Orange Marmalade Cheesecake Bars
This is one of the best cheesecake dessert bar recipes because of how light and simple it is to make. These Orange Marmalade Cheesecake Bars from Anne Colagioia get their distinct flavor from real orange marmalade spread. Use ingredient substitutions like low fat cream cheese and low fat sour cream to make sure this easy dessert recipe fits into your healthy lifestyle.
Notes
If you’re following a gluten free diet be sure to use gluten free shortbread cookies in the recipe.
For more gluten free recipes from Anne, be sure to check out her Featured Foodies profile page.
To see exactly how Anne makes these cheesecake bars, watch this cooking video:
Preparation Time15 min
Cooking Time1 hr 5 min
Ingredients
- FOR THE CRUST:
- 4 tablespoon butter, melted
- 7 ounce shortbread cookies
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- FOR THE BATTER:
- 16 ounce low fat sour cream
- 8 ounce low fat cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup orange marmalade
- FOR GARNISH:
- 2 tablespoon granulated sugar or raw demerara sugar, mixed with the zest from 1 orange
Instructions
-
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (or 165 degrees C) and grease a 9x13-inch pan. Line the bottom and extending up 2 sides of the pan with parchment paper.
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For the crust, place the cookies into a Ziploc bag and crush them with a rolling pin until they’re as fine as you can get them. Add them to the bowl with the melted butter and 1 tablespoon of sugar and stir to combine until it looks like damp sand.
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Spread the crust mixture evenly along the bottom of the pan being careful not to disturb the parchment then refrigerate the crust for about 10 minutes to set.
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In the meantime beat together the cream cheese, sour cream, sugar and vanilla until smooth and lump free. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl periodically with a rubber spatula.
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Add the eggs one at a time making sure that each egg is full incorporated before adding the next. Add the orange marmalade and beat until incorporated.
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Pour the batter onto the prepared crust and make sure it’s spread evenly over the bottom. The batter will have a very liquid consistency but after baking it firms up nicely.
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Bake the cheesecake bars for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until they're set. Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool to room temperature before refrigerating for at least 4 hours. Chilling overnight is even better. Garnish with the orange sugar, slice and serve.