Baked Coffee Cheesecake Bars; espresso-spiked baked ricotta cheesecake bars with a salted chocolate biscuit base and softly whipped vanilla cream.
Me and cheesecake have a complicated relationship.
On the one hand, I’ve eaten so many kinds over the years that it rarely lights my fire compared to other desserts. On the other hand, sometimes a forkful of cheesecake is so mind-blowing that I fall in love with it all over again. These baked coffee cheesecake bars, fortunately, are a very recent example of the latter.
The 1970s-style fridge-set cheesecake is so commonplace in UK restaurants, cafes, and dessert menus of all kinds that it can get tiring. There’s often the same predictable carousel of flavours, from summery and fruity to obscenely rich with shop-bought spreads. The biscuit base is as hard as freshly set concrete, and the cheesecake itself is so heavy with cream cheese that you often can’t see how it will ever end. It’s a national favourite. It is what it is. It’s not that it’s not good, it’s just not always inspiring. For this reason, I don’t often think of cheesecake immediately when conjuring up new dessert or snack ideas.
However, there’s something about a more traditional baked cheesecake that always catches me in its grip. Whether it’s the novelty and rarity, or the inexplicable lightness, or the new realm of flavour possibilities, I’m not completely sure. What I am sure of, is that I can’t resist a slice when presented with it.
This week, something got me nostalgic for my Vanilla Cheesecake Brownie Bars. I had a longing for that combination of soft and gentle textures, and for that lighter cheesecake experience, but bolder.
Naturally, it was only right to start experimenting. I wanted bold and strong, but light and soft. Smooth and creamy, but bittersweet.
A buttery chocolate biscuit base, laced with fresh coffee grounds and a sprinkle of salt. A smooth and impossibly light baked ricotta cheesecake, spiked with double espresso. A cloud of whipped cream, sweetened and gently fragranced with vanilla. These baked coffee cheesecake bars are everything I wanted and more.
They perfectly balance the punchy with the subtle. Somehow you’re invited to taste and delicately savour each layer individually, while also tempted to shovel down forkfuls without a moment’s thought. They’re good, like seriously good.
Without this becoming a page of me tooting my own dessert horn, I must say that good quality ingredients are the real difference in these baked coffee cheesecake bars. Freshly made coffee that’s strong without being bitter. Light and creamy Italian ricotta in place of tasteless cheap cream cheese. Cocoa-rich chocolate biscuits without too much sugar. Each element is important in creating this elegant and addictively tasty dessert.
They undoubtedly take a bit of patience, with all the baking and cooling and chilling. I promise it’s worth it though. Whether you enjoy them after dinner, as an afternoon treat, or give them as a gift, these baked coffee cheesecake bars are a delight.
Want to save these baked coffee cheesecake bars for later? You can pin the image below!
To make these baked coffee cheesecake bars, simply follow the recipe below:
Baked Coffee Cheesecake Bars with Salted Chocolate Biscuit Base
Ingredients
For the salted chocolate biscuit base:
- 300g (10 oz) double chocolate or dark chocolate biscuits
- 130g (8 oz) salted butter
- 1 rounded tsp espresso powder or freshly ground coffee
- Pinch of salt
For the coffee cheesecake:
- 250g (9 oz) cream cheese
- 250g (9 oz) ricotta
- 125g (⅔ cup) caster sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 shots of espresso, or 70ml STRONG coffee
For the whipped vanilla cream:
- 200ml (¾ cup) double or whipping cream
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
For the salted chocolate biscuit base:
- Preheat your oven – 160°C / 140°C fan / 325°F / gas mark 3.
- Grease and line a tin to bake the bars in, both 20 × 20cm (8 x 8 in) or 18 x 25 cm (7 x 10 in) should work well. Ideally, use a tin with a removable base/bottom!
- Using a small food processor, or a food-safe bag and rolling pin, bash and blitz your chocolate biscuits into fine crumbs.
- Gently melt your butter, either in a small pan on the stove or in small bursts in the microwave, until liquid.
- Add the melted butter to the chocolate crumbs, along with the coffee and salt, and stir to combine into what resembles dark wet sand.
- Tip the biscuit mixture into your prepared tin and use the back of a spoon to smooth and flatten it out into an even base layer for your cheesecake bars.
- Place the tin with the biscuit mixture into the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, just to help set the mixture.
- Remove the tin from the oven, leaving it on and at the same temperature, and allow the biscuit base to cool slightly while you prepare the cheesecake itself.
For the coffee cheesecake:
- In a large bowl, weigh out your cream cheese and ricotta.
- Beat well for around a minute with a whisk to incorporate together smoothly.
- Add all the remaining cheesecake ingredients into the bowl and whisk until completely smooth and combined.
- Pour the liquid cheesecake mixture on top of the biscuit base and bake in the oven for a further 40-50 minutes. By this stage, the cheesecake should have just the slightest wobble in the middle when the tin is shaken.
- Once baked, turn off the oven and cool the cheesecake inside it with the door ajar until completely cool.
- When cooled, chill the cheesecake in the fridge for at least one hour.
For the whipped vanilla cream:
- Once chilled and set, remove the block of cheesecake from its tin and slice it into equal bars, square or rectangular.
- In a large, clean bowl, use a whisk to whip the cream, icing sugar, and vanilla until you achieve soft fluffy peaks.
- Use a spoon or piping bag with a star-shaped nozzle to decorate your baked coffee cheesecake bars with the whipped vanilla cream just before serving.
- Enjoy!
BE A MAVERICK: why not add some chopped toasted hazelnuts to the biscuit base for extra flavour?
These baked coffee cheesecake bars will keep well in the fridge for up to 3 days but are best enjoyed fresh!
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Hey, I was wondering if I could swap out the ricotta for sour cream and the corn flour for corn starch?
Hi Willow! Corn flour is just the name given to corn starch in the UK, so it’s exactly the same! As for the sour cream, I couldn’t vouch for the flavour or consistency. Ricotta is a significant factor in the taste and texture of this cheesecake, and sour cream may be both too liquid and too acidic as a replacement. You’d be safer to swap the ricotta for cream cheese instead!
Ciao Kelly! Che marca di biscotti hai usato per la base? Purtroppo qui in Italia non sono mai riuscita a trovare al supermercato dei biscotti al cacao con un sapore deciso! (Forse solo le gocciole extra dark).
Grazie!!🤗
Ciao! Ho usato esattemente quelli – le gocciole dark!
Grazie!!