Lemon-Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

Ok! So as you already know, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Cheesecake. I also love a lot of other things. To name a few... God, My husband, Leah, Cheesecake (Oh, did I already say that?), raspberries, sleeping, shopping, Facebook, matching, singing in the car or to Leah, Friday nights, etc. Anyways, here is another cheesecake recipe which was very yummy but didn't look quite as nice I had expected b/c 1. My cream cheese wasn't softened enough.... 2. When making cheesecake batter, I overbeat it which is what creates cracks. Now, I still took pictures for you, but you will see from these what mistakes NOT to make so you have a beautiful, not just delicious cheesecake, or cheesecake bars. Either way, cracked or not, ENJOY!

Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

Adapted from: Food Network, Tyler Florence

For the cheesecake crust:

• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 9 graham crackers
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted

HOW TO MAKE CHEESECAKE CRUST:

1.Grease the bottom of a 9 by 9-inch baking pan with butter.

2.Place parchment paper over the top, pressing down at the corners.

3. In a food processor, process the sugar and graham crackers until you have the texture of bread crumbs. OR You can just put your graham crackers in a ziplock bag and press then with the bottom of a glass OR roll them with a rolling pin until you get the right texture,

4. Add the melted butter and pulse a couple of times to fully incorporate OR Simply add the melted butter to the bowl that your crumbs are in and incorporate with fork.

5. Pour into the lined baking pan and gently pat down with the base of a glass. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes at 350F until golden.

6.When done set aside to cool.

... and here is what you will need (for the batter):

• 
  
• 16 ounces cream cheese , softened to room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp. Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• Powdered sugar, for dusting (Optional)

1. In your mixer, either hand-held or stand, first mix the eggs and the sugar until lemon colored (about 3 minutes.)

2. Add the vanilla and the SOFTENED cream cheese. Mix until fully incorporated. Do NOT Overbeat or your cheesecake WILL crack. TRUST ME :)

3. Add the zest and lemon juice of one lemon.

OKAY.... Now look at my batter.... See the problem???? It has clumps b/c my cream cheese wasn't softened enough. Therefore, I turned up the mixer to the highest speed for a few seconds to break up some of the clumps, which it did, but this caused my batter to be overbeaten and my cake cracked. OOOPPSSS.....

4. Now pour the filling into your 9x9 pan with parchment paper and a cooled cheesecake crust. Spread evenly.

5. Top with fresh blueberries. The blueberries will sink about half-way. (Unless you OVERBEAT IT, LIKE ME) :)
6. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until the center only slightly jiggles. Remove from the oven and cool completely before refrigerating for at least 3 hours. Once set, remove from pan using the parchment lining and slice into 10 rectangular bars. Dust with powdered sugar if you preffer.