This and that: Lemon Cheesecake

Last week I decided to do some baking for Easter. I had some Meyer Lemons and I had wanted to make some Lemon Shortbread cookies. If any of you follow my blog or facebook page on a regular basis, you know that I don't always read recipes and just pick what I want out of a recipe and make up the rest.

Well, to make a long story short this is what my dough looked like:

Not really the dough I had in mind when I was starting out my cookies.

I did finally get my cookies made and the recipe is here,

but my dilemma was 'What was I going to do with all the crumbs?'

So I did what any sane person would do.... I went to facebook and asked my followers...

Here are some of the suggestions I got:

Pie crust with added coconut oil... yum I am going to try that

Topping for a fruit crisp dessert... Yes, for sure with the lemon in the dough...

Using for a crustless quiche

and lastly CHEESECAKE..

SHORTBREAD, LEMON FILLING, CHEESECAKE!

Sounds like a winning combination for me and it was...

So YUMMY!

Meyer Lemon Shortbread Cheesecake Bars

adapted Cheesecake Lemon Bars

Bottom Layer Shortbread Crust:

I used my Meyer Lemon Shortbread Cookie recipe with only 1/2 cup margarine. This made close to 3 times the amount you really would need.

You could use any shortbread crust recipe.

Lemon Filling (Middle Layer):

4 eggs

1 1/2 cup white sugar

1 tbsp all purpose flour

1 tbsp lemon zest

1/2 cup lemon juice

Cream Cheese Layer (Top Layer):

2 - 8oz cream cheese

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs (beaten)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In 9 x 13 pan press shortbread crust on bottom and sides of pan. Bake for approx 10 - 15 minutes until lightly brown. Set aside to cool.

In mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, white sugar, flour, lemon juice and zest. Pour this mixture over crust.

Mix cream cheese and sugar until well mixed. Add beaten eggs. Pour over lemon mixture. Bake for 40-50 minutes until filling is set.

***These mixtures will separate once baked. I was surprised that they did.

***I used a water bath to make mine. I placed a pan filled half full of water on the rack below the bars.

*** next time I would add just a small amount more of shortbread crust. I added about 2 cups of the mixture I had, so would probably increase it to 3.