the ULTIMATE lemon blueberry cheesecake bars

Have you ever seen the show 'Tyler's Ultimate' on the Food Network Channel? Welp, if your answer is no, you are seriously depriving yourself of 1) great entertainment, and 2) delicious recipes! Also note, Tyler Florence (the chef/host) is a HUNK! Anyway...this one was definitely a hit. Some of us even topped it off with some sliced strawberries, which only made it better! If you can believe it, this was the first time I'd ever made my own crust...I know, some cook, right?! haha yeah, it was super easy, fast, and yummy. It was also the first time I've ever used the parchment paper when baking...LOVED IT! It made the clean-up so much easier! Do not skip that step! The lemon was great...not too lemon-y, if you know what I mean. Definitely give this one a try!

Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

by Tyler Florence

Ingredients

Base/Crust

butter for greasing

2 Tbsp. sugar

1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon

9 graham crackers

1/2 stick unsalted butter

Filling

16 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

2 eggs

2 lemons, zested and juiced

1/2 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. fresh blueberries

powdered sugar for dusting

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Base: Grease the bottom of a 9x9 baking pan w/ butter. Then place the parchment paper over the top, pressing down at the corners. In a food processor, process the sugar, cinnamon and graham crackers until you have the texture of break crumbs. Add the melted butter and pulse a couple of times to fully incorporate. Pour into the lined baking pan and gently pat down w/ the base of a glass. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes until golden. When done, set aside to cool.

Filling: Add cream cheese, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar to the food processor and mix until well combined. It should have a smooth consistency. Pour onto the cooled base and then cover with blueberries. They will sink slightly but should still be half exposed - as the cake bakes they will sink a little more and break down.

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 bars. Dust with powdered sugar.