Strawberry Cheesecake Squares

We tried these last night and oh my word, they were delicious! We needed to use up the strawberries we bought on sale, so I searched Our Best Bites for some ideas and found this. My husband was a little reluctant at first (he's a cheesecake purist), but we both agree now that they were well worth the trip to the store at 6:00 at night to get the extra ingredients we needed.

If I were rating these recipes, this would receive 5 stars. Definitely.

Strawberry Cheesecake Squares

1 package Pecan Sandies Cookies, divided
1 1/2 Tbsp. butter, melted
11 oz. cream cheese (1 8-oz. package + 3 oz. of another package, not low-fat), softened
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
pinch salt
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 cups sour cream
1 1/4 c. strawberry sauce - recipe found below (you can also use strawberry jam, jarred strawberry topping, or canned strawberry pie filling)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Spray a 9×13 pan with non-stick cooking spray. In a food processor, process 3/4 of the Pecan Sandies (reserve 6). Mix with melted butter and lightly press onto the bottom of the pan. Set aside.

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine cream cheese, eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla, almond extract, and sour cream. Beat on high for 4-5 minutes. Spread half of the cheesecake batter onto the bottom of the 9×13 pan. Pour 3/4 c. of the strawberry sauce over the batter, spreading gently to cover the surface (it doesn’t have to be perfect). Spread remaining cheesecake batter over the strawberry layer and then spoon remaining 1/2 c. of strawberry sauce over the batter. Being careful not to cut into the surface of the cookie crust, swirl the strawberry mixture with a butter knife.

Bake for 25-35 minutes or until center is jiggly but not liquid. While baking, process remaining 6 cookies. During the last 10 minutes of baking, sprinkle the cookies on top of the cheesecake. Chill for at least 8 hours and cut into squares. If desired, drizzle remaining strawberry sauce over the individual squares.

Serve and wonder if you have, actually, gone to heaven.


Strawberry Sauce

1 pint (16 oz.) strawberries

1/3 cup white sugar

1 tsp. almond extract or vanilla extract

 

Wash strawberries and remove stems. If strawberries are really big (or if you don't think your blender can handle them), chop into smaller pieces.

 

Add ingredients to a blender* and pulse until smooth.

 

That's it!

 

*The original recipe actually says to add the ingredients to a saucepan first and cook for 5 minutes, then let the mixture cool before adding to the blender. I kinda didn't see that part and just put them straight in the blender. It still turned out yummy.