Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

Monday, July 18, 2011

July’s Secret Recipe Club day has arrived! This month I was paired up with Baking and the Boys. Finally, another blogger who’s as obsessed with baking as I am! I set off to browse through Katrina’s posts and found myself tagging quite a few of them. When baked goods are involved, it’s not that surprising that I saw quite a few recipes I was interested in. And, I was excited to again be introduced to a blog I had never heard of before!

I had quite a few recipes tagged and once again, deffered to Hubby. I actually thought he would go for a different recipe, but he chose these blueberry cheesecake bars. I’m so glad he did because they are AMAZING.

They start with a chewy oat base that is baked before being topped with a homamde blueberry jam filling. Next comes a layer of cheesecake (dairy free for me, of course), and last another crumble of the oat mixture on top.

We both thoroughly enjoyed the combination of the blueberry sauce and the cheesecake (again, no surprise, remember this guy?). And the oats gave a nice chewy texture that was appreciated. After we snacked on a few of these, I put the rest in plastic bags in the freezer. Hubby threw one in his lunch every day until they were gone.

One Year Ago: Blueberry Almond Cake with Lemon Drizzle and Avon Walk Recap
Two Years Ago: Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Three Years Ago: Rum Punch Cupcakes and Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting

Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

Yield: 16 bars

Ingredients:

Crust:
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup dark (or light) brown sugar, packed
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Blueberry Filling:
1 2/3 cup blueberries
3 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
2-3 tsp lemon juice

Cheesecake Filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch salt

Directions:

Heat oven to 350. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with non-stick foil or parchment paper.

Prepare Crust:
In a large bowl, mix oats, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add melted butter and stir with fork until evenly moistened (mixture will be very crumbly). Reserve 1/2 cup crumb mixture for topping; Press remaining mixture firmly over bottom of foil-lined pan. Bake 12 minutes to set crust.

Prepare Filling:
In a small saucepan, combine blueberries, sugar and cornstarch. Stir in lemon juice. Turn heat to medium and cook, stirring often, until mixture begins to thicken slightly (about 7 minutes). Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly before pouring over baked crust.

Prepare Cheesecake Filling:
In bowl of electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar, vanilla and salt and beat well. Add egg and mix until combined. Pour cheesecake filling over blueberry filling.

Crumble reserved crumb mixture over top.

Bake 30 minutes until top is browned and filling is bubbly. Let cool completely in pan set on a wire rack. When cool, chill for an hour before cutting. Lift foil by ends onto a cutting board. Peel off foil; cut into 16 bars. Store in refrigerator, but serve at room temperature.

Recipe from Baking and the Boys, originally from Cookie Madness

Bars and Brownies, Cheesecakes, Dessert

8 comments »

11 Responses to “Spice Apple Bars”

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1

Amanda — January 28, 2009 at 2:36 pm

I wish I could run home & bake these right now! They look so delicious & how could you go wrong with apples & cinnamon? I can’t wait to try these soon.
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2

Katie — January 28, 2009 at 2:45 pm

They look so good! I LOOOVE the cute apple backround too! 🙂 🙂
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3

Joelen — January 28, 2009 at 4:52 pm

These look great!
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4

bensbaby116 — January 28, 2009 at 4:57 pm

I made these from Katie’s blog in the fall and took them to a school function. One of my student’s dads ate several of them. A few weeks later I made chocolate chip cookies because they’re usually a hit with everyone there, and the same dad was like “awww. where are those apple bars? I was hoping for those again.” 🙂 They are truly wonderful!
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Jen — January 28, 2009 at 5:52 pm

I agree! These are amazing. I send baked goods with hubby about once a week and these got so many more comments than usual. I’m actually making them again this weekend.
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Megan — January 29, 2009 at 4:15 am

I saw that recipe last year, and I wish I had made them. They look so good.
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Julie — January 29, 2009 at 10:35 pm

Free manual labor in exchange for apple bars? Sounds like a deal to me. I’ll have to offer that up next time I have to call a plumber 🙂
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8

Stephanie Wagner — February 17, 2009 at 12:22 am

Scott made these tonight and they were AMAZING! Seriously, AMAZING!
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Amanda — February 23, 2009 at 4:59 pm

I made these this weekend….they were fantastic! At 10 last night Sam had to ask me “are you still eating that apple cake?” Yes. I was. I saved one more piece for after work today!
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creativecarryout — February 26, 2009 at 10:55 pm

Oh, my dad would love these. I have an apple bread recipe that he always requests. I’ll bookmark this one to try too. Thanks.
Michelle
http://oneordinaryday.wordpress.com/
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Carly — April 28, 2010 at 10:37 pm

I made these yesterday and think they are fabulous! So gooey, but so much better the next day! Thankyou for sharing! =)

Blueberry Cheesecake Bars