It’s my husband’s birthday today, and every year he requests cheesecake instead of an actual cake. Since it’s just the two of us, I opt to make cheesecake bars instead of a whole big cheesecake since we’d literally never get through it all.
This year he asked for raspberry cheesecake, so here we are with vanilla cheesecake bars with a quick raspberry sauce to drench each piece in.
These raspberry cheesecake bars are great for any occasion or just because… because who doesn’t want random weekday cheesecake?
Crazy people. That’s who.
Enjoy the weekend, friends. And Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian readers!
Cheers
Raspberry Cheesecake Bars
Author: Amanda
Recipe type: Dessert
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 9-12
Ingredients
- 9 full sheets of graham crackers, pulsed in to fine crumbs
- 4 tbsp melted butter
- 2 8oz bars full fat cream cheese, room temperature
- 10 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup sour cream or plain greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
- ¼ cup water
- 6 tbsp sugar + more to taste
- pinch of salt
- ¼ tsp almond extract
- ½ tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Make the raspberry sauce:
- In a small saucepan, combine raspberries, sugar, almond extract, salt and water over high heat. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium and continue to cook, uncovered, stirring often, until the berries have broken down, about 5-10 minutes. Combine cornstarch and water, stir to dissolve then add to the raspberry sauce. Stir until thickened then set aside to cool. Once cooled, place covered in the fridge either in the pot or in a container until ready to serve.
- Make the crust:
- Preheat oven to 350F
- In a medium sized bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter.
- Grease and line an 8x8 in baking pan with parchment paper and lightly press the mixture in to the pan, making sure it is all evenly distributed.
- Bake for 10 minutes then reduce the heat to 325F
- Meanwhile, in the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the cream cheese and sugar then scrape the bowl down.
- Add eggs and vanilla and beat until light and creamy.
- Add sour cream and cornstarch and beat until well combined, scraping the bowl as necessary.
- When crust is done, pour cheesecake filling in to the pan.
- Pour ½ inch of hot water in to a large rimmed cookie sheet or baking pan. Place cheesecake dish in the pan and gently place in the oven on the center rack.
- Bake cheesecake for 45-50 minutes, or until the edges are set and the middle is only slightly jiggly.
- Once done, turn the oven off and open the door. Allow cheesecake to cool for 1 hour then remove from oven, discard water and allow to cool completely.
- Wrap the cheesecake (in the pan) in plastic wrap and place in the fridge to completely set for a minimum of 6 hours, preferably overnight.
- Serve cold, topped with raspberry sauce.
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