Lemons and Raspberries belongs together. Just try these Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake Bars if you don’t believe me.
I love exploring different flavors together. Even flavors that I am not so sure belong together. It’s kind of like mixing different colors together to see what one color you get; you know? I loved learning that in kindergarten, mixing colors that is. When it comes to adding layers of flavors with food, it makes your mouth and taste buds happy. Not only that, layering flavors makes eating food seem like an adventure. I have had my fair share of interesting meals as a blogger, but here are two meals that I have had in my life that were “odd” but actually tasted pretty good.
One of those meals was Deep Fried Eggplant Sticks covered with Powdered Sugar. I know, I know its sounds like “What?”, but it really wasn’t. Aside from the stringiness that comes along with eggplant, it wasn’t that bad! Now, I will never make this dish, but it was something that I would suggest you trying if you are ever presented with the opportunity. Another interesting dish I had been Salty Cod Fritters with a Cilantro Lime Sauce at an authentic Cuban café in Miami, FL. Now let me say these fritters were definitely salty but not in a bad way. Once you dip them in the cilantro sauce that has a hint of lime, it softens the blow of the salty cod-fish. So with this dish, you had salty, savory, freshness, and a nice herb flavor going on. Foods with many elements, regardless if you liked them or not, you will never forget.
So I wondered the same thing with desserts and what I can combine to make something incredible. Well, it’s still summer and lemon is the all time fruity summer flavor along with raspberries. Those two fruits just scream freshness and summertime. Those two fruit flavors already make for a fun time, but instead of your typical graham cracker crust I used Sandies Shortbread Cookies. I wanted a crust that was buttery and crisp and what else to use other than shortbread cookies. Now, I could’ve stopped there but I didn’t. I also made a crumb topping for some crunch. I thought that would be a good touch, and I was right because it was. My husband loved these Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake Bars. In fact, after he bit into one of the bars he immediately regretted it because he couldn’t stop eating them. All of the elements of these Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake Bars, makes for a delicious and amazing summertime dessert.
PrintLemon Raspberry Cheesecake Bars
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 mins
- Yield: 12-16 1x
Ingredients
- 1 packages Sandies Shortbread Cookies
- 4 tbsp. butter, melted
- 3– 8 oz. Cream Cheese blocks, room temperature
- 3 eggs, room temperature
- ¼ c. fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp. lemon zest
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 pint raspberries
- ¼ c. fresh lemon juice
- ¼ c. sugar
- 2 tsp. cornstarch
- 2 tsp. water
- ½ package yellow cake mix
- 2 oz. cream cheese, cold
- 4 tbsp. butter, cold
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 Degrees. In a food processor, pulse the shortbread cookies into fine crumbs. Turn to a bowl and add the melted butter. Stir. Press the crust mixture into the bottom of a greased 9X13 casserole pan. Place in the for 5 minutes. Set out and allow to cool.
- While cooling, in a small sauce pan, add the raspberries lemon juice, and sugar and turn on medium. Bring the raspberries to a simmer. In a small ramekin, mix he cornstarch and water and stir until dissolved. Pour into the raspberry mixture and stir to thicken, remove from heat and strain into a small heat-safe bowl to remove seeds. Use a rubber spatula and press more of the liquid out of the strainer. You can also leave the strainer over the bowl to allow more liquid to drip into the bowl for about 10-15 minutes.
- In a separate large bowl, mix the cream cheese until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time. Next, add the lemon juice, zest, and vanilla extract. Mix well. Pour on top of the crust. Take the raspberry mixture and place spoonful’s on top of the cheesecake mixture and use the end of the knife and swirls into the cheesecake mixture. Set aside.
- In a small bowl combine the cake mix, cream cheese, and butter and blend well with a pastry cutter or fork until course crumbs occur. Sprinkle on top of the cream cheese mixture and bake for 35-45 minutes. Allow to cool completely and refrigerate before serving.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 50 mins
- Category: Desserts
Leave a Reply