Blueberry Cream Cheese Bars

A few weeks ago, I made Smitten Kitchen's Blueberry Crumb bars. They were tasty, actually they were really tasty, but I knew a little bit of cream cheese filling would make them outstanding. Yesterday afternoon I picked up a package of blueberries and set to work, coming up with my very own blueberry cream cheese bar variation. If you have extra blueberries on hand, give this one a try, it won't disappoint! Oh, and Harrison took most of the photos for this cooking project, he was really bored, and working mom's digital camera seemed to be the ticket.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Bars

In the bowl of your food processor pulse the following until mixed:

*1/2 cup sugar

*1 1/2 cups flour

*1/2 tsp. baking powder

*1/4 tsp. salt

*zest of half a lemon

Add

*1 stick cold butter

*1 egg

pulse until the mixture barely comes together, and the butter is evenly distributed.

In another bowl stir together:

*2 cups blueberries

*2 tsp. cornstarch

*1/4 cup sugar

*Juice from half a lemon

In yet another bowl mix the following with an electric beater:

*1 8oz package softened cream cheese

*1/2 cup sugar

*1 tsp. vanilla

Ok, let's get to work.

Press half the crumb mixture in the bottom of an 8" square (greased) pan.

Spread the cream cheese mixture on top of the bottom crumb.

I avoided the sides a bit, but it kind of creeps in there anyway.

Pour the blueberry mixture on top of the cream cheese.

Sprinkle the second half of the crumbs on top.

mmm... Looks tasty

Bake at 375 for 45 minutes, maybe less? My sides were a little too brown.

Wait until they're completely cool to cut into squares. These are so tasty!

Recipe modified from the delightful Smitten Kitchen. She's the best!