Raspberry Cheesecake Streusel Bars

I made these delicious and beautiful pink bars for a baby shower a few weeks ago and they were a huge hit! Basically a fruity cheesecake with a "dutch" topping, there is plenty of variety of flavor and texture to please. You could easily substitute strawberries or blueberries for the raspberries - or even blackberries! - and I used berries that I had in my freezer to make it even simpler.

These little beauties are rich, so you can cut them into small pieces and feed a crowd. Or just feed yourself - they freeze nicely too.

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Raspberry Cheesecake Streusel Bars

Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup sugar
6 Tbsp. butter

Cheesecake Filling:
1 1/2 cup raspberries, divided
1 small banana
12 oz. cream cheese, softened (low fat is fine)
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. flour

Streusel:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 oats
4 Tbsp. butter
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt

Melt butter in a large bowl in the microwave, then add graham cracker crumbs and sugar and toss to combine. Press mixture onto bottom of greased 9" pan. Bake at 350 for 7-10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool while making cheesecake portion.

Place 1 cup raspberries and banana in a blender or food processor and pulse until pureed; set aside. Place cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla extract in a bowl and beat until fully combined and smooth. Add in pureed mixture and mix to combine. Add in flour and mix to combine. Gently stir in the whole raspberries.

Pour mixture over crust and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Meanwhile, to make the streusel, combine the flour, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and use a pastry blender, two forks or your fingers to cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Remove the pan from oven after 30-35 minutes and sprinkle streusel on top. Return pan to oven and bake for another 12-15 minutes. Remove and cool bars before cutting. Store in refrigerator.