and delicious !! Milky way is my favorite so I'd probably never have them leftover lol
mickey
These sound amazing! I think the kids went through the Milky Ways first. Maybe I'll try a different bar...?
Ty
That looks deliciously good!
Leilani
AHH! You combined my favorite chocolate bar and my favorite dessert. I totally need to try this!
Jennifer Quillen
You can probably use any chocolate candy! The original recipe had Snickers, but I ate all of those. LOL!
Lolo
Oh my, these look great! Pinning for later.
Kathleen Bunn
I saw these on Facebook when you posted them the other day and cursed you up and down. Just thought you should know. 😉
Shell Feis
Those sound so good! Milky Ways are one of my favorite kinds of candy & I think it is SO cute having both big & mini chocolate chips!
Christy G
Yummy looking! I will have to make these for my boys! 🙂
Filipino Christmas Recipes by trina
These cheesecake bars surely is heavenly! 🙂 Looks so enticing, YUM!
Dorothy Teel
THis sounds great and it does not seem to be that hard to make, I believe that we will try this for the holidays, as we all love cheesecake here and I love Milky Way bars, thanks for sharing
Meredith
These look delicious. I can't wait to try making them.
Erin
They look absolutely wonderful!
Karen W
These sound scrumptious. Chocolate, caramel AND cheesecake? Wow, yum!
I would love if you could stop by and share on my weekly recipe linky, Kids and a Mom in the Kitchen.
http://totsandme.blogspot.com/2014/03/kids-and-mom-in-kitchen-75-oreo-frogs.html
Have a great weekend
Melanie
These sounds absolutely amazing!
Sharon
a total milky way fan here, so your recipe immediately caught my eye !
thx for sharing =)
[create with joy linkup]
Chelsea
Oh my gosh talk about the BEST dessert ever! Totally drooling right now! Thanks for linking up to SNF 🙂
lorraine williamson
love this recipe will definitely have to make copying and pinning to make later thanks for sharing zen hugs all around.
Erin
These look sinfully delicious! I;m afraid I'd eat half the pan in one sitting!
Risa
These look delish - I have a thing for cheesecake..ok, I have a thing for dessert, period! These are definitely on my to-make list.
maria
These look amazing thanks for linking this recipe to Friday Frenzy. Did you know they came out with Milky way bites, no wrapping or cutting. Just posted a few recipes my self:)
Kathy Brown-Lowery
They look AMAZING but was wondering if the caramel from the candy bars gets rock hard since the bars are refrigerated?
heather @french press
searching for my milkyways now
Ginnie
Yum! I love anything with cheesecake, especially when you add chocolate chips ... the more, the better;)
Mandee Thomas
Ah, these look so delicious! Pinning 😀
Michelle
I'm not a big cheesecake person...unless it's packed full of chocolate. This looks so good! Thank you for linking!
Michelle (The Ribbon Retreat)
Yummy! These look delicious! I can't wait to give the a try! Thanks for sharing! PINNED!
Kayla
This looks soo delicious! I love the idea 🙂
Cheri
Thanks will try it!
Kim @ The Baking ChocolaTess
These bars look fabulous! 🙂 Pinned and found these on Create and Share DIY and Share LInk Party! 🙂
Jaren (Diary of a Recipe Collector)
Milky Way and Cheesecake are two of my favorites! What a perfect combo!! Thanks for linking up at SNF!
Love Keil (MunchkinTime)
Looks scrumptious!
Mandee Thomas
Oh my goodness, you are speaking to my Milky Way-lovin' soul! I wanted to let you know that this post is being featured tonight at the Create & Share Link Party (7:00 PM MST)! Congratulations!!! Can't wait to see what you share with us this week 🙂 http://www.designsbymissmandee.com/
christina p
It looks yummy. I know this will be gobbled up in our holiday party! Thanks for the post!