If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you probably know that I am *obsessed* with almond flavoring (Seriously, it makes anything better! Just go ahead and double whatever the recipe calls for, I dare you!) my husband loves cheesecake, and Mayhem, well, Mayhem is an equal-opportunity food enthusiast. Put those together, and you have achieved something household obsession worthy.

So yeah, suffice to say, everyone was fighting over these. I actually made half of the batch as a birthday treat for a coworker because he said “no special requests, everything you bring is awesome!” when I asked what he wanted, which, as far as I am aware, is of course code for “make whatever it is you’d make for yourself on your birthday!” 🙂

These bars are basically 4 layers of awesome – at the base, we have a fabulous buttery shortbread crust, topped with almondy cheesecake filling, frosted with luscious almond icing, and sprinkled with shaved almonds. HEAVEN!

I have but one complaint – they’re definitely sweet enough to hit the spot, but not so sweet that they’re rich. Unfortunately, that means that eating half a pan is a risk.

Hey, almonds are a superfood, right?  😍

5 from 1 vote

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Extra Almond-y Almond Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients

Crust

• 1 cup unsalted butter softened
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp salt

Cheesecake Filling

• 8 oz cream cheese softened (1 block)
• 2 eggs large
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 4 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp almond extract

Frosting

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tsp almond emulsion OR 4 tsp almond extract
• 4 Tbsp milk of your choice
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds

Instructions

Crust

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9x13 baking dish with aluminum foil and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine all crust ingredients and mix until ingredients are well combined and sandy in appearance. Place mixture into the prepared pan and hard-pack into an even layer to form the crust. Bake for 15 or until barely set. Do not overbake.

Filling

1. In a large bowl, add all filling ingredients, and beat until smooth and combined. After crust has baked, remove pan from the oven, and pour the filling mixture over the crust. Spread evenly using a spatula if necessary. Return pan to oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the filling has begun to set and is no longer jiggly. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and beat until smooth. Add additional liquid as necessary. Frost the bars and sprinkle with almonds to finish.
2. Allow bars to set up at least 1 hour before cutting and serving.
3. Adapted from Averie Cooks

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