Simple yet delicious, rich and creamy yet light, and healthy-ish these Blueberry Cheesecake bars are sure to become a family favorite. Perfect for dessert or even a toddler snack.
Blueberries are one of the most antioxidant-filled foods you can find.
And although there are ways we can enjoy them throughout the year, the summer period is really the one when they are in season and we can get our hands on those fresh and juicy fruits.
We are lucky enough to have the possibility to buy fresh, hand-picked blueberries straight from the farm and we do that in the summer months so that we can enjoy them both fresh but also freeze them for the winter.
So I love using them in all kinds of light summery recipes, like in these Blueberry Cheesecake bars.
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Nutrition & Ingredients
Digestive biscuits
- A perfect cheesecake (or cheesecake bar) needs to have a biscuit-based crust. And I've found that Digestive biscuits are the best type of biscuits for that. The non-chocolaty type that is...
- They are a source of carbohydrates and provide some fiber so are a better option than regular butter biscuits
- I used a light version of the classic Digestive biscuits here and it worked great
Agave syrup
- The most available natural sweetener out there. But you can easily use date syrup, maple syrup or any other natural sweetener as well. Just make sure you avoid honey for babies under the age of 1 year
- Agave syrup like other natural sweeteners is better than regular sugar because it doesn’t spike up the blood sugar as fast and therefore has a better impact on overall health
Coconut oil
- I love using coconut oil in baking recipes for its good fatty acid profile
Egg whites
- Choose either organic ones or free-range ones as there you be sure that the chickens have not been treated with any hormones, antibiotics or preservatives
- Eggs are a great source of B vitamins, especially choline as well as protein
Greek yogurt
- Greek yogurt is a specific type of yogurt I like to use when making cheesecakes because it has a bit of added cream also. This makes the cheesecake filling a lot creamier and easier to hold the form.
- Great source of protein, fat, calcium and vitamin B2
Cream cheese
- Use full-fat cream cheese for this recipe. Light versions won't work as well because they are a bit less firm and probably won't hold the cheesecake bar shape once baked. Or you'll need to overbake them leaving the top light or dark brown. We use the standard full-fat Philadelphia.
- A great source of protein, fat and calcium
Blueberries
- They are a great source of fiber and various vitamins as well as a powerful antioxidant (one of the best)
From What Age Can I Give This To My Child?
There is no ingredient within the recipe that a child cannot have before 1 years old, however because it is a very sweet recipe and a dessert really we recommend not serving it to children under 1.
The best way to offer children snacks/sweet desserts like this is usually ¾pm-ish so they treat it as a snack and still eat a good dinner. And it gives them a nice boost of energy for a run in the park.
How To Make Blueberry Cheesecake Bars
Preheat the oven. Preheat the oven to 150°C / 300°F.
Make and bake the crust. Put the digestive biscuits in a blender and blend until a fine powder is formed. Add the coconut oil, agave syrup and egg white and mix until you have a moist mixture. Line a square 10 x 10 inch (25 x 25 cm) baking dish with either parchment paper or some coconut oil and press the crust mixture with your hands until a thin layer on the bottom is formed. Put in the oven and bake for 12 minutes. After 12 minutes take out of the oven and leave to cool a bit.
Note on baking dish: we have also used a 12 x 7 inch (30 x 18 cm) baking dish and it turned out great so as long as you are using roughly the same size it should be fine.
Make the filling. Put the greek yogurt and cream cheese into a blender and blend until a smooth batter is formed. Add the agave syrup and 2 egg whites and mix further for about 10 - 20 seconds. Scrape the sides of the blender, add cornstarch and blend for another 20 seconds. Add the blueberries and mix them in gently with a spatula.
Bake. Pour the filling batter into the baking tin on top of the crust. Bake for 45 - 50 minutes based on the strength of your oven. The Blueberry Cheesecake bars are done when you see that the top is no longer "wobbly" and runny and the edges have barely started to get a light brown color.
Cool and serve. Allow to cool in the baking tin for about 2-3 hours, until they reach room temperature. Cut into 30 pieces.
Tips & Tricks For The Perfect Cheesecake Bars
Use full-fat dairy products. This is a must - the full-fat dairy products are the ones that will give the cheesecake the creaminess and texture once baked. Yes, they may contain more fat and calories than lighter versions but you need to keep in mind that lighter versions often contain more sugar. Also full-fat dairy products are a great source of calcium for your kids growth and development.
Use fresh blueberries. This is another must for these bars. If you use frozen ones no matter how much or long you drain them they will still be moist and therefore add water to the cheesecake filling batter making them harder to bake. And that end result might not be the same as when using fresh blueberries.
How to know when it's perfectly baked? After about 30 minutes of baking I suggest you keep checking about every 5 minutes. Every oven is different and in mine it took 45 minutes for the cheesecake to be perfectly baked. When done, the cheesecake should be a bit wobbly but shouldn't be runny. And you will see this nicely when you compare the edges to the middle. The middle will most likely be the last part baked. Once the middle of the top is no longer runny and the edges have just barely started to turn light brown.
Possible Blueberry Cheesecake Bar Variations
Use another fruit. Although this recipe is called "Blueberry Cheese Bars" you can use another fruit of choice. I would recommend you stick with forest fruit like raspberries, blackberries or blackcurrants because they are the most similar to blueberries and they would therefore probably give the same outcome.
Use another crust. I've tried to adapt this crust to make it more healthier and filled with nutrients but you can easily use a "regular" cheesecake crust which would include regular biscuits and butter.
Use more cream cheese. You can actually fully omit the greek yogurt and replace it with cream cheese. I don't tend to use this option because I like my cheesecake to be "lighter" and this is what the greek yogurt brings to the recipe. If you do decide to use more cream cheese or all of it instead of the greek yogurt make sure to adjust your baking time - it will be much, much shorter.
More Healthy Desserts
Blueberry Cheesecake Bars
EQUIPMENT
Ingredients
Crust
- 3.5 oz digestive biscuits 100g
- 1 tablespoon agave syrup
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 egg white
Filling
- 10.6 oz greek yogurt 300g
- 7 oz cream cheese 200g
- 2 egg whites
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoon agave syrup
- 7 oz blueberries 200g
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat the oven to 150°C / 300°F.
- Put the digestive biscuits in a blender and blend until a fine powder is formed.
- Add the coconut oil, agave syrup and egg white and mix until you have a moist mixture.
- Line a 10 x 10 inch (24 x 24 cm) baking dish with either parchment paper or some coconut oil and press the crust mixture with your hands until a thin layer on the bottom is formed. See notes below on using different baking dishes.
- Put in the oven and bake for 12 minutes.
- After 12 minutes take out of the oven and leave to cool a bit. Meanwhile make the filling.
Filling
- Put the greek yogurt and cream cheese into a blender and blend until a smooth batter is formed.
- Add the agave syrup and 2 egg whites and mix further for about 10 - 20 seconds.
- Scrape the sides of the blender, add cornstarch and blend for another 20 seconds.
- Add the blueberries and mix them in gently with a spatula.
- Pour the filling batter into the baking tin on top of the crust.
- Bake for 45 - 50 minutes based on the strength of your oven. The Blueberry Cheesecake bars are done when you see that the top is no longer "wobbly" and runny and the edges have barely started to get a light brown color.
- Allow to cool in the baking tin for about 3 hours.
- Cut into 30 pieces.
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