Cherry Almond Cheesecake Bars
I'm not much for kitchen gadgets. When I say that, I'm probably understating the situation because I don't own a Kitchen Aid mixer (a $30 hand mixer works just fine, thank you very much). I own a food processor, but I've used it maybe three times in the 14 years since it was given to us as a wedding gift. I don't have a juicer, a smoothie maker, or any of that jazz.
I'm guessing that's why I missed out on this amazingness.
When @Sassymonkey mentioned that a cherry pitter had changed her life, I had questions. I was dubious because kitchen gadgets are dumb. But then I impulse bought one and YOU GUYS, MY LIFE IS CHANGED.
I'm putting cherries in all of the things now because POW! That's all it takes to shoot the pit out of the cherry! It's actually a pleasure to pit a pound of cherries. Seriously. It's fun enough that Alexis begged me to let her do it. She went on to pit an entire bag of cherries.
One of my cherry missions was this.
Don't let the crappy photo fool you (shout out to Mila for making photography a challenge this week!). That's a pretzel crust, cheesecake, and cherries topped with a hint of chocolate. You could also call it A Very Good Decision because it was.
Cherry Almond Cheesecake Bars
Pretzel Crust
2 cups crushed pretzels
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
3/4 cup melted butter
1. Mix everything together and press into the bottom of an 9"x9" baking pan.
2. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
3. Place in the freezer to set while you make the cheesecake filling.
Cheesecake Filling
1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon almond extract
Handful of pitted cherries
Chocolate shavings
1. Put everything together in a bowl and mix until creamy. A hand mixer works great, but you can use your fancy stand mixer if you please.
2. Spread the cheesecake filling over the pretzel crust. Top with cherries.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until the cheesecake is set.
4. Allow to cool for at least an hour. Top with chocolate shavings before serving.
Recipe
Reader Comments (3)
The fake husband loves our cherry pitter soooooooo much. He's eating all the cherries this summer. Pow! Pow! Pow!
I only gave in to the cherry pitter impulse purchase after trying all the other methods of removing pits, including the beloved by many hair pin method. I think people must have much stronger hair pins than I do because mine kept bending. The pitter is way easier and faster.
i don't cook with cherries, i just eat em. and pit spitting is great fun.
:)
also...gaaaaaaaaaah, i forgot the food processor!
First of all, sorry I was camped on your blog site for 5,764 hours today. I opened this post to read it when everything. interrupted. me. Anyway, I'm not a stalker ... and I'm back.
I wouldn't have thought I'd ever need a cherry pitter until I saw a picture of that dessert, but I'm sure I do now. I wouldn't have thought I'd ever need a garlic peeler until I saw I got this one for Christmas. At first I thought it was kind of lame, but then I TRIED IT. It changed my life.
http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-886283/Kuhn+Rikon+Garlic+Peelers