I have loved cheesecake ever since I can remember. What’s there not to love?? Fluffy, thick, sweetened cream cheese, pretty much. YUM! I love a classic New York style cheesecake, but I love a nice flavored cheesecake as well. Whether it is chocolate cheesecake, pumpkin cheesecake, caramel cheesecake or a fruit topped cheesecake. I don’t discriminate when it comes to cheesecake.

These blueberry cheesecake bars are where it’s at! I am not even a huge blueberry fan. I am not even a small fan. Actually, I don’t too much care for them on their own, but slightly sweetened, pureed, strained and marbled on top of a cheesecake? Yes, please! I haven’t figured out how to make graham crackers from scratch yet and didn’t have any on hand, so I opted for a delicious shortbread cookie crust for these. Success! I love it when I do something that works. It doesn’t always turn out so hot.

The Crust

The crust is super easy and oh so simple. Butter, Sugar, flour and salt. That’s it.

The topping is just blueberries, a touch of sugar and a splash of lemon juice. It’s warmed on the stove, pureed and then strained for an incredibly smooth sauce.

The great thing about this sauce is that it doesn’t just sit on and near the surface. oh no. This sauce finds its way right to the crust creating another layer of smooth blueberry goodness.

This is a great dish for a crowd. And because it’s made with a shortbread cookie crust, it’s super filling. Almost like eating both a slice of cake and a cookie. This crust is perfect, too. It’s not too crunchy where you would need to have some arm strength and a heavy duty fork to pierce through it. It’s also not going to turn into a pile of crumbs when you do. Like I said. Perfection.

Have I told you how much I LOOOOOVE corners? Well, I do. The corners are the best part! That’s why my husband and I are a perfect match. He hates corners. He only eats middles. Brownies, cakes, doesn’t matter. The middles are claimed. And I am ok with that ;).

I can’t wait to try other marbled flavors. Strawberry, lemon curd might be nice, raspberry, blackberry, chocolate, caramel! Ok, I’m getting excited. You NEED to make these. Today. If not today, very soon.

If you do happen to try these. Come and comment below how they turned out. I’d love to hear of any variations you come up with.

Marbled Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

A yummy dessert great for a crowd.

Ingredients

Crust:

1¼ cup butter softened
½ cup sugar
2 cups flour
¼ teaspoon salt

Blueberry Filling:

2 cups fresh blueberries
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Cream Cheese Layer:

2 8 oz packages cream cheese softened
½ cup sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2 eggs

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° and line a 9 x 13 pan with parchment paper.
For the crust: Beat the butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy. Add the flour and salt and beat just until combined. Press dough into bottom of prepared pan and bake 15 minutes.
For the filling: Combine blueberries with sugar and 1 tablespoons lemon juice in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, just until berries start to release their juice, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.
For the cream cheese layer: Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla together until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time.
Puree and strain blueberries (You can totally leave the blueberries whole if you like).
Pour cream cheese mixture onto warm crust and smooth the top. pour warm blueberry mixture over top of cream cheese layer. Gently pull a knife tip through the top to create the marbled effect.
Bake until filling is set, about 30-40 minutes. Cool and refrigerate until chilled. Slice and serve. Enjoy!