These were another creation for a research participant, and I like them because they’re not too sweet. And because the base is the same as the topping the whole thing is incredibly easy. This recipe is from Esther Brody’s 250 Best Brownies, Bars & Squares.
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Butter a 9×13″ pan and line it with parchment paper — then butter the parchment paper as well.
Mix together in a bowl 2 cups all-purpose flour, 2/3 cup packed brown sugar, and 1 cup finely chopped walnuts.
You’re looking for crumbs here, so if you have walnut pieces, pop them in the food processor (slightly more than the cup measure as it will settle) for a spell.
Cut in 2/3 cup cold cubed butter until the mixture is entirely coarse crumbs.
This may take a while, so be patient. Too large pieces of butter will result in holes in your base.
Pour half the mixture into your prepared pan and press it to the bottom. Set the other half aside.
Bake the mixture in the pan for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool slightly.
In another bowl, beat 1lb (500g) softened cream cheese and 1/2 cup granulated sugar until smooth.
Beat in 2 eggs and 1/4 cup milk, then add in 1 tsp vanilla extract.
Pour the cream cheese mixture evenly over that nice warm base.
Sprinkle the reserved base stuff evenly over the top.
Bake the whole shebang for 20-25 minutes more, or until everything is just set, and then remove the pan to a rack and let it cool completely.
Use the parchment paper to lift the cooled squares out of the pan and cut them into squares.
If you have any left, store them covered in your refrigerator.
Those look great Ali! I can’t wait to try them myself. I love anything that has the word cheesecake in it.
the wanna be country girl – Caroline
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do you make the same thing for all of your research participants, or do they at least have the same expectation of baked good-ness in all trials?
i’d give totally different answers if i thought i was just getting muffins or a date square.
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They get to choose, most of the time. And most of the time they choose peanut butter cups. And if they don’t choose I make them something different so I can blog it. One of them did wonder if I was analyzing their choice of baked good along with their responses …
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These look absolutely fantastic!
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Wow, those bars look so awesome! Love that triple layered look. I have a sweet treat linky party going on at my blog and I’d like to invite you to stop by and link your cheesecake squares up. http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/2011/03/sweets-for-saturday-10.html
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