Sometimes you just need a quick dessert to make and bring to a small gathering with friends. That’s how this recipe came to be. My husband and I are always (sometimes) watching our calories, and I tried my best to make this one a little bit more diet conscious. Let me begin to describe these Red White and Blueberry Cheesecake Bars for you. They start with a classic graham cracker crust (crumbs + butter) that is pressed into a pan lined with parchment paper. I use regular crumbs for this recipe because I prefer to buy the box of crumbs that are already crumbed and ready to measure, but you can certainly buy low fat graham crackers and cut the fat a little bit more. That just means you’ll need to whir them in your food processor to create crumbs yourself. The crumb crust does not need to be baked before adding the filling.
The filling is (kind of) typical of your classic cheesecake filling in that it begins with (low fat) cream cheese, sugar and eggs. A little milk and cornstarch is added in to help it set. Lemon juice is added in too. The cheesecake batter will be thinner than you’re used to. You might be worried that it won’t bake into firm cheesecake bars but no worries necessary. After you pour the batter onto the crumb crust, you’ll drop all of the fresh berries on top. When it comes out of the oven, I like to place it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours until it is well chilled. Then I grab the parchment paper and lift the whole thing out of the pan and transfer it to a cutting board. You can see from the photo above that the edges brown up in the baking process. I just take a large, sharp knife and cut off the edges before I cut them into squares. Then you get to eat the edges!
And there they are! Nice, clean cut edges and super pretty to boot. These creamy Red White and Blueberry Cheesecake Bars are the perfect summery dessert. You might try serving them at your 4th of July party or other barbecues you’ll be having all summer long!
If you are looking for more summer dessert recipes, you might also enjoy trying my Red White and Blue Finger Jello or this S’Mores Ice Cream Cake. A Strawberry Trifle or a Frozen Snickers Pie are also delicious choices!
