Lisa’s Cherry Cheesecake Bars
Like me, my friend Lisa has an African American Mother from the South, in this case Louisiana. Unlike me, Lisa’s Mom was a Home Economics teacher. If you still have not decided on your Christmas desserts I suggest rotating Lisa’s Cherry Cheesecake Bars into your lineup.
There are a few reasons Lisa’s Cherry Cheesecake Bars are the ideal dessert for Christmas this year. Let’s start with Lisa’s rationale for deciding to make this dish – you are getting a healthy portion of fruit with your sweet treat. I laughed out loud at her explanation, but she has a point. Cherries, particularly tart cherries, have benefits like helping strengthen the immune system and improving gut health. Besides their fantastic taste, I like these bars because you can control the portion without feeling deprived by cutting them into smaller serving sizes.
Lastly, these cheesecake bars are gluten-free unlike my Cheesecake Elegante that I made last Christmas, which is equally as amazing. As you may recall, I like to use organic ingredients in all my cooking most of the time. But when it comes to the type of dairy products I cook with, I get even more discriminating in that the cows that the dairy is sourced from need to be grass-fed. Always listen to your gut.
Lisa’s Cherry Cheesecake Bars
Equipment
- 9 x 11 inch Baking Dish
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Measuring Spoons
- Measuring Cups
- Electric Hand Mixer
- Large Spatula or Wooden Spoon
- Medium Saucepan
Ingredients
- Organic Cooking Spray
- 1 – 15.5 ounce box XO Baking Oatmeal Cookie Mix – Flavorful Gluten Free
- ¾ stick Organic Butter
- 2 – 8 ounce packages Organic Cream Cheese
- 1 Organic Egg
- 2 tbsp Organic Gluten Free Flour
- 1 tsp Organic Vanilla Extract
- 24 ounces Organic Cherries, frozen
- 2 tbsp Organic Lemon Juice
- 1 cup Organic Sugar
- ¼ cup Water
- ¼ cup Organic Cornstarch
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat bottom and sides of a 9×11-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
- Pour cookie mix into a large bowl. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly and coarse. Reserve 1 1/2 cups crumb mixture; press remaining crumbs into the bottom of the prepared baking pan.
- Bake crust in the preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove partially baked crust and leave oven on.
- Beat cream cheese, ½ cup of the sugar, egg, flour, and vanilla extract together in a bowl using electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. BE CAREFUL NOT TO OVER BEAT.
- Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over the partially baked crust.
- Simmer cherries, lemon juice and water on medium heat for 10 minutes.
- Whisk the remaining ½ cup of sugar and cornstarch together and add to the cherry mixture. Simmer a few more minutes until sauce has thickened.
- Spread cherries on top of the cream cheese and then sprinkle with the remaining cookie crumble. Bake for 35 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for 30 minutes before refrigerating. Chill for approximatley 2 hours and then cut into 16 to 20 bars. Serve.
I loved the flavor and that you can cut the bars to be just the right size. Great dessert!
Made this for fam for dessert and I’ve been eating the leftovers for breakfast lol. So good!
Thanks Crystal, that’s truly my kind of breakfast!
I love the cherry and cream cheese together in this bar! So good!
These were such a hit with our guests! And they’re gluten free so everyone could enjoy them!
I love cheesecake so I was excited to try this recipe and came out delicious!
Thanks Jen!
I love the crumble on this bar–perfect texture complement to the cream cheese and cherry filling.
Thank you Jazz!
We loved these cherry cheesecake bars, we made them three times! They are absolutely delicious!