EASY LEMON CHEESECAKE BARS
These delightful lemony cheesecake bars are super easy and quick to make. There is lemon flavor in the shortbread crust as well as a double amount of lemon flavor in the cheesecake filling - lemon juice and lemon zest.
The bright and fresh lemony flavors will keep you happy for days to come as you enjoy this dessert. The wonderful blend of tart and sweet flavors in one bar are what sold me on these, plus how easy and quick they are to make. Instead of vanilla extract, you could use 1/2 tsp lemon extract.
If you like you could add lemon food coloring to enhance the yellow color of the squares, but I don't think it is necessary, unless, of course, this is a dessert for company.
I like to refrigerate these and the next day top the sliced bars with my Creme Fraiche. Feel free to get fancy and use a rosette piping tip and frosting bag. I didn't get fancy as these were just for our consumption and I was in a hurry to enjoy the dessert. Garnish the dollop of Creme Fraiche with lemon zest and you're good to go or good to eat!
Prep time for this dessert is minimal. That is the beauty of this dessert. You can whip it up in the morning and have it ready for company in the afternoon. I would tend to put it in the freezer for an hour to hurry up the chilling process. I used a square baking pan, but you could also simply use a tart pan or a pie dish. In that case you would call it a lemon tart instead of lemon cheesecake bars.
It is common practice to use a graham cracker crust, but our almond flour crusts are pretty good, too.
Try to use fresh lemon juice for the best results. If you don't want to make my Creme Fraiche, you could just make whipped cream, although my Creme Fraiche holds up better. I used full fat cream cheese but if calories are a concern, you could use light cream cheese. I think I will give the analysis for 16 servings as well - slightly bigger servings, as it will be difficult to resist, and the calories are not that bad actually.
If you would like to change up the cream cheese filling, you can add 1/4 cup (60 mL) sour cream to the filling or 1/4 cup (60 mL) heavy cream.
For
a different flavor profile, you could use limes or oranges. Both would
be awesome variations on this easy dessert. If you like you can
garnish these bars with fresh blueberries or strawberries or pour a
blueberry sauce over each serving. Yum! So, you see the cheesecake
layer can be changed up and also how you serve the bars can be changed
up.
Ingredients:
Crust:
6 tbsp butter, melted
Liquid sweetener to equal 1/4 cup sugar (60 mL)
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (15 mL)
1 tsp lemon zest (5 mL)
11/4 cups Gluten-Free Bake Mix 2, OR (300 mL)
Keto Bake Mix, OR 11/2 cups almond flour (375 mL)
Filling:
16 oz cream cheese, softened (500 g)
Liquid sweetener to equal 1 cup sugar, OR (250 mL)
use an allulose blend sweetener
2 large eggs
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice (30 mL)
1 tsp vanilla extract (5 mL)
1 tbsp finely chopped lemon zest (15 mL)
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
Crust: In medium bowl, mix butter, liquid sweetener, fresh
lemon juice and lemon zest. Stir in
Gluten-Free Bake Mix 2, OR Keto Bake Mix, OR almond
flour. Using plastic wrap, press into
8-inch (20 cm) baking dish. Bake 12 minutes.
Filling: In bowl with mixer, or in food processor, mix cream
cheese, liquid sweetener, eggs, lemon juice and vanilla extract until
smooth. Stir in lemon zest. Pour over hot crust. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until set. Allow to cool and then refrigerate.
Yield: 16/25 servings
1
serving
183.0/117.1
calories
5.1/3.3
g protein
16.6/10.6
g fat
0/0 g fiber
3.1/2.0
g net carbs
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