Nothing beats FREE when you’re on a shoestring budget, and the black raspberries growing wild in our back yard and the surrounding farm fields definitely fit the bill. We pick as many as we can, and I use them to make homemade jam (see a super easy jam recipe HERE), then flash freeze whatever’s left to use in muffins, coffee cake, or smoothies.
By far, our favorite black raspberry recipe is the one for these cheesecake bars. They’re simple to make, but are so pretty and delicious that they make a special dessert to take somewhere to share with friends. These could also be made with store-bought jam, or with other flavors of jam if you don’t have black raspberries handy. Enjoy!
Black Raspberry Cheesecake Bars
Crust:
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
Mix ingredients together in a food processor to form a crumbly mixture (or cut the butter in by hand). Set aside 1 cup of the crust mixture, and press the remainder into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 300° for 15 minutes. While it bakes, make the filling:
Cheesecake Filling
- 2 8-oz packages cream cheese
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup lemon juice (secret ingredient–makes it sooo yummy!
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup black raspberry jam (or any other favorite flavor)
Blend together all ingredients except the jam until smooth (I just use the food processor after the crust mixture is done). Spread jam evenly across the baked crust. Pour cream cheese mixture on top of the jam and spread evenly. Sprinkle the reserved 1 cup of crust mixture over the top of the cream cheese mixture. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes (top will be lightly golden brown). Cool and cut into squares.
*As I looked over the ingredient list, I realized that most of the items in this recipe (besides the jam) I usually buy at Aldi–cream cheese, butter, eggs, flour, sugar, brown sugar, sometimes milk (if it’s less than Rite Aid)…all those are on my Aldi shopping list when I go once or twice a month. Any other Aldi shoppers out there? What to you like?
