Cottage Cheese Berry Cheesecake Bars

Cottage Cheese continues to trend upward!

You’d never know these Berry Cheesecake Bars are made with whipped cottage cheese. They are creamy, just sweet enough and bursting with fresh berries.

This post is sponsored by AE Dairy, but all opinions are my own.

This new recipe I have for you today is one you’ll fall in love with instantly! It was a lot of fun creating a delicious dessert bar that resembles and tastes just like cheesecake but doesn’t use any cream cheese!

A bit hard to believe, but I promise you it works.

AE Dairy released their new Whipped Smooth Cottage Cheese at the first of the year and it’s been so fun experimenting! Everyone loved my Cheesy Stuffed Shells last month (we’ve made them three times!) and I have no doubt you guys will love this new dessert.

I can already picture this dessert on Easter tables soon! And perhaps for the 4^th of July with the pretty red and blue colors. Easy to make, easy to transport, easy to serve.

AE Dairy noticed a big trend last year of people “whipping” their own cottage cheese at home and turning it into unique, delicious foods.

In fact, I did it too!

Remember my Cheesy Spinach Dip? Or my Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream? For both recipes, I whipped their cottage cheese until smooth. But guess what? Now they’ve done the work for you, with their new Whipped Smooth Cottage Cheese.

These Cottage Cheese Berry Cheesecake Bars replace the widely used cream cheese with AE Dairy’s Whipped Smooth Cottage Cheese and it works like a charm!

I kept the crust traditional using crushed graham crackers, melted butter and just a little sugar. The cheesecake layer has one full container (24 oz) of whipped smooth cottage cheese, eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, salt and a little cornstarch (for thickening) – after that it is whipped smooth and creamy and gets poured over the crust.

Top with freshly chopped berries and BAKE!

Another brilliant thing about this easy dessert it that it does not require a water bath (like most cheesecakes), it's AMPED UP with protein (almost 6 grams a square) and it only takes 30 minutes to bake, then a couple of hours in the fridge to set up.

I promise you will love this one!

It’s also a great dish to bring to a gathering or serve at the end of a meal. Just slightly sweet….it was a big hit with my family.

I cannot wait to see you guys make these! Feel free to add any type of fruit to these bars (raspberries would be great!) or make the kids go completely bonkers and add chocolate chips. The options are endless!

Please tag myself (@sweetsavoryeats) and AE Dairy(@aedairy) and share your photos! We’d love to see your creations.

A big thank you to AE Dairy for sponsoring this post.

 

Yield: 18

Author: Ally

Cottage Cheese Berry Cheesecake Bars

A fabulous dessert using cottage cheese as the base, yet you'd never know! Topped with fresh berries, these cheesecake bars are always a bit hit. #ad #aedairy

Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 34 MinInactive time: 2 HourTotal time: 2 H & 54 M

Ingredients

For the Crust

• 1 ½ cups finely crushed, graham crackers
• 3 T butter, melted
• 1 T sugar

For the Filling

• 24 oz container AE Dairy Whipped Cottage Cheese (or you can whip your own)
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup milk or cream
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 T vanilla extract
• 2 T cornstarch
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup strawberries, cut into bite-sized pieces
• ½ cup blueberries

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and lightly spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a food processor pulse a sleeve of graham crackers (around 8) until they resemble fine crumbs. Add in the melted butter and sugar and combine. Pour into the greased baking dish and press firmly down and slightly up the sides. Bake the crust for 4 minutes and set aside while making the filling.
3. In a stand mixer or with a hand held mixer start mixing the Whipped Smooth Cottage Cheese and eggs together. Gently add in the milk, sugar, vanilla, cornstarch and salt, whipping until smooth. Pour this mixture over the crust, spreading smooth.
4. Wash, gently dry and chop the strawberries into bite sized pieces and drop both those and the blueberries into the batter.
5. Bake the cheesecake bars for 30 minutes or just until the edges are slightly brown. Remove from the oven and let sit for 20 minutes.
6. Move the bars to the fridge for 2 hours before cutting into 18 bars.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

134.92

Fat

6.63 g

Sat. Fat

3.23 g

Carbs

12.71 g

Fiber

0.53 g

Net carbs

12.19 g

Sugar

7.23 g

Protein

5.87 g

Sodium

197.76 mg

Cholesterol

43.78 mg

Similar Recipes

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream (using cottage cheese!)

Cheesecake Brownies

Cheesy Stuffed Shells

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Tag @sweetsavoryeats on instagram and hashtag it #berrycheesecakebars

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