Lightened-Up Cheesecake Bars with Fruit Topping

I made these Cheesecake Bars using SPLENDA® Sweeteners as a part of a sponsored post for Socialstars #SweetSwaps #SplendaSweeties.

Lightened-Up Cheesecake Bars have a creamy, delicious filling on top of a graham cracker crust and are topped with blueberries and cherries for a patriotic dessert. The cheesecake layer is made from reduced-fat cream cheese, low-fat cottage cheese, SPLENDA® Sugar Blend, eggs, and vanilla and almond extracts.

It has all the creaminess of regular cheesecake, but isn’t at all heavy.

Lightened-Up Cheesecake Bars taste completely indulgent, but you can enjoy them without the guilt.

A cherry topping or blueberry topping makes a delicious finishing touch.

These bars will totally satisfy your sweet tooth and thanks to SPLENDA® Sugar Blend they have very little added sugar. SPLENDA® Sugar Blend is a blend of SPLENDA® Brand Sweetener and sugar and it has twice the sweetness of plain sugar. To use it in a recipe, just use half the amount called for. For example, if a recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar, you would use 1/2 cup of SPLENDA® Sugar Blend. To make it easy, there is a conversion chart on the back of the bag so you don’t have to stress your brain trying to figure out what half of 1/3 a cup would be.

SPLENDA® Brand Sweeteners allow you to have the sweetness of sugar without all of the calories. They are versatile and can be used in baking, cooking, and beverages.

Visit Sweet Swaps and follow SPLENDA® Brand on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to learn 100s of ways you can save calories by swapping full sugar for SPLENDA® Brand Sweeteners.

Lightened-Up Cheesecake Bars with Fruit Topping

By Christin Mahrlig

Prep: 15 minutes mins

Cook: 35 minutes mins

Total: 35 minutes mins

Servings: 9

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Lightened-Up Cheesecake Bars taste completely indulgent, but you can enjoy them without the guilt. A cherry topping or blueberry topping makes a delicious finishing touch.

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Ingredients

Crust

• ▢ 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• ▢ 6 tablespoons butter,, melted
• ▢ 21/2 tablespoons SPLENDA® Sugar Blend

Filling

• ▢ 1 (8-ounce) package reduced-fat cream cheese,, room temperature
• ▢ 1 cup 2% cottage cheese
• ▢ 2 eggs
• ▢ 1/2 cup SPLENDA® Sugar Blend
• ▢ 1 tablespoon flour
• ▢ 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Blueberry Topping

• ▢ 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries,, defrosted
• ▢ 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• ▢ 1 1/2 teaspoons SPLENDA® Sugar Blend
• ▢ 3-4 tablespoons water
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cherry Topping

• ▢ 1 1/2 cups pitted and chopped fresh cherries or frozen and defrosted
• ▢ 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• ▢ 1 1/2 teaspoons SPLENDA® Sugar Blend
• ▢ 3-4 tablespoons water
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9X9-inch pan with nonstick aluminum foil. Make sure that it overhangs the sides so you will be able to easily lift the cheesecake bars out of the pan. (You can also use an 8X8-inch pan but you may need to cook the filling a few minutes longer.)
• In a medium bowl, stir together graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and 2 tablespoons SPLENDA® Sugar Blend. Transfer to prepared pan and press firmly and evenly along the bottom of the pan.
• Bake for 5-8 minutes. Let cool.
• Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and cottage cheese until smooth.
• Add eggs, one at a time, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Add SPLENDA® Sugar Blend, flour, vanilla extract and almond extract and beat just until evenly mixed.
• Pour batter on top of cooled crust. Place in oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
• Let cool on the counter and then refrigerate to chill.
• To make toppings, (making one at a time), combine fruit and SPLENDA® Sugar Blend in a small saucepan. In a small bowl, stir together cornstarch and 3 tablespoons of water. Add to pan. Bring to a simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. If too thick, add another tablespoons of water.
• To serve, cut cheesecake into bars and top with fruit topping.

Notes

I find that just beating the cream cheese and cottage cheese in the mixer is enough to smooth out most of the curds in the cottage cheese. The few small ones that were left were not noticeable at all in the baked bars.
If you want to be absolutely sure the cottage cheese is smooth, process it in a food processor or blender before beating it together with the cream cheese.

Nutrition

Calories: 172kcal

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag us @spicysouthernkitchen on social media!