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5/2/18

Cheesecake Bars Made Easy with a Cake Mix - both original and sugar free



Back in 2007 I posted this recipe for really easy and delicious cheesecake bars. At the time life was crazy with our family schedule - the kind of crazy parents of a handful of active, busy kids know well. It's a great recipe but one I haven't made in this exact style in years because we usually eat sugar free and little to no wheat or flour products. However, I've often tweaked this, using whatever products we have on hand at the time to make a lower carb count crust and obviously we don't use sugar so I use a healthy, natural substitute.

This week I specifically picked up a package of sugar free pecan shortbread cookies at the grocery store to use in either a cheesecake, or cheesecake bars or parfaits... I knew I wanted cheesecake 'something' this week. This is what I ended up making - because it's always a favorite.


FIRST THE ORIGINAL RECIPE:

Cheesecake Bars

1 box yellow cake mix (dry)
1 egg
1/3 c oil

Mix until crumbly. Save 1/2 cup out and put the rest into a 9X13 inch pan you've sprayed with Pam or greased. Bake the crust at 350 for 15 minutes. While it's baking make the filling. (Note: if you normally make your cakes from scratch and the cake mix taste is something your family doesn't care for, just substitute a cup of flour for a cup of the mix to tone it down.)

8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
1/3 c sugar
1 egg
1 t lemon juice
1/4-1/2 t dried lemon zest (optional)

Beat until smooth. Spoon and spread over the baked crust. Sprinkle the reserved crumbles on top and bake an additional 15 minutes. Cool completely by chilling in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.



Lower Carb, No Sugar Cheesecake Bars

1 box sugar free yellow cake mix
1 egg
1/3 c oil
options: substitute part of the cake mix with almond flour and/or whey protein powder and/or crushed sugar free shortbread cookies or almondette cookies. (In my case this time I used 1 cup sugar free cake mix, 1 cup almond flour and about 2 cups crushed sugar free shortbread pecan cookies).

12 oz. cream cheese (1 1/2 packages of 8 oz.)
1/3 c Ideal sugar substitute
1/4 c Truvia substitute
2 t lemon juice
1/2 t dried lemon zest

Mix until crumbly. Save 1/2 cup out and put the rest into a 9X13 inch pan you've sprayed with Pam or greased. Bake the crust at 350 for 15 minutes. While it's baking make the filling.

Beat until smooth. Spoon and spread over the baked crust. Sprinkle the reserved crumbles on top and bake an additional 15 minutes. Cool completely by chilling in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.













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