Almond Cheesecake Bars

So I have always wanted to open my own bakery. Haven’t we all? My favorite bakery is about an hour from here and it is definitely worth the drive! They have these things that are called dream whips and I would kill for them. They are a chocolate cake topped with a flavored mousse (chocolate, caramel, cherry, peanut butter) and then dipped in chocolate ganache! It is my dream to one day recreate this. At this point I haven’t attempted it yet. 

They also have amazing, whoopie pies, churros, bacon apple fritters. But nothing, and I mean nothing beats these bars. The first time I had them from there I fell in love. Hard! If you ever choose to make a dessert from my blog, please choose this one. I usually don’t go crazy crazy over a specific dessert but this is my hands down favorite dessert EVER. I bring it to everything and I’m very hesitant to give the recipe out because it was hard to get! But I can’t help it and I have to share this with you!

I could sit and sniff almond extract all day long. I know it sounds weird. But it is awesome. The flavor is more amazing. These bars layer a shortbread crust, an almond cheesecake filling and an almond glaze. Now you may see little red pink flecks in my bars in this pic, that’s because I threw some rhubarb in mine since I needed to use some up before it seeds. The recipe that I am sharing does not include the rhubarb, but if you want it included let me know!

Ingredients:

Shortbread layer:
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Cheesecake layer:
1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese, very soft
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp almond extract

Almond glaze:
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
1 1/2 tsp milk or cream
1 tsp almond extract
Slivered almonds

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350. In bowl mix together all your shortbread crust ingredients. Pat into ungreased 9×13″ pan. Bake for about 15 minutes or until slightly golden.

Meanwhile in another bowl, mix together your cheesecake ingredients. When the shortbread layer is done, pour cheesecake mix over hot crust and return to oven. Bake an additional 15-20 minutes or until set. Set aside to cool.

Finally mix all your almond glaze ingredients together, adding more powdered sugar for desired texture and spread over fully cooled bars. Sprinkle with slivered almonds and serve! Keep refrigerated.

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