Blueberry Hazelnut Cheesecake Squares

Blueberry Hazelnut Cheesecake Squares
CRUST
1 1/4 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
3/4 cup finely chopped, toasted hazelnuts
1/3 cup granulated (white) sugar
pinch salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
FILLING
2 packages (250 grams/8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup granulated (white) sugar
2 Tablespoons all-purpose (plain) flour
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup heavy cream (milk works too, as long as you use full fat cream cheese)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 325◦F. Butter a 9x9 inch square baking pan.
CRUST: In a large bowl, stir together all ingredients except the butter, then cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press into prepared pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden and firm.
FILLING: In a large bowl using a wooden spoon, beat the cream cheese and the sugar. Add the flour, then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in cream and extracts, then gently fold in blueberries. Pour onto prepared crust. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until center is just set. Let cool to room temperature for an hour, then cover and refrigerate for at least three hours.

This is a new blueberry recipe I just tried this year! I already knew that cheesecake and blueberries go well together, and I like the combination of blueberries with hazelnuts. All together this makes really nice squares. I usually do not bake with nuts, but hazelnuts are my favorite, and they really add a buttery texture and nice flavor and crunch to these squares. These squares come together fairly easily, and taste really good. It comes from my huge baking book, that I like to refer to as my baking bible. I used one of the tablespoons of flour called for in the recipe to coat the blueberries so they would not sink in the batter. I also found that my pan of cheesecake took a lot longer to bake, maybe because I used an 8x8 inch pan, which would make the batter deeper, but I found it cooked a lot better when I turned up the oven temperature to 350◦F.

Williams - Sonoma. "Blueberry Cheesecake Squares with Hazelnut Crust." Recipe. Essentials of Baking, San Francisco: Oxmoor House, 2003. 152.