Friday, January 23, 2009

Amaretto Cheesecake Bars. Really?

Dessert night has been in existence for almost a year now. Sometimes the recipes result in particularly amazing dessert and sometimes they're just ok. Never before have I actually not wanted to serve what was made because it was so unflavorful. I guess there had to be a first for this. It was this week's Amaretto Cheesecake Bars.

Last September, I made a very tasty Chocolate Amaretto Cake so I thought I'd give another amaretto flavored dessert a try. I found this recipe on Cookie Madness who has had great recipes in the past (remember that awesome Pumpkin Bread?). Sadly, I was thoroughly disappointed. These cookie bars were slightly labor intensive which led me to have slightly higher expectations for the outcome than I would if the recipe was very easy. Nonetheless, these bars were relatively flavorless which was slightly disappointing. They were definitely dessert-like because they were sweet, but the crust didn't really have any sort of a flavor to it. The lack of flavor in the crust would have been fine if they amaretto cheesecake filling was really flavorful. It wasn't. The amaretto flavor slowly accumulated as you ate the bar, but even at the end it didn't taste strongly of anything.

If you're considering making an amaretto flavored dessert, I'd recommend sticking to the Chocolate Amaretto Cake and skipping the cheesecake bars. Btw, the cake will be making an appearance at ChuThis's famous annual superbowl party!!!

Should you really want to make these Amaretto Cheesecake Bars, the recipe is here. Let me know if you have any questions for how to make it more flavorful.