Carrot Cheesecake Bars

  I love carrot cake.  There, I've said it.  I like to think to myself that it is somewhat healthy and I can therefore justify eating a lot of it.  I was recently looking through one my my cookbooks and found a recipe for carrot cheesecake.  It was bright orange.  I thought to myself,  "Why not put all the ingredients you would put into a carrot cake into a cheesecake?" So, if you love carrot cake AND cheesecake then this is for you.  I was pleasantly surprised how well it turned out and I love the moist bites of cheesecake with the pineapple and a hint of cinnamon.  And yes, it was even better the next day when I ate it for breakfast. 

Happy National Cheesecake Day!  Click here to see our other delicious cheesecake recipes here at Recipe Shoebox. 

Click here for printable recipe.

Post by: Jen


Ingredients:

(for a 9x9 pan):
1 c gingersnap cookie crumbs
1/4 c butter, melted
2 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 c sugar
3 Tbsp corn starch
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 c pureed carrots/baby food carrots (I used two jars)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 c crushed pineapple, drained well
1/2 c raisins, soaked

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease a 9x9 baking pan and line with parchment paper.  A note here: use a regular baking pan like a Pyrex pan.  I used my square spring form pan and because the cheesecake batter was quite liquidy, some of it oozed through the cracks.  So use a regular pan, and you won't have that problem!

Mix gingersnap cookie crumbs and melted butter together until all the crumbs are moistened.  You could also do this with graham cracker crumbs, but I like the added spice flavor of the gingersnap.

Press well and evenly into baking pan and bake for 10 minutes.  Remove and cool while preparing the cheesecake batter.  Increase oven to 350 degrees for the cheesecake.

Place the raisins into a cup and cover with water to let them soak and plump up.

In a mixing bowl blend the cream cheese, sugar, and corn starch.  After it is all smooth, blend in the eggs, one at a time.  Then add the spices and vanilla.  After it is all blended, then add the pureed carrots.  Mix well.

Drain the pineapple really well.  You don't want more added liquid.

Add the pineapple and soaked raisins (NOT the raisin water) to the mixture and stir until it's all evenly mixed.

Pour on top of baked crust and bake in oven for 35-45 minutes, or until center is mostly set.  Mine took 40 minutes. Sorry I don't have a picture when it came out. I apparently got distracted.  But it came out just fine!

Let cool completely on counter and then place in refrigerator for a couple hours.  Slice into bars and top with whipped cream.  Or you can top with cream cheese frosting if desired.

I imagine you could make this in a 13x9 pan just as easily.  Here are the amounts that I would change if you do use a bigger pan.

2 c gingersnap crumbs

1/3 c butter, melted

3 pkg cream cheese

3/4 c sugar

4 Tbsp corn starch

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cinnamon (or a pinch more for taste)

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 1/2 c baby food carrots

1 c crushed pineapple, drained

3/4 c raisins, soaked

Cook the crust for 10 minutes.  But cook the cheesecake for 45-60 minutes.  

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