You love coffee. You love cheesecake. You want to merge those two flavors into one easy-to-eat bar. No worries! In this recipe you’ll learn how to do just that!
What is it about Coffee that’s so Delicious?
It smells delicious, it tastes delicious. . .it’s got a flavor all its own.
No matter where you are, if the scent of coffee fills the air around you, you stop and sniff.
I promise, that’s going to happen as you make these easy Cappuccino Cheesecake bars. You’ll be blown away by the luscious aroma of coffee. But you’ll also enjoy the soft texture of the cheesecake.
And, underneath it all, there’s a lovely surprise – a rich, dark chocolate cake, complete with more coffee flavor!
Baking with Coffee
Coffee is one of those ingredients that enhances the flavor of other ingredients. I covered this in my Ultimate Chocolate Cake recipe, which has some instant coffee in it.
Unlike extracts, which tend to weaken as they’re baked, the flavor of the coffee only seems to deepen. You will definitely taste it shining through in this dessert. It’s the star of the proverbial show!
Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get busy making these delicious coffee-infused bars!
Cappuccino Cheesecake Bar Ingredients
You will find a full printable recipe card at the bottom of this post but here’s a quick peek at what you’ll need. These are simple ingredients, available at most any grocery store.
- Devil’s Food cake mix
- room temperature egg
- room temperature butter
- instant coffee (divided)
- softened cream cheese
- sweetened condensed milk
How to Make these Simple Cappuccino Bars
Y’all, these are so easy and delicious!
Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Prepare a 9×13-inch baking dish by spraying it with nonstick spray then place a piece of parchment paper inside. Spray the paper lightly with nonstick spray.
Place dry cake mix in a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment). If you don’t have a stand mixer just use an electric mixer.
In a small bowl, melt the butter in the microwave for 30 seconds.
Add teaspoon of instant coffee to the melted butter and stir until dissolved. (Instant coffee granules take a minute or so to break down.)
Add butter and coffee mixture to cake mix.
Now it’s time to add the egg. Mix well at medium speed.
You’ll have a thick dough, about the consistency of cookie dough or brownie batter.
Press into the bottom of the prepared pan.
Place in the oven for 10 minutes.
While crust is baking, make your filling. Place softened cream cheese into the mixing bowl and beat until it’s light and fluffy.
Now it’s time to add the sweetened condensed milk. Mix on low speed until the two are well combined.
Pour half of the cheesecake batter over the top of the partially baked brownie layer. Reserve the second half.
Dissolve the two remaining teaspoons of dry instant coffee (instant espresso powder) with a teaspoon or two of very hot water. Stir well. Pour into remaining cream cheese mixture and stir until well incorporated.
Drizzle onto white cheesecake filling.
Swirl together with a knife to make a pretty design.
Place pan back in oven and bake for an additional 30 minutes.
Remove after 30 minutes and set on wire rack to cool. I leave mine out for a full hour to come to room temperature.
Place in the refrigerator for another hour.
Remove pan from fridge and use a sharp knife to nudge the sticky edges and sides loose.
Life parchment paper and place bars on work surface.
Cut into 24 squares.
Serve and enjoy!
Leftover bars can be stored at the refrigerator in an airtight container (or covered in plastic wrap) for 3 – 4 days. You can freeze them to eat later, if you want.
What to Expect from These Cappuccino Cheesecake Bars
If you’re a cheesecake fan, you’re going to love this one, folks!
I feel like I’ve struck gold with this recipe, y’all! First of all, that coffee flavor! (Delicious!) This is a delicious but subtle cappuccino cheesecake with a rich bottom layer.
The chocolate base to these cappuccino bars was absolutely lovely. It’s rich with coffee flavor from the addition of the instant coffee.
And that coffee cream cheese mix? I simply have no words. It’s absolutely delicious and the texture is as lovely as the flavor!
I know that my coffee loving friends are going to flip when they see this recipe! (I’ve got four daughters and they’re all passionate about their coffee. They’re also chocolate lovers.) They’re gonna love this one, for sure!
Serve it as a special occasion dessert, an afternoon snack, or with a cup of coffee in the morning. No matter when you eat it, these bars are going to really hit the spot.
Variations on this Recipe
I love changing things up, so here are some ideas I had:
Love cheesecake? Double the cream cheese in the recipe! Instead of 8 oz cream cheese, use 16! Using more of this creamy filling would be perfect.
Skip the cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk. Spoon a full can of coffee frosting over the top of the chocolate cake and bake it. Voila! A chocolate cappuccino bar minus the cheesecake part.
Sprinkle chocolate chips on top of the bars when they come out of the oven for a richer chocolate experience.
Can’t find coffee frosting? Make your own! Buy a canister of caramel frosting and add a couple teaspoons of melted instant coffee. If you can’t find caramel frosting, chose vanilla or cream cheese flavors.
Homemade brownies: You can always use a homemade brownie mix for the bottom layer. I happen to have a great one!
Sour cream would make a nice, tart addition to the cream cheese layer. Just add a bit more sugar to sweeten things up.
Vanilla extract can be added to both layers if you like.
Other Coffee Flavored Desserts from Out of the Box Baking
Triple Chocolate Coffee Cake from Scratch: This is a rich, luscious cake, one I think you’re going to love.
Double dark chocolate espresso muffins: You love chocolate. You love coffee. You love muffins. These amazing, gooey Double Dark Chocolate Espresso Muffins merge all three of those things into one delicious bite! You’ll swoon, I promise!
Ultimate Chocolate Cake: If you’re a chocolate lover you’re going to adore this Ultimate Chocolate Cake Recipe! It’s rich and decadent, with a tender, moist crumb. Once you’ve whipped together this easy cake, you’ll never look back.
Follow this link for a comprehensive post listing more of my fall cookies and bars, perfect for autumn!
Learn more about doctored cake mixes, the theme of this blog.
For the master list of all doctored cake mix recipes on this site, visit Doctored Cake Mix Recipes, Master List.
That’s it for this post, friends! I hope you enjoyed this delicious recipe. Bon appetit, y’all!
See this recipe at
About the Author
Janice Thompson is an author, baker, and all-around mischief maker! She has overcome a host of baking catastrophes, including a toppled wedding cake, to learn more about the baking process. Janice has published over 150 books for the Christian market but particularly enjoys writing recipes and baking devotions. To learn more about Janice or to drop her a note, visit her About the Author page.
Easy Cappuccino Cheesecake Bars
You love coffee. You love cheesecake. You want to merge those two flavors into one easy-to-eat bar. No worries! In this recipe you'll learn how to do just that!
Ingredients
- 1 box Devil’s Food cake mix
- 1 egg
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
- 1 teaspoon instant coffee
- 1 block 8 ounces cream cheese
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 canister coffee frosting
Instructions
- Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Prepare a 9x13-inch baking dish by spraying it with nonstick spray then place a piece of parchment paper inside (as in the photo).
- Spray the paper lightly with nonstick spray.
- Place dry cake mix in a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment).
- Melt the butter in the microwave for 30 seconds.
- Add teaspoon of instant coffee to the butter and stir until dissolved.
Add butter to cake mix. - Now it’s time to add the egg. Mix well.
- You’ll have a thick dough, about the consistency of cookie dough.
Press into the bottom of the prepared pan. - Place in the oven for 10 minutes.
- While crust is baking, make your filling. Place softened cream cheese into the mixing bowl and beat until it’s light and fluffy.
- Now it’s time to add the sweetened condensed milk. Mix on low speed until the two are well combined.
- Pour over the top of the partially baked crust.
- Remove the foil liner from the coffee frosting container and place in microwave.
- Heat for 15 - 20 seconds and stir well.
- Place dollops of coffee frosting onto the top of the cream cheese mixture.
- Swirl together with a knife.
- Place pan back in oven and bake for an additional 30 minutes.
- Remove after 30 minutes and set on wire rack to cool. I leave mine out for a full hour to come to room temperature.
- Place in the refrigerator for another hour.
- Remove pan from fridge and use a sharp knife to nudge the sticky edges and sides loose.
- Life parchment paper and place bars on work surface.
- Cut into 24 squares.
- Serve and enjoy!
- Leftover bars can be stored at the refrigerator in an airtight container (or covered in plastic wrap) for 3 - 4 days. You can freeze them to eat later, if you want.
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[…] Prepare an 9×9 (or 8×10)-inch baking dish with non-stick baking spray. If you like, you can add a piece of parchment paper inside as I do with my Cappuccino Cheesecake Bars. […]