Girl Scout Cookie Layer Bars

Girl Scout Cookie Season is in full swing, and I love finding fun recipes to incorporate my favorite cookies! While perusing Pinterest, I found a recipe for layer bars (original recipe here), and I knew it’d be the perfect, decadent dessert!

A couple notes before I get to the recipe:

My baking times were MUCH longer than the original recipe outlined, so you’ll want to carefully watch your own bars to look for the level of doneness outlined. The baking times below are the ones I used.
A 9×9 inch square pan is a must! I had a major #pinterestfail when I used an 8×8 inch pan – the bars overflowed and it was…well..a MESS! I only had 8×8 inch pans, so I ordered this 9×9 pan and I’m loving it so far!

Here are all the ingredients:

1 box each of Trefoils, Samoas, Do-si-dos, and Tagalongs Girl Scout Cookies (order some here!) – set aside four of each for topping, use the rest in the layers.
1/2 cup powdered sugar
14 Tbsp. butter
1 box brownie mix
Water
Vegetable Oil
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Layer One: Trefoil Crust

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place Trefoils cookies (full box minus 4) in a food processor; process until finely ground, about 10 seconds. Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 6 Tbsp. melted butter; pulse 10 times or until well blended. Press evenly into bottom of a 9-inch square baking pan. Bake 10 minutes. Remove from oven.

Layer Two: Samoa Brownies

Arrange Samoas (full box minus 4) over warm crust. Prepare brownies according to package directions, and pour batter evenly over Samoas. Bake until top is crackly, but not fully cooked, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven.

Layer Three: Do-si-dos Cheesecake

Arrange Do-si-dos (full box minus 4) over warm brownie layer. Beat cream cheese, condensed milk, 1 tsp. vanilla, and 1 egg in a bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Pour cheesecake batter over Do-si-dos, spreading evenly. Bake until edges begin to turn golden brown, but center is still undercooked, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven.

Layer Four: Tagalongs Blondies

Arrange Tagalongs (full box minus 4) evenly over warm cheesecake layer. Beat together brown sugar, 8 Tbsp. butter, and peanut butter in a bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Beat in 1 egg and 1 tsp. vanilla until blended. Gradually add flour, beating on low speed just until combined. Dollop batter evenly over Tagalongs; gently spread batter using your hands or a greased spatula. Bake until blondie mixture is golden brown and set, 25 minutes. Remove from oven.

Layer Five: Cookie Garnish and Chocolate Drizzle

Top with 4 of each type of cookie. Return to oven, and bake 5 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack, about 1 hour. Drizzle with melted chocolate, and chill 1 hour before serving. Slice with a sharp knife. Bars will be very thick, so handle carefully! Store in fridge.