Cherry-cream cheese oatmeal bars


Hi all ! Hope all is well in your side of the world ......

Still remember me ?! 😁

Anyway , I need to clear up a bottle of cherry jam and and a block cream cheese to make way for another purchase of yup , more jams and more cream cheese lol 

Hey , cream cheese is life ! And speaking of it , have you tried Kiri cream cheese ( see photo below after the recipe )  ?! No ? If you love to make cheesecake you should try this brand . I've been loyal to Philly cream cheese for years but after I tried Kiri , there's no going back . 



Since you'll be the one who'll mostly consume these bars , okay , I'm talking about me , the brand of cream cheese that you'll use in this recipe ( or other recipes ) is important . 

I'm not really fond of oatmeal in bakes and haven't baked oatmeal cookies since forever . However in this recipe , combined with pecans the taste of oatmeal seems like ambrosia heh ! to me okay , maybe it's the cream cheese between layers 😀 

This is a 4-layer cookie bar , basically made of pecans and oatmeal crust , the bottom crust is baked first and cooled before the filling is added . Filling consist of cream cheese and cherry preserves then top with another layer of the pecan-oatmeal mixture . Once baked , it is important to let it well-chilled before cutting ,  chilling it overnight in the fridge is a must .

Since there's still lots of fresh cherries at the market , I decided to add some to cherry preserves for texture contrast . Halfway through baking , I opened the fridge and saw the cherry slices still lurking inside ! Oh well .......

It's pretty easy to make and the texture and flavour combination is hard to beat !


Recipe ( with some minor tweaks ) adapted from Chef Joey Prats via Bake Happy Manila Facebook page 

Makes 12 or 16 bars , depending on the preferred size 

Crust : 

150 grams all-purpose flour
100 grams quick cooking oats
100 grams light brown sugar
1 gram baking soda
75 grams pecans , toasted and finely chopped
100 grams salted butter , cut into 1-cm cubes

Filling : 

250 grams ( Kiri ) cream cheese , slightly softened
35 grams caster sugar
25 grams whole egg

250 grams cherry preserves

* Preheat oven to 180ÂșC . Lightly butter an 8-inch ( loose-bottom ) square pan and line bottom and sides with parchment .

* Sift flour into a large bowl , add in oats , sugar , baking soda and pecans , using a wire whisk , stir until well combined . Add in the cubed butter , use fingers to rub butter into the dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse crumbs .

* Transfer 350 grams of the crust into the prepared pan and press to form an even layer , use the back of a spoon to smoothen the top . Bake for 15 minutes or until crust is starting to turn brown . Let cool for about 15-20 minutes .

* Meanwhile , combine cream cheese , sugar and egg in a mixing bowl , beat on medium speed for 2 minutes or until mixture is smooth and creamy .

* Using a small offset spatula , spread cream cheese mixture evenly on baked crust . Top with cherry preserves and spread evenly . Sprinkle the remaining crust evenly on top of the cherry preserves and lightly press . Bake for 35 minutes or top is golden brown .

* Remove baking pan from the oven and set to cool completely on a wire rack . Cover pan with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill overnight .

* Unmold then cut and serve .


Comments

  1. There oats and fruit there...so I can enjoy these as the breakfast? :-)) They look way too tempting, Anne.

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