A Temptation

I went to a gathering over the weekend where the hostess served bite sized treats. I'm watching my weight (along with everyone else in January) so I appreciated the small servings. While everything was delicious, in my opinion the white chocolate raspberry cheesecake bars she served stood out among all the rest. After few us of banded together to plead for the recipe, she graciously shared it. I enjoyed them so much I thought I'd share the recipe with all of you. I hope you like them too. (Just a warning, it's hard to eat just one serving and they are not diet friendly.)

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Bars

1 cup finely crushed OREO cookies. (She said it was about 14 cookies total)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
2 8 ounce packages of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 ounces white chocolate, divided. (She used white chocolate wafers)
2 eggs
1/4 cup raspberry preserves (She used Smuckers brand)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the OREO cookie crumbs and melted butter together. Press into the bottom of a 9 inch square pan.

Using a hand mixer, beat the sugar, cream cheese, and vanilla together in a large bowl until well blended. Set aside. Melt 2 ounces of the white chocolate and add it to the cream cheese mixture, stirring well. Add eggs one at a time. Mix on low speed after adding each egg until it's well blended. Pour over the OREO crumb crust.

Bake 25 to 28 minutes or until the center is almost set. Let cool for 5 minutes. Spread the raspberry preserves over the top. Melt the remaining ounce of white chocolate and drizzle over the preserves. Allow cheesecake to cool completely, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.

Serves 18 bars

(My friend doubled the recipe and used a 9 x 13 inch pan, but still cut them into 18 servings.)