Dana's Raspberry Lemonade Cheesecake bars!

My sister and her husband visited last weekend and she made these DELICIOUS Raspberry Lemonade Bars and they were SO good! They had a layer of crust, a layer or raspberry lemonade, and a layer of cream cheese glaze.

She got it off Handle the Heat. You can get it there. Or here! She made her own cheesecake topping though. I think the topping really made it great.


Make it. Eat it. Love it.

~Raspberry Lemonade Cheesecake Bars~

Ingredients:

for the crust:

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• pinch salt

for the filling:

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 egg whites
• 1 whole egg
• 2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 3 lemons)
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest (from 2 lemons)
• 2/3 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
• pinch of salt
• 1-2 cups of frozen raspberries, defrosted -OR- fresh
  

for the cream cheese glaze:

• 1 block of cream cheese
  
• 1 cup of powdered sugar
  
• 1 t. lemon juice
  

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 8×8″ square baking pan with a strip of parchment paper that covers the bottom and overlaps on either side (this is so after it cools, you can pull out the entire pan of lime bars and cut them neatly).
2. Cream butter, sugar, and salt with an electric mixer. Mix in flour until just incorporated. Flour hands and press dough into 8×8″ square baking pan, so that it comes up about a 1/2 inch around the sides.
3. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until slightly golden brown. While it cools, prepare the filling.
4. Whisk sugar, egg whites, egg, lemon juice and zest, flour, and salt in a large bowl. Pour raspberries into a sieve and press through to extract all the pulp and juices. (Dana didnt have a sieve so she left the seeds and it still tasted great!!) Discard any remaining seeds. Whisk into lemon mixture and pour into crust. Bake for 30-35 minutes until filling is completely set.
5. Let cool completely then place in the fridge to chill.
6. Once chilled, mix cream cheese, powdered sugar, and lemon juice. If it is too thick, or you need to spread it a little further, add a little extra powdered sugar and milk to your desired consistency.
7.Then spread ontop the bars. Let chill to harden a little. Serve!