Cheesecake Bars

Oh, I really love these cheesecake bars! My sister Melissa shared this recipe with me and I'm sure glad she did. Even my husband, who is very much a chocolate chip cookie kind of guy, also told me these are one of his favorite treats now! Looks like these will be making a regular appearance around our house. A few thoughts Melis shared with me, and which I second, is that these would be amazing with some sort of drizzled fruit sauce and fresh fruit on top. Honestly, they don't need it, but if you wanted to go that extra mile, there you are. Also, like most cheesecake desserts, these are very best after chilled.

Cheesecake Bars

Submitted by Amy ~ The Sisters Cafe
Printable Recipe

BASE:
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans

FILLING:
1/4 cup sugar
8 oz. cream cheese, softened (Low-fat cream cheese is fine in my opinion. But if you don't usually like it, stick with the regular)
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 egg

Heat oven to 350. In a small bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. Combine flour and walnuts or pecans with creamed mixture. Reserve 1 cup for topping. Press remainder into bottom of ungreased 8" or 9" square pan. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until lightly browned.

In a small bowl, blend sugar and cream cheese until smooth (if using fat-free cream cheese, mixture will be kind of lumpy, but it will cook up just fine). Add milk, lemon juice, vanilla, and egg. Beat well. Spread over baked crust. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Bake at 350 for 23-27 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool. Cut into bars. Store in refrigerator. Makes 12 small bars.