Perfect Memorial Day Dessert – Cherry Almond White Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

My son and his girlfriend were coming to town so I looked through my files to make a special dessert for when they arrived.  I had been wanting to try this recipe for a while so decided to make these Cherry Almond Cheesecake Bars. I am not usually attracted to fruity type desserts, but there was enough chocolate in them to entice me.  I am so glad I made them.  They were wonderful.

These colorful bars are bursting with the flavors of almonds, cherries, and white chocolate, as well as cream cheese. I served them with vanilla ice cream which complemented them nicely.  Actually, I can’t think of anything that vanilla ice cream wouldn’t complement nicely so maybe that isn’t really a helpful hint.  These bars would make a great Memorial Day dessert due to their pretty red color.  They are simple to make and don’t require a lot of time to prepare.  They are also very rich, so a few will go a long way.

What are you doing for Memorial Day? We are going to bar-b-q chicken and corn on the cob with a side of vanilla ice cream.  Whatever you do, I hope you have a great weekend!

Cherry Almond White Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

• Servings: 9
• Time: 1 hour 15 minutes including bake time
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

• 1 c brown sugar, packed
• 1 c butter, softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 2 c flour
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c dried cherries
• 1/2 c sliced almonds
• 3/4 c white chocolate chips
• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 c granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 c cherry preserves

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Lightly grease a 9 x 9 x 2 1/4-inch pan.
3. Cream together brown sugar, butter, vanilla extract, and almond extract with a mixer on medium speed.
4. Add flour and salt, and mix until just combined.
5. Stir in cherries, almonds, and white chocolate chips.
6. Press batter into prepared pan.
7. Beat together cream cheese, granulated sugar, and egg with your mixer on medium speed until smooth.  Mixture will be thin, but will thicken during baking.
8. Spread cream cheese mixture over batter in pan.
9. Heat cherry preserves in a microwave oven on high for about 20 seconds.  Stir preserves to remove lumps.
10. Drop preserves over cream cheese topping.
11. Lightly draw the blade of a knife through the topping to swirl preserves into the cream cheese mixture.
12. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  Cool.
13. Refrigerate until needed, and then cut into bars.

Recipe from Cook AZ I Do, originally found in the Ball Idea Book, Edition 2, 2004, page 16