Here’s a question! Graham cracker crust or shortbread crust? As a self proclaimed non-fan of cheesecake, I don’t have a preference. I mean I’ll eat it but it’s not a dessert I seek out, like so many I’ve learned. So when a friend asked if I could make some I said yes but then I couldn’t decide which crust to use. As you can imagine I made both. I also slightly changed the cheesecake part too, so you’ll get both recipe.
Now both bars were quite tasty, for cheesecake, but I still don’t have an answer to which crust is better. I took them to Rowan’s daycare for the teachers and will be serving them at tonight’s Thanksgiving dinner. I hope to have an answer by Monday.
Recipe 1: Shortbread crust
- 1 1/2 cup unbleached flour
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp soft butter
- 1/4 brown sugar
- 1 cup raspberries
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 4 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp corn starch mixed in 4 tbsp water
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1/3 heavy cream
- Mix together the flour, butter and brown sugar until the mixture is like soft oatmeal, press into a 8” square pan. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until it starts to brown at edges. set aside.
- In a sauce pan, combine the raspberries, sugar and water. Bring to a boil. Once the raspberries start to break down, add the cornstarch flurry to help thicken the sauce. Set aside.
- Beat together in mixer the remaining ingredients until smooth.
- Pour cream cheese mixture onto the crust. Spoon the raspberry compote into the cream cheese then use a spoon to mix.
- Drop temperature in oven to 300 and bake until set, about 25 minutes.
- Let cool completely and slice into squares.
Recipe 2: Graham Cracker Crust
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 1/4 sugar
- 1 cup raspberries
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 4 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp corn starch mixed in 4 tbsp water
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg plus 1tbsp egg whites
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1/4 cup Greek yogurt
- Mix together the graham crumbs, butter and sugar until the mixture is like soft oatmeal, press into a 8” square pan. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until it starts to brown at edges. set aside.
- In a sauce pan, combine the raspberries, sugar and water. Bring to a boil. Once the raspberries start to break down, add the cornstarch flurry to help thicken the sauce. Set aside.
- Beat together in mixer the remaining ingredients until smooth.
- Pour cream cheese mixture onto the crust. Spoon the raspberry compote into the cream cheese then use a spoon to mix.
- Bake until set, about 35 minutes.
- Let cool completely and slice into squares.
A couple things I noticed between both recipes. The shortbread crust held together better after baking and had a nice crunch. The yogurt gave a slightly tangier flavour, which I enjoyed, and also was lower in fat than the heavy cream, which I love.
So let me know your preference! I’d love to hear from you.
Thanks for looking!
I'll just have both please ;) Both are awesome, but I would probably choose graham cracker. These bars look so yummy!
ReplyDeleteI think I'm a shortbread kinda girl. For sure!
ReplyDeleteYum! I would definitely choose a graham cracker crust. But I am graham nut!
ReplyDeleteThey both look scrumptious but I'm a huge fan of shortbread so I'm going with the shortbread crust ;)
ReplyDelete