Savannah Cheesecake Cookies (Paula Deen)

Shabby Sign Shoppe's Note:

Yummy bars of JOY!

• Total Time: 50 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 12-16

Yield: 12.0 Bars

Crust

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup pecans, chopped
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Filling

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla or 1 teaspoon almond extract
• fresh berries, and
• mint leaf, for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine flour, brown sugar, pecans, and butter in bowl.
3. Press dough into an ungreased (I grease pan as bars tend to stick if you do not) 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan.
4. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned.
5. For filling, beat cream cheese and granulated sugar together in a bowl until smooth, using a handheld electric mixer; add eggs and extract; beat well. Pour over crust.
6. Bake for 20 minutes.
7. Cool completely.
8. Cut into squares before serving.
9. Decorate tops with berries and mint leaves.

Reviews

[Journey 88]

Very simple bar cookie that is very quick to put together. The base layer is very thin when spread in the suggested size pan. It finished as a light, crispy layer but I would suggest either doubling the ingredients for the bottom or using an 8x8 baking pan if you like a thicker base. The cheesecake layer is very plain and not overly sweet. This makes it sort of a blank slate for lots of variations. I made a simple chocolate "glue" with dark chocolate chips and butter and attached a fresh raspberry to each cookie and dusted them with powdered sugar. I could imagine substituting peppermint flavoring for the vanilla at the holidays and topping with crushed peppermint candy or candy canes. They make a nice and easy treat for anytime. Made for ABC Tag on FB July '10.

[mandycakes77]

These were fantastic! I used almond extract because I was out of vanilla, and everyone who tried these raved. They didn't last long!

[nemokitty]

I saw these on Paula's show and knew I needed to make these. I doubled the crust and left the berries and mint off since hubby was taking them to work. They loved them so much I had to give them the recipe. These are wonderful! Thanks for posting.