Cake Batter Cheesecake Bars
March 9, 2012 § 76 Comments
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear blog,
Happy Birthday to you! 
…
Oh, time really does fly by. I cannot believe it’s already been an entire year of me blogging here at The Teenage Taste! I feel like it was just the other day that I gave birth to, I mean, made this blog. It has changed so much for the better since I first started blogging, too! The picture quality is better, the layout is simpler, readership has grown, and the blog has even changed from strictly food to food and occasional tastes of my life through wannabe fashion, running, and plain ol’ random musings.
It’s funny how, a year ago, blogging was just something I did occasionally, when I felt like it, and without any real direction. Now blogging is such an integral part of my life, it’s strange to think about what I’d do without it.
I love blogging and, while I could probably go on and on and on about it, I won’t because I have a blog birthday post part two coming up (cough, giveaway, cough) so I’ll just save the rest of my rambling for there. 
Now onto the reason you’re probably still reading this post – cheesecake!
When I realized that The Teenage Taste’s first blog birthday was coming up a few weeks ago, I knew I had to do something special. At first the thought of cupcakes crossed my mind, but then I realized that, whenever I bake cupcakes, I do such a bad job of frosting them that they look really, really gross. So that was out. I also thought about cheesecake, but for some reason that didn’t seem festive enough. To me, an occasion such as a food blog’s first blog birthday had to have color and sprinkles. And then the idea for these Cake Batter Cheesecake Bars were born!
Cake Batter Cheesecake Bars
“Boxed Funfetti cake and cheesecake are two of my all-time favorite desserts, so I figured it was about time to combine the two. The result? A sweet, creamy, colorful cheesecake bar filled with all the flavors of Funfetti cake! Yum!”
Ingredients:
- 1 ¾ cups vanilla cookie crumbs (I used Nilla wafers, but any type of vanilla cookie should work!)
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted
- 16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature (I used low-fat.)
- ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
- ½ cup yellow cake mix
- 2 eggs + 1 egg yolk
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons milk (I used 1%.)
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup sprinkles
- ~5 drops blue food coloring (optional)
- ~3 drops green food coloring (optional)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan, then line with parchment paper; set aside.
- Stir together cookie crumbs, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, and the melted butter. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake until the crust is just brown around the edges, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese with a mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining granulated sugar and beat for an additional couple of minutes, until smooth. Add the eggs and yolk, milk, vanilla, salt and beat again until completely combined and smooth. Finally, stir in the cake mix and sprinkles until smooth.
- Pour the filling over the crust. Set the pan in a larger pan (a 9×13-inch works for this), and add enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the baking pan. Bake until just set, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the baking pan from the water bath, and transfer to a wire rack. Let cool for 30 minutes, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.
- Cut into bars. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
And before I sign off, I’d like to thank YOU for reading my blog, The Teenage Taste! I really, really appreciate it and love hearing from every single one of you!
Made these! They were so good, everyone loved them!
can you use a a springform pan or not?
[...] weeks ago I started off my Funfetti adventures with cake batter cheesecake bars. I made some modifications to the recipe, namely replacing the yellow cake mix and rainbow [...]
Can you make these into mini cheesecakes?
ive made these numerous times and my family and friends love them. and with the holidays upon us , i guess its time for me to make some again..
Made these for an Ugly Christmas Sweater party tonight. Yummy!!
Oh my! Such wonderful photography! I need to hire you for my wedding!
looks and sounds delicious…i want to make these! : )
[...] borrowed my baking method from erika at the teenage taste. she gives her cheesecake dish a “bath” in hot water while it’s baking…it [...]
[...] borrowed my baking method from erika at the teenage taste. she gives her cheesecake dish a “bath” in hot water while it’s baking…it [...]
looks really good! I love both of these foods and it seems like such a unique way to combine the two! So glad I found this site
[...] borrowed my baking method from erika at the teenage taste. she gives her cheesecake dish a “bath” in hot water while it’s baking…it [...]