Chocolate Cherry Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Bars

I wanted to bring a dessert to a BBQ this weekend and my son suggested cookie bars. He LOVES to make cookies. I had a package of Nestle Cherry Delightfulls so we decided to give them a try, I made up a recipe and he followed it. I love having him in the kitchen with me!

Cookie Dough:

1 3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup room temp coconut oil ( softened butter is a fine substitute)

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

2 tsp vanilla 

2 eggs

9 oz package of Nestle Delightfulls Cherry Filled Chocolate Chips (any flavor of the Delighfulls would be great!!)

Filling:

8 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350

Grease an 8 x 11 pan

In a small bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside

In a mixer bowl mix coconut oil and sugars, add vanilla and crack in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well in between additions. 

Scoop in flour mixture and mix until well combined.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Press a little more than 1/2 the cookie dough into the bottom of the greased pan.

In another bowl whisk the cream cheese until it is very soft, add in sugar, egg and vanilla and whisk on medium high until very well combined.

Pour Cream cheese mixture over the cookie dough in the pan and spread to edges.

Top with crumbles of remaining cookie dough

Bake in preheated oven for 45-55 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

 Allow to cool completely before slicing