Ingredients
Crust
- 9 graham crackers
- 1/4 cup melted butter
Raspberry Swirl
- 1 cup raspberries
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp water
Cheesecake Bars:
- 2 blocks Neufchatel cheese (or regular cream cheese)
- 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- pinch salt
topping: raspberries and powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line 8×8 baking dish with 2 rectangles of parchment paper (so it is hanging out on both sides and will help lift the cheesecake out) and nonstick spray.
- In a food processor, blend together graham crackers and melted butter until fine crumbles.
- Press into bottom of baking dish evenly and bake for 10 minutes. Let cool.
- While crust is baking, add raspberries, maple syrup, and water to a small sauce pot over medium-high heat. Let cook and bubble until raspberries have been reduced, about 6-7 minutes. Press down raspberries using a potato masher or back of a fork to break up occasionally.
- Run raspberries through a sieve to separate the juice from the seeds, pressing down to get all of the liquid out of the seeds. Save the juice and add 3 tbsp of seeds back into the raspberry juice mixture. Discard the remaining seeds.
- Refrigerate raspberry juice for 15 minutes to allow a slight thickening.
- While juice is chilling, blend together cream cheese, yogurt, maple syrup, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice, and salt until well combined, scraping down sides as needed.
- Pour cheesecake batter into baking dish with crust. Gently add the raspberry mixture to the top of the cheesecake mixture in drips and dollops all around the cheesecake. Use a toothpick or knife to run swirls throughout the raspberry mixture into the cheesecake. It should look like pinkish/red swirls.
- Bake for 34-36 minutes or until cheesecake is just slightly jiggly in the center. Let cool for 45 minutes on counter and then at least one hour in the fridge before serving.
- Slice into squares and top with raspberries. Dust with powdered sugar.
Category: dessert, cheesecakeMethod: ovenCuisine: American