A couple of weeks ago I hosted a baby shower for a friend and had a ton of lemons left over. I couldn’t let them go to waste, so I made a big pitcher of lemonade, some strawberry lemonade cupcakes and these lemon blueberry cheesecake bars.
I love cheesecake, but it’s not something I make often. It turns out, making a perfect cheesecake without any cracks is quite difficult. Luckily, it doesn’t matter if there are cracks for this recipe, because they will be covered by the blueberry sauce!
These cheesecake bars are slightly lemon flavored and the blueberry is the perfect combination – not too tart, not too sweet. Such a lovely summer fresh dessert! (Strawberry would also be delicious!)
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- 1.5 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 6 tbsp melted butter
- 24 oz. cream cheese (3-8oz blocks), softened to room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- zest from 3 small lemons
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- ¼ cup lemon juice (about 3 small lemons)
- ½ cup sour cream, room temp
- 4 large eggs, room temp
- 2 tbsp flour
- 3 cups fresh blueberries
- ½ cup water (1/3 cup if using frozen berries)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- Be sure your cream cheese, eggs and sour cream are at room temperature
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and be sure your oven rack is in the center
- Line a 9x13 inch glass pan with aluminium foil and lightly grease with non-stick cooking spray
- For graham cracker crust, mix together graham cracker crumbs and sugar in bowl
- Stir in melted butter
- Spread mixture in bottom of prepared pan and press down firmly until it covers the bottom of the pan
- Bake for 8 minutes
- For cheesecake filling, beat cream cheese until well softened and smooth in bowl of stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer.
- Add sugar, lemon zest and vanilla extract and beat until combined
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl using rubber spatula and carefully stir in lemon juice and sour cream
- Beat in eggs one at a time, on low speed, then mix in the flour. Be careful not to mix the batter too much after adding the eggs
- Pour the batter into prepared pan over graham cracker crust, then smooth the top with rubber spatula
- Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes, or until most of the top looks set. (When you give the pan a nudge, there should be a slight wobble in the middle)
- Without removing the pan from the oven, turn off the oven, open the door about 6 inches and allow the cheesecake to sit in the oven for about an hour
- After an hour, remove pan from the oven and let cool until it reaches room temperature
- Cover with clingfilm, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours
- In a medium saucepan over low-medium heat, add the blueberries, water and sugar
- Allow the mixture to gently boil for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Boil until blueberries become soft and sauce slightly thickens
- Remove cheesecake from refrigerator and allow to warm up for about 30 minutes, then cut into squares
- Top with blueberry sauce
- Enjoy!
You may also like:
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Strawberry Icebox Cake
Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes
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