I have spent the last hour of my life researching whether or not to buy and/or wear swim socks during the swim portion of the sprint triathlon. I have decided against them. We’ll see how it all plays out in less than two weeks. But among all of my indecision and seemingly endless research on the subject of triathlons I have come up with one undisputed opinion about them. It is this: “There is no end to how much you can spend on the endless gadgets you believe you may need for a triathlon!” I am OK with this. I believe it is money well spent. I don’t think you can put a price on the way this race training makes me feel physically and mentally!
Enough talk about triathlons. Whatever time I am not spending researching triathlons, being with my family, at work, sleeping, etc…, I am spending on food related stuff. For instance, these cheesecake bars/squares. I researched so many different recipes to come up with these I lost track of them. I don’t think I referenced one enough to say adapted from…. So I am just going to go ahead and take all the credit. And I love how summery they turned out! They would be perfect for a Fourth of July BBQ!
Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Squares
For the crust:
-1 c. flour
-3 oz. lemon cookie thins (processed semi-fine in a food processor)
-2 tsp. lemon zest
– ¼ tsp. salt
-12 Tbsp. unsalted butter (cold, cubed)
Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line a 9” x 13” cake pan with foil lined parchment paper. After processing the cookie thins add the flour, lemon zest, salt and butter to the processor. Pulse all ingredients until it reaches a soft evenly crumbly consistency. Pour dough into the lined cake pan and press dough evenly over the bottom of the pan. Bake crust for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool while assembling the batter.
For the cake batter:
-16 oz. softened cream cheese
-1 c. sugar
-2 Tbsp. flour
-3 eggs + 2 egg yolks
-2 Tbsp. heavy cream
-1 tsp. almond extract
-2 tsp. lemon zest
Beat together the sugar and the cream cheese. Add the flour. Beat in the eggs and yolks one at a time mixing between each addition. Add the cream, almond extract, and lemon zest, mix well one more time (scraping the sides of the bowl). Pour batter over the prepared crust. Tilt pan to spread batter evenly. Return pan to oven and bake for 40 minutes (until center of batter is just set). Let cool, remove from pan by grasping edges of parchment paper. Cut into squares, top with blueberry sauce and fresh blueberries. EAT!!!
For the sauce:
-3 oz. fresh blueberries (washed and reserved for garnish)
-3 oz. fresh blueberries (washed, pureed, and strained through a fine mesh strainer to get rid of the larger solids)
-12 oz. sour cream
– ¼ c. sugar
-1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
-1 tsp. almond extract
In a medium bowl combine pureed blueberries, sour cream, sugar, lemon juice, and almond extract. Stir until well combined. Spoon over lemon cheesecake squares.
