Black Forest Cake Bars

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 1 (17.5 ounce) package double chocolate-chunk cookie mix
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling, divided
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping (such as Cool Whip), thawed

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly spray bottom and sides of a 9×13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

Stir cookie mix, oil, and egg together in a large bowl until a soft dough forms. Drop 3 heaping tablespoons of dough on an ungreased baking sheet 2 inches apart to make 3 cookies.

Bake cookies in the preheated oven until set, 12 to 13 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet, 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, about 15 minutes.

Press remaining dough evenly into the bottom of the baking pan.

Measure 1 cup cherry pie filling into a small bowl and reserve for the topping; cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

Beat cream cheese, remaining cherry pie filling, and white sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until well-blended, about 2 minutes. Spread cream cheese mixture over dough.

Bake in the preheated oven until set, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool, about 30 minutes. Refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.

Spread whipped topping over cream cheese layer. Top with spoonfuls of the reserved pie filling. Crumble cookies into coarse crumbs and sprinkle on top. Chill until flavors blend, at least 1 hour. Cut into 20 bars.