At least twice during each of my childhood summers, my parents crammed our minivan full of duffels, sleeping bags, a tent, and oversized Rubbermaid containers packed with nonperishable food. The next morning, with the sun barely peeking over the horizon in a pale pink sky, we sleepily strapped ourselves into the car and headed up to the mountains to meet up with my godparents, who camped even more than us.
After picking out a campsite and hammering the tent stakes into the dirt, we climbed up onto the wooden picnic table benches while Mom pulled out a map, and we started planning out the week: hiking, swimming, hiking, rafting, hiking, s’mores nights, hiking… We certainly put a lot of miles on our boots!
The trailhead to one of our favorite hikes lay a few miles up the road from the campground, so we usually piled into the minivan and backtracked through the winding tree-lined road on the first or second day of the trip. Coated with sunscreen and bug spray, we started up the dusty trail early in the morning in order to make it back to the car before the hottest part of the afternoon.
The narrow path carved into the rock wove thousands of feet above one side of a lopsided-jelly-bean-shaped lake and ended a mile later at the falls on the far side that supplied the lake with chilly water from melted snow. Most people turned back after a quick water break, but not us…
Instead, we scampered across the falls using a fallen tree or jumping from boulder to boulder. (Although in all honesty, it was more of a trickle than true “falls” in the middle of the summer.) On the other side, we created our own “trail” and scrambled an extra few hundred feet up the steep mountain of pure rock next to the dribbling water.
At the top, there was just enough room for the six of us to stretch out and munch on some GORP, our favorite trail snack. (GORP = Good Ol’ Raisins and Peanuts!) However, Mom always added a couple of our favorite mix-in twists to get us to eat more, like Chex cereal, dried pineapple, mini pretzels, and chocolate chips. We loved that sweet and salty combo!
When I visited my parents for Easter, we started talking about those camping trips and hiking trails, which planted the sweet-and-salty seeds in my mind. Since I couldn’t shake the craving, I decided to bake my two favorite components of Mom’s GORP into a protein-packed treat: these Skinny Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cheesecake Bars!
The crust consists of pretzels, melted butter, egg whites, and a splash of milk. Like I mentioned previously, I like to replace some of the butter with egg whites to lower the calories in my cheesecake crusts. The egg whites bind together the crumbs just as well as butter.
To prevent the crust from turning chewy, it’s extremely important to pulse the pretzels until they’re very fine crumbs. No big chunks! Big chunks absorb moisture, which leads to a chewy texture. Aim for really fine crumbs like with graham crackers for the best crust!
Note: If you use gluten-free pretzels like these, the cheesecake bars will be gluten-free!
Now for the filling. You’ll find all of the usual suspects inside: cream cheese, sugar, egg whites, vanilla, and cornstarch. Okay, so cornstarch may be a little surprising… But it helps thicken the filling and keeps it firm. Traditional recipes use flour, but I went with cornstarch to keep these gluten-free.
Don’t forget the chocolate chips! I prefer minis because I feel like I get more bang for my buck. Every square is loaded with chocolate, and I even press a few more into the tops for a pretty presentation. Can’t you hear them calling your name?
Just like with regular cheesecake recipes, bake these bars low and slow until the center barely jiggles. It’ll continue to set as it cools, so don’t overbake! The hardest part is waiting for the pan to chill in the fridge, but after a few hours of firming up…
Time to dive in and take a bite!
| Skinny Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cheesecake Bars | Print |
- for the crust
- 3 cups (105g) mini pretzels (3 ½ servings, gluten-free if necessary)
- 1 tbsp (14g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 large egg white, room temperature
- 2 tbsp (30mL) nonfat milk
- for the filling
- 2 (8oz) blocks fat-free cream cheese, room temperature
- ½ c (96g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg white, room temperature
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ c (56g) mini chocolate chips
- Preheat the oven to 300°F, and lightly coat an 8”-square pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- To prepare the crust, pulse the mini pretzels in a food processor or blender until they’re very fine crumbs. Add the crumbs to a bowl, and stir in the butter, egg white, and milk. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan, and bake at 300°F for 8 minutes. Cool completely to room temperature.
- To prepare the filling, beat the cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in the egg white, cornstarch, and vanilla. Fold in the mini chocolate chips.
- Spread the filling on top of the cooled crust, and bake at 300°F for 24-28 minutes or until the filling only jiggles slightly. Cool completely to room temperature in the pan before covering the top with plastic wrap, ensuring it completely touches the top of the cheesecake, and chill for at least 3 hours before slicing and serving.
Any milk may be used in place of the nonfat milk.
{gluten-free, low fat, low calorie, high protein}
More chocolate cheesecake bar recipes from other food bloggers…
♥ Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cheesecake Bars by Handle the Heat
♥ Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Bars with Toasted Coconut by Stuck On Sweet
♥ Chocolate Chip Oreo Cheesecake Bars by Deliciously Sprinkled
♥ Reese’s Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bars by High Heels & Grills
I am completely obsessed with these bars. Love that you used a pretzel crust!
Thanks Jen!
I saw your bars shared over on Twitter and had to stop by to check out the recipe. Fantastic!
You’re so sweet Kristi — thank you so much!
I now have the overwhelming urge to CAMP and explore!! I’ve never heard of GORP, so I Googled and it’s basically trail mix? Either way yum. All of it yum.
You’re always the one inspiring ME to camp with all of your hikes Brittany! And yes, GORP is the most basic trail mix there is: just raisins and peanuts. We always had it on our camping trips and at girl scout camp!
These are GORGEOUS!!!
Thanks Dorothy!
Your childhood sounds a lot like mine.. bite bugs, sunscreen.. except I caught poison ivy 🙂
Oh my goodness Beth, poison ivy?? That sounds miserable! But if we had such similar childhoods, it kind of makes sense why we both love to bake so much! 😉
these bars sound simply amazing Amy!! love that salty crust
Thank you so much Heather!
Wow! That filling looks so decadent and creamy but it is low fat! That is amazing. I love the combo of salty pretzels and sweet chocolate, a marriage made in heaven, pinned!
Thank you so much for your kind words and pin Eve! I’m definitely a big fan of salt and chocolate too. 🙂
Will you believe me if I told you that I’ve never been camping before?? GORP…love it.
I’ve never made treats with a pretzel crust before, and I’m soo curious about how this will turn out!
Yes, I’d totally believe you. Most of my friends from the bay hadn’t been either! 😉
Hi, can I use 1 cream cheese block and 3/4 cup greek yogurt?
You’re welcome to try Fatema, but I can’t guarantee that will work. I’d suggest adding twice as much cornstarch since Greek yogurt isn’t as thick as cream cheese, so the bars may not set as well without it. I hope you enjoy them, and I’d love to hear how that turns out!