Thanks to everyone for their sweet thoughts yesterday. I know we all go through weeks like I’m having…with 14 hour work days, little sleep, and way too much coffee. But I’m definitely starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. And with weeks like this, it’s always a good idea to treat yourself and those around you (who have to put up with your crankiness).
So let me suggest making these lemon ricotta cheesecake bars. I made them for a Labor Day BBQ last week and was so pleased that everyone enjoyed these wonderful little sweet squares. They’re simple, bright, fluffy, and have wonderful ricotta flavor. Trust me. Your friends will love you for this. And you’ll be so happy to just sit back, relax and enjoy good food with good company.
Ricotta Cheesecake Bars with Lemon Shortbread
For the crust
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
For the cheesecake
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 (8-oz) package plain cream cheese, room temperature
- 8 oz ricotta cheese (I highly recommend fresh from the Farmer’s Market)
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Lemon zest for garnish
- Preheat oven to 350° and grease an 8×8″ baking pan.
- To make the crust, cream together butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Gradually beat in flour, salt and lemon zest until mix is crumbly. Press into the pan and bake for 15 minutes.
- While the crust bakes, make the filling. Combine sugar, heavy cream, cream cheese and ricotta in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until smooth. Add in eggs one at a time and stir in vanilla until well combined.
- Pour filling over hot crust (right when it comes out of the oven) and bake for another 25 minutes or until the filling is set.
- Cool completely. Keep refrigerated and wait until serving to slice into bars.
Make these before summer is too far behind us! Ohh also, I think they would be fantastic with orange zest too. Yum. Ok, back to work!
Yum, this looks super summery and delicious!
YUM! Two of my favorite ingredients in one bar, has to be good!
Lemon, ricotta, cheesecake, shortbread . . . absolutely nothing not to like here.
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