Today is a day to honor all of those who have sacrificed so much for our country. The fallen heroes and those heroes who have served, are still serving and will serve. In my opinion we need to honor them every day, and not just one day out of the year. We are blessed to live in a free country, and we must not forget that the freedoms we have were bought at a price.
I will be honest and say I love to celebrate with treats every now and then. Maybe holidays are an excuse to have something sweet, and in the summer I love the frozen treats made with fresh fruit.
These Strawberry Rhubarb Cheesecake Bars were a treat I had made a few years ago for the 4th of July, but I find they are perfect for early summer and late spring, because that’s when rhubarb and strawberry is freshest. I love to be festive and patriotic from Memorial Day through the 4th of July and who doesn’t love some patriotism for the 4th of July and a nice treat to cool you down?! The summer heat calls for some great treats that are colder and that involve some seasonal fruit.
There’s more than enough reasons to celebrate during the summer, and this treat will be a perfect addition. It’s actually a very simple dessert to make and is better frozen in my opinion.
Strawberries and rhubarb are simply amazing together, and we were lucky to have fresh rhubarb and strawberries to use up. This recipe was all inspired by my Strawberry Rhubarb Chia Pudding. My mom makes her famous cheesecake with raspberry topping all the time throughout the summer and I decided that my pudding with cheesecake would be quite the dessert. I do suggest making the pudding the night before though, in order to let it set.
Definitely a treat to cool you down after being in the hot sun. I used ginger cookies from Trader Joe’s for the cookies, but if you are feeling ambitious you can make your own gingersnap cookies. . The cookies from trader Joe’s are gluten free. The bars are GF, but not vegan. If you can’t do eggs, subbing flaxseed eggs should work in the recipe.
The bars weren’t as red as I thought they would be or wanted them to be, but you could add a couple drops of red dye to the pudding to make them more red (I am not a fan of food coloring though) or some beet juice, a better option. Top with some blueberries, and you have a nice patriotic treat for the 4th with red, white and blue. Red, White and Blue are the colors of summer to me!!
You’ll find both the recipe for the cheesecake bars and my Strawberry Rhubarb Chia Pudding below. You’ll be surprised by the simplicity of the bars, even though they may look complex. Baking time and cooling time are the longest part of making these bars. They will need a few hours before you can consume the whole pan. I can’t wait to make more and more this summer!!
- Crust
- 3 cups or 1 bag of Trader Joe's Ginger Cookies
- ¼ c + 1 Tbs coconut oil
- Filling/Topping
- Two 8 ounce packages of cream cheese
- ¼ c brown sugar
- ⅛ - ¼ c raw sugar (I used an ⅛ cup)
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1½ c Strawberry Rhubarb Pudding* (read below for recipe)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
- In a medium mixing bowl cream together cream cheese and sugars.
- Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix well. I suggest mixing for about 5 minutes to completely beat the eggs in.
- For the Crust: Crush the ginger cookies until fine crumbles appear.
- Mix in the coconut oil, to make a crumbly crust.
- Press into a prepared baking dish. Bake on 350 degrees for about 8 -10 minutes.
- Pour half of the cream cheese mixture over the crust once the crust has cooled for 5-10 minutes.
- With the remaining mixture, add in 1 cup of the strawberry rhubarb pudding, then pour over the bars. Smooth with a spatula.
- Pour the remaining ½ c of the pudding on top. With a knife cut the pudding through making swirls.
- Bake for 35 - 40 minutes or until bars have set.
- Once cooled, allow bars to set in the freezer for 1-2 hours before cutting.
Strawberry Rhubarb Cheesecake Bars, a perfect summer treat #summertreats #dessert Share on X
Strawberry Rhubarb Chia Pudding
For this pudding I choose strawberries and some coconut sugar, so it’s sugar free. It doesn’t require much prep work or much time. Most of the time it’s chilling in the fridge. Although, my dad said it’s great hot, because he couldn’t wait, and would be better with vanilla ice cream.
I love the texture the chia seeds add, as well as the fiber and essential fatty acids. Rhubarb is a great source of magnesium, vitamin C, vitamin K, calcium and potassium as well as fiber. I think the pudding is great chilled or warm. It thickens more as you let it chill.
Prep Time: 5-10 minutes Cook Time: 15-20 minutes Chill Time: 2 hours
Ingredients:
- 6 stalks rhubarb, chopped or about 5 cups
- 2 cups strawberries, sliced
- 1 1/2 c water
- 1/2 c coconut sugar (or less if strawberries are ripe)
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 1- 2 Tbs fresh ginger, minced
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 3 Tbs chia seeds
Directions: 1. Add all ingredients except for the chia seeds to a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil. 2. Reduce to simmer. Let simmer for 5 minutes, then add chia seeds. 3. Allow to cook for another 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until rhubarb and strawberries are soft. You may have to use a spoon or potato masher to help crush the fruit. Chill for 2 hours before serving. Enjoy!!
This pudding will keep well in the fridge for a week or so.
Servings: 8-10
Have a wonderful week!!
Until Next Time Be Whole and Be Fit
[…] leave you with for the weekend, and it’s patriotic with red (redish color), blue and white. These Strawberry Rhubarb Cheesecake Bars are a hit and great for the summer time […]