Dreamy Lemon Cheesecake Bars

 I had some lemons I wanted to use up...and it was an afternoon when I was bored....so I thought of making some really luscious lemon bars.....using some cream cheese.  Here is a great recipe. I got it from my favorite recipe website called all recipes.com. from a poster named Counseljul.

A little sugar.....a little flour.....

This is what the crust looks like before baking.....

The secret is lemon zest...I added it to both the middle and top layers.....

The recipe has 3 easy layers. The whole thing takes about 15 minutes to whip together. It is to DIE FOR delicious! The middle layer is kind of lemon puddingish...and the top layer is cheesecake with lemon.  It's light and can be cut into small squares like cookies for a crowd.  Here is the recipe...but I cut everything in half since we only have 2 of us to eat these fattening things! And we are a couple of heffers.....so.....  (If you want the 9 x 13 recipe go to the link HERE for the basic recipe at All recipes.com.
                                                                               
LEMON CHEESECAKE BARS 1/2 RECIPE

• 3/4 of a cube of  unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 3/4 cups flour
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
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• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cups white sugar
• 1/2  tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
•  
• 1 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice and a bit of zest
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• I added a bit of lemon zest to the last, cheesecake layer too and added a teaspoon of lemon juice. I like my stuff LEMONY! 
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• Blend first 3 ingredients together and press into a 
• 9 x 9 pan for the crust. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes until just golden. 
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• Then mix the middle 5 ingredients for the lemon pudding middle layer. Pour over warm crust when it comes out of the oven. 
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• Then mix up last 3-4 ingredients, (adding some lemon zest and juice is optional). Then pour it over the middle layer. It's kind of thick...smooth it on top. Bake for 30 minutes more. 
• Here is what it looks like baked....mmmm..... 
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After baking...I halved the recipe and it would easily make  12 luscious, rich squares

They are really rich so this piece was way too big....you can cut quite a few from this recipe....

I shoulda taken a side view of the layers. They are pretty. We ate it warm and it was so rich! I liked it better cooled the next day with kind of a crusty bottom layer like a cookie. It would be a great dessert anytime.

 For having people over for dinner this is better than lemon meringue pie.  Add some whipped cream to the top if you serve it hot like I did.

These people all thought my lemon bars were dreamy...