Almond Cheesecake Bars

I've never baked anything with almond before, but these turned out great.  The crust is a mix of almonds and crushed vanilla icy wafers, and the middle is almost entirely cream cheese.  I thought the white part would be a lot more solid, but it turned out to be soft a cheesecake-y, not that I'm complaining!  I also decided to get fancy with the chocolate, putting it in a ziploc, cutting the corner off and piping the design on to each individual bar.  I'm not totally happy with how it came out - my hand got tired and lost a lot of steadiness, but no matter how they look, they were delicious!

1/2 cup  butter + 2 tbsp, divided
1-1/2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs (about 45 wafers, crushed)
1 cup slivered almonds
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 egg
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 cup dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 13x9x2 baking pan with foil, this will allow you to lift the bars out and onto a cutting board once cooled. Spray cooking spray on the foil for easy removal.

Melt  butter in the microwave and pour into a mixing bowl; stir in crumbs, almonds, sugar and cocoa. Press firmly on bottom of foil lined 13x9x2 baking pan.

Use food processor or hand mixer to beat cream cheese, remaining 2 tablespoons butter and cornstarch together until fluffy. Gradually add in sweetened condensed milk then egg, and the almond extract. Pour evenly into prepared pan.

Bake 25 minutes or until center is set. Don't be concerned if there are bumps or bubbles, they will settle as it cools. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

Lift cooled block out of pan using the sides of the foil as handles and place on a cutting board. Cut into bars. Drizzle each bar with chocolate and let chocolate set.

To store, layer between wax paper in a plastic container in the refrigerator.

Recipe adapted from: Amanda's Cooking