I made these for a cookout yesterday and they were really good.  The combination of shortbread crust, raspberry and lemon was perfect!  I think it would be great with a variety of jams, if you wanted to try a different flavor.  The original recipe called for strawberry jam.  I used raspberry.  So mix it up if you want and see how it comes out!

Ingredients:

2 . flour
1/2 c. powdered sugar
3/4 tsp. lemon zest, divided
3/4 c. cold butter
2 (8 oz. each) packages cream cheese, room temp.
3/4 c. sugar
2 large eggs
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1 c. raspberry jam

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly oil a 9 x 13 inch pan and line with parchment paper.  Smooth paper out across bottom of the pan, leaving some hanging over two sides.  (This enables you to lift the whole thing out of the pan before cutting the bars).

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp. of the lemon.  Cut in the butter until crumbly.   Pour shortbread crumbs over the parchment lined pan and press evenly across pan.  Bake for 20-22 minutes, until lightly browned.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and granulated sugar until smooth.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition just until blended.  Stir in fresh lemon juice and the remaining 1/4 tsp lemon zest.  (If you want a milder lemon flavor, either decrease the amount of zest you add to this part, or leave it out completely. )  Mix well.

Spread the jam evenly over shortbread layer.  Pour cream cheese mixture over jam layer, spreading evenly across top.  Bake for 28-32 minutes, or until set.  Let cool for 1 hour and then chill for 4-8 hours.

To cut into bars, simply lift the entire thing out of the pan by the two sides of parchment paper that you left hanging over the edges.  Set on the counter and cut into desired sized bars using a pizza cutter.

Linked to: Bake with Bizzy, Mouthwatering Mondays, Mangia Mondays, Melt in your Mouth Mondays, Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tuesdays At the Table, Totally Tasty Tuesday, Made From Scratch Tuesday, Cast Party Wednesday

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