Recipes

[WoW]

Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Bars

Makes 24 bars

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold
• 1 pouch Betty Crocker oatmeal cookie mix*
• 2 eggs
• 2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened (I used reduced fat)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp grated lemon zest(about 2 large lemons)
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (about 2 large lemons)
• 1.5 cups fresh blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line 8×8 or 9×9 baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Generously spray parchment paper/foil with nonstick spray. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cut butter into cookie mix using a fork or electric mixer. Stir in 1 egg until mixture is crumbly.
3. Press half of oatmeal cookie dough into bottom of prepared baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Reserve the other half of the dough for topping.
4. While cookie crust is baking, prepare cheesecake filling. With an electric handheld or stand mixer, beat the cream cheese, 1 egg, sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest together until creamy. Make sure there are no cream cheese chunks hiding, you want the mixture nice and smooth. Remove cookie crust from oven and reduce heat to 325F. Pour the lemon cheesecake filling over the hot cookie crust. Sprinkle the blueberries overtop and gently press them down. Crumble the reserved oatmeal cookie dough over the blueberries.
5. Bake for 35 minutes until the top is lightly browned. The cheesecake filling will slightly jiggle in the center. Allow bars to cool completely and chill for at least 3 hours before cutting. I chilled mine in the refrigerator overnight. I highly suggest chilling them for up to 12 hours, which allows the bars to be cut easily.

Homemade Oatmeal Cookie Base

*If you can’t find the Betty Crocker oatmeal cookie mix, use this from-scratch oatmeal cookie base recipe instead. NOTE: Omit 1 of the eggs and the butter in the recipe above.

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold
• 1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

In a large bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or using a handheld mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar until combined. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking powder, and oats. Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix to combine. Continue with step three in the recipe above.