Lemon Cheesecake Squares (for Passover!)

How would you rate these cheesecake squares for Passover originality? 

Who knew that Kraft even made a kosher for Passover line of Philadelphia cream cheese?  I happened to stumble upon these two packages at the grocery store the other day and found the idea for this recipe inside the package. With a little twist of my own, it appeared at my second seder for dessert!

First, I combined a little cake meal, matzo meal, sugar and margarine for the crust and pressed it into an 8x8 square dish.

Then, I followed the cheesecake recipe from the inside of the box, poured it over the crust and baked it in the oven for 25 minutes.

Shhhh...Don't tell anyone...it was so easy!

And so delicious!

Try it!

Passover Lemon Cheesecake Squares

(Adapted from the Philadelphia recipe)

Makes 16 Servings

For the Crust

2/3 cup cake meal

2/3 cup matzo meal

1/4 cup sugar

4 Tbsp. melted margarine 

For the Cheesecake

2 pkg. (8 oz. each) Philadelphia Cream Cheese softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. zest and 1 Tbsp. juice from one lemon
1/2 tsp. Passover vanilla
2 eggs (room temperature)

MAKE IT
Heat oven to 350.  In a small pot, melt margarine at medium-low heat. Remove pot from burner and add cake meal, matzo meal and sugar.  Mix together until combined. Press onto bottom 8-inch square pan sprayed with cooking spray.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, lemon zest, juice and vanilla in a large bowl with mixer until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing after each just until blended. Pour over crust. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until center is almost set.  Cool completely. Refrigerate for 3 hours.

Enjoy!

Fig Oat Squares

I was over at my friend Jason's a couple of weeks ago.  Little did I know that I would eat half of the squares he had made.  I can't even remember if they were date or fig squares.  Nonetheless, I was inspired.

I bought these figs at Costco. I knew that they would be the perfect filling for these sweet squares.

I had to sample a few figs before beginning to prepare this recipe. They were so delicious!

I boiled the package of figs with brown sugar and water.

After about 10 minutes, the consistency was soft, but not quite soft enough.  I poured it into my Magic Bullet and blended the mixture to form the consistency of a smooth paste. While I prepared the dry ingredients, the fig paste was left to cool.

Don't you just love the combination of oats, sugar, flour and butter?

After combining the dry ingredients with butter, this is what the bottom layer of the squares looked like.

I used an offset spatula to evenly spread the filling over the crust.

...and sprinkled the remaining crumbs over top. 

Boy were these delicious!

Fig Oat Squares (adapted from Dinner with Julie)

Base & topping:

1 cup all-purpose or whole wheat flour, or a combination
1 cup oats
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup butter, chilled

Date Filling:
1 250 g (8 oz.) pkg. dried figs

3/4 cup sugar, white or brown
3/4 cup orange juice or water

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a small saucepan, combine the figs, sugar and orange juice/water over medium heat. Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring often, for about 10 minutes or until the mixture becomes thick and jamlike. Remove from heat and blend to form a paste. Set aside and allow to cool.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Add the butter and mix with a fork or your fingers until the mixture is well combined and crumbly. (Alternatively, the mixture can be pulsed in a food processor until well combined.) Press half the crumbs into an 8” x 8” pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray.

Spread the filling over the crust, and sprinkle with remaining crumbs, squeezing as you go to create bigger clumps. Bake for 30–35 minutes, until pale golden and bubbly around the edges. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

Makes 16 squares.

Bet you can't each just one!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies

Half brownie, half chocolate chip cookie...how can you go wrong?

As soon as one of my students brought these squares to school as a treat for her birthday, I immediately needed the recipe. Since I couldn't wait, I decided to create my own recipe. This is possibly the simplest recipe that I have ever made...it is also very delicious and very addictive!

What you will need to make these chewy, yummy, sweet, Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies:

-1/2 log of Pillsbury refrigerated cookie dough (or homemade cookie dough which would be even better!)

-1 store bought brownie mix (eggs, oil, water, or homemade brownie mixture)

-8" x 8" square baking pan

-mini muffin tins 

 

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 8 x 8" baking pan with cooking spray. Split a log of Pillsbury cookie dough in half (as only half is needed for this recipe).  Refrigerate or freeze other half.  Break 1/2 log of cookie dough into small pieces and place 3/4 into the pan as seen above. Reserve 1/4 of the pieces for later. Don't worry about the size or shape of the dough because everything will blend together in the oven.

 

In a large mixing bowl, combine all required ingredients to make brownies. Or, if preferred, add eggs, water and oil to a store bought brownie mix. Pour brownie mix into pan over cookie dough.

  Top with remaining cookie dough.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Let cool completely before removing from pan.

Cut into squares and serve in mini muffin tins. 

I dare you to try not to eat any along the way.  Don't tell Rich...I ate about six. They were so good!

They also freeze well. Store in an air-tight container.  Remove from freezer 2-3 hours before serving. 

Enjoy...I certainly did!