These baked Cheesecake Bars are baked so they hold their shape yet are divinely creamy (but not dense). Baking the blueberries in the cheesecake softens them beautifully. See in post for a more detailed description of this cheesecake compared to other types. These bars can be eaten with your hands.
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Cook Time35 minutesmins
Total Time55 minutesmins
Servings: 9- 16
Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats
Ingredients
Base
18Arnott's Marie crackers(150g) or 16 Graham cracker squares (8 full sheets) (Note 1)
100g / 3.5 oz unsalted butter, melted
2tbspsugar
Filling
500g / 16 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
2eggs, at room temperature
1tbsplemon zest
2tbsplemon juice
1tspvanilla extract
3/4cupwhite sugar(165g)
1 1/2 -2cupsfresh blueberries
Icing sugar / powdered sugar, for dusting
Instructions
Preheat oven to 160C/320F (all oven types).
Spray a 20cm/9" square tin with oil and line with baking/parchment paper with overhang (so it can be lifted out once cooked).
Place biscuits in a food processor and blitz until fine crumbs form. Add butter and sugar and blitz to combine - it should look like wet sand. (Note 1)
Pour into tin and use something with a flat bottom to press into base.
Filling
Place Filing ingredients in a bowl and beat until smooth, but not aerated.
Fold in most of the blueberries - reserve some for topping. Pour into tin and smooth surface. Top with remaining blueberries.
Bake for 35 minutes (fan forced / convection) or 40 minutes (standard), or until cheesecake is set but the middle wobbles a bit like jelly - see video. The surface should not be browned, there will be some minor cracks, especially around the blueberries.
Cool in tin, then refrigerate (covered) for at least 4 hours. Use paper overhang to lift out, dust with icing sugar if desired. Cut into squares or bars. Serve!
Notes
1. This recipe requires 1 1/4 cups of biscuit crumbs, and you can substitute with any plain sweet biscuit. This step can also be done by placing the biscuits in a ziplock bag and bashing with a rolling pin - very satisfying! Then pour into bowl to mix in butter.2. Slightly adapted from this recipe by Tyler Florence.3. Optional to make a gorgeous glistening blueberry sauce for the top instead of folding blueberries in. Refer to the No Bake recipe for directions.4. The surface will crack slightly - not massive craters, small cracks, especially around the blueberries which is why I dust with sugar. To avoid cracks, don't put any blueberries on the surface - but I like the look of blueberries on the surface.