1 small casserole or baking dish 8x8 inch or 6x9 inch
foil paper
microplane for zest
hand or stand mixer
Ingredients
1cupgraham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup + 1 tbspsugar
4 tbspbuttermelted
1 1/2cupblueberries fresh
1/2lemonjuice of, fresh
1/2tbsplemonzest
28ozcream cheese, regularblock style
2eggs
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Instructions
Preheat oven to 325ºF.
Start by crushing enough graham crackers to make 1 cup of crumbs. It's about 4-5 crackers. I place them in a zip type bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Place crumbs and 1 tbsp of sugar in a small bowl, set aside.
Now line a small, 8x8 inch casserole dish or 6x9" ( I used a 6x9") with foil paper. Ensure there is excess foil paper over the rim of the baking dish. The dish is now ready for baking the breadcrumb crust.
Melt 4 tbsp of butter and add to bowl with graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Mix well with a spoon until all of the crumbs are covered in butter.
Now add cracker/butter mixture to the foil covered casserole and press mixture onto the bottom of the casserole dish. The crust should cover the bottom of the baking dish evenly.
Bake for 10 minutes.
Reserve 1/4 cup of blueberries and 1/2 tsp of lemon zest and set aside for serving.
Beat cream cheese, lemon juice, remaining sugar and zest with a hand mixer or stand type. Beat until everything is blended. Now it's time to add the eggs.
Add 1 egg at a time, and mix on low just until blended. Repeat for second egg. Now gently fold in blueberries and pour mixture into graham cracker crust. Spread evenly onto the crust and even out with a small spatula.
Bake about 35-40 minutes. When you remove it from the oven, the middle maybe a little jiggly, that is okay as long the rest of the cheesecake is set. Remove from oven and allow to completely cool. Once cooled, refrigerate for minimum of 4 hours.
TIP FOR CUTTING THE BARS CLEANLY: You will quickly notice on the first cut, that there will be cream cheese filling on the knife and crumbs. This quick tip will provide for cleaner edges. Run cutting knife under hot water for a few seconds. Wipe the knife dry and make the first cut. With a paper towel, wipe excess cream cheese and crumbs off and make the second cut. Repeat until all the bars are cut.
After the Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake has been refrigerated and set, it's time to cut into bars. Gently remove the cake with the excess foil, like handles. Place on cutting surface and carefully peel foil down from sides. Cut into 8 large bars or 12 smaller ones.
Serve with the extra fresh blueberries and top with a little lemon zest. Refrigerate and Serve
Notes
How to Store, Freeze and thaw my Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Bars
So now you have baked these scrumptious cheesecake bars, and you want to save some for the rest of the week or for a rainy day. The can be refrigerated for up to 4 days, if they last that long! I like to freeze them in individual portions in the freezer and thaw them as needed. There are two ways of freezing them: one is individually with waxed paper and placing them in a container or a large zip type bag. The second method is to freeze the precut bars on a small rimmed baking sheet and once frozen placing them in a container or zip type bag. Both work well. These bars can be frozen up to 4 months.The thaw time is about 30 minutes on the counter or about 2 hours in the fridge.Recipe adapted from a Philadelphia cream cheese ad.
Nutrition
Serving: 1squareCalories: 261kcal
Nutritional information is calculated online and should be used as a guide.