- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Difficulty:
easy - Serves:
8
Berry Good!
Description
I noticed this recipe called for ‘almonds.’ I personally only like nuts in banana bread and occasionally in certain cookies. So, I changed the ‘almonds’ to ‘coconut.’ (YUM!)
I also noticed something very important in this recipe- it called for ‘cherry pie filling.’ So I worked some baker’s magic and thought- “What if I switched the cherry pie filling with some homemade strawberry pie filling?” What a brilliant idea, if I may say so myself.
And that’s exactly what I did. So, let me tell you exactly what I did for when you’re in the mood for Coconut sprinkled Strawberry Cheese Bars.
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add to shopping list Ingredients
For Strawberry Pie Filling you will need:
Approximately 1½ cups strawberries
¾ cup water
¾ cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
zest of 1 orange
For Cookie Base & Topping you will need:
1 pouch (1lb. 1.5 oz) sugar cookie mix
¼ cup cold butter
4 oz. cream cheese
For Filling you will need:
2½ packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons AP flour
1 teaspoon almond extract
3 eggs
*Strawberry Pie Filling recipe
Coconut flakes for sprinkling
Confectioner’s sugar for sprinkling
Preparation
On stove top begin with a medium size saucepan. Crush strawberries and add water. Bring to a boil. Add sugar and cornstarch in saucepan and bring to a boil once again. Stir occasionally and keep the lid on to help mixture thicken. This should take almost 10 minutes total.
NOTE- After filling comes to boil turn the heat all the way down to low.
In the meantime, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter bottom of baking dish.
In the bowl of your mix master, place sugar cookie mix. Cut butter and 4 oz. cream cheese into bowl as well, and mix until crumbly.
NOTE- If you happen to thoroughly mix batter, just make sure to spread it evenly in the baking dish. This will not cause a negative outcome to your cookie base.
Press mixture in bottom of pan. If you have enough, spare at least 1 cup of cookie mixture for topping. Bake for 12 minutes.
*Make sure to keep an eye on the strawberry pie filling. Remove from stovetop and let sit for a few minutes. Stir in between breaks to make sure the mixture has thickened nicely. DO NOT add the orange zest yet!
Meanwhile, in bowl beat 2½ packages of cream cheese, the sugar, flour, almond extract and eggs until smooth.
Once done, stir in orange zest to the strawberry pie filling. This will keep the filling sweet. Adding orange zest too soon may add a slightly bitter flavor to filling!
Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over partially baked cookie base, next, spoon pie filling evenly over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle with reserved cookie base toppings.
Bake for 40-45 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before refrigerating for about 2 hours or until chilled.
When ready to serve, sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar and coconut flakes!
I seem to be on a berry kick lately! I guess it’s this cold weather- all I find myself thinking about is the warmer weather! And the first thing that usually comes to mind when I think about spring and summer is fruit. I really love fruit desserts.
So…last night, I saw I had a few leftover strawberries in the refrigerator, and I began thinking…and flipping through all my baking magazines and cookbooks to get some ideas!
I found this wonderful recipe in the 2008 issue of the Betty Crocker Christmas Cookies recipe booklet- Almond Streusel Cherry Cheesecake Bars.
Now you may be wondering why I was looking in a Christmas recipe booklet when I’m dreaming of warmer days? Well my dears, the answer is quite simple- the Betty Crocker Christmas Cookies recipe booklet is one of my very favorite booklets regardless of its title.
There are many wonderfully splendid cookie recipes in this small collection- and I tend to be a cookie gal.
However, I did mix the recipe up a little. Fortunately, there was one last package of sugar cookie mix in the pantry. Yay for me!
This is such a lovely recipe for when you have some leftover strawberries. I usually bake with a homemade graham cracker crust. But I loved that this crust was a like cookie, which added a nice light touch to the overall recipe. I personally think that the homemade Strawberry Pie Filling made a huge difference. It tasted fresh and not overly sweet, and of course it can be used for other recipes! Whenever you can, always try to opt for the homemade stuff- you’ll taste the difference immediately.
xx,
Tammy
