M&M Cheesecake Squares

Hey Hey Bloggs,

Well, its time for another Pinterest recipe! After spending too much time on Pinterest, I realized I should make my time there more worth while by actually making and reviewing the recipes and DIYs I have pinned. You can find the first recipe I tried here and my Pinterest Baking Board here.

This week I made M&M Cheesecake Squares!! NUM! Find original recipe here.

M&M Cheesecake Bars

1 8oz cream cheese package, softened

3/4 cup M&M candies

1 egg

1/3 cup butter

1 cup flour

1/4 cup white sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar, packed

1 tsp vanilla

Optional: handful of sliced almonds, or other chopped nut

1. Preheat oven to 350 F

2. Beat butter and brown sugar with mixer until fluffy. Add flour and almonds if using; mix well

3. Set aside 1/2 cup of crumb mixture. Press the remaining mixture into a greased 8" or 9" square baking dish

4. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes

5. Combine the cream cheese, white sugar, and vanilla using mixer until well blended. Add the egg and mix well.

6. Layer 1/2 cup of M&M candies over the baked crust, then top with the cream cheese mixture.

7. Combine the remaining candy and reserved crumb mixture. Sprinkle over the cream cheese mixture.

8. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes

9. Cool completely before serving. 

**LOOK at those nummy M&Ms!!**

REVIEW:

DEE-licious!! I tried one right out of the oven and thought for sure Hubby wouldn't like them. FALSE. Of course, he didn't get to try them until he came home several hours late when they had already cooled. They tasted much better when cooled. It was fairly easy to make, although it did have multiple steps. I want to share one more picture; I wasn't sure I was even going to add any nuts because I thought it would interfere with the delicious sugar-y flavor. At the last second I decided to add a handful just to keep close to the original recipe. Thus, I just added a handful of sliced almonds on the top of the base crust. It was a great idea because it added just the slight crunch the crust needed. Here is what I did:

Lastly, I am sure this recipe could be easily customized. For example, instead of M&Ms using regular chocolate chips or taking them out all together for something more healthy, like nuts or berries. You could also add more flavor to the *pretty boring* crust by adding cinnamon and oats! MMMMMmmmm boy does that sound good! 

Leave me a comment if you give these a go, or if you are trying any Pinterest recipes for yourself!!