Caramel Cheesecake Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

I got this recipes off of Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. They were so good! The whole family gobbled them right up.
Submitted by: Jessica

Ingredients:
Chocolate chip cookie dough
-1 cup of melted salted butter
-1 1/3 cup lightly packed brown sugar
-2/3 cup sugar
-1 tsp baking soda
-3/4 tsp salt
-2 large eggs
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
-2 cups chocolate chips

Caramel
-11 to 14 oz of soft caramel, unwrapped
-1 Tbl cream (I used milk because that’s all I had, it worked great)

Cheesecake
-8oz softened cream cheese
-1/2 cup powdered sugar
-1 large egg
-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions 
1. Preheat oven to 350° And grease a 9x13 pan
2. For the cookie dough, in a large bowl (or kitchen aid) add the melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking soda, and salt. Stir together until we’ll-combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.
3. Stir in the flour and chocolate chips and mix until combined. Press half of the dough evenly on the bottom of the prepared pan.
4. For the caramel, combine the soft caramels and cream (or milk) and microwave for 1 minute intervals. Stirring in between until melted and smooth. Drizzle the warm caramel over the cookie dough and spread into an even layer.
5. For the cheesecake, in a medium bowl (or kitchen aid), add the cream cheese and powdered sugar and mix well until smooth. Spread the cheesecake filling evenly over the caramel layer.
6. Take the remaining cookie dough and flatten into disc shapes, about 1/8- 1/4 inch thick. It’s ok if there are small spaces. The entire top doesn’t need to be covered, just get as much as you can.
7. Bake the bars for 35-40 minutes until lightly browned on the edges and mostly set throughout. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Refrigerate bars until well chilled, 2-3 hours. These bars taste even better the next day after chilling.
8. Cut into squares and serve!