Blueberry Cream Cheese Squares

This recipe in Penzey's coincided with blueberry season. I had just gotten a quart of fresh blueberries at the Soulard Farmer's Market from a farm nearby in Illinois. This recipe is amazing and not a care is given to fat or calories here, meaning it tastes great. The cream cheese/whipped cream mixture is punctuated by bursts of fresh blueberries, and the crunch of the graham cracker crust is great, too. Big plus: no baking!

Blueberry Cream Cheese Squares

Prepare 9" X 13" pan buttered lightly.

1/4 cup corn starch

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

3 cups fresh blueberries

1 package of graham cracker crumbs (about 4 cups of finely crushed graham crackers)

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted

2 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 tsp. of pure vanilla extract

1- 9 oz. package of non-dairy whipped topping, thawed. One cannot use real whipped cream in this preparation. It will not hold up. [JM: Just get regular Cool Whip and use the whole tub.]

Combine the corn starch, sugar, water and blueberries in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat until you note thickening and bubbling, stirring regularly. Cool.

Combine the graham cracker crumbs (put in a big Ziplock bag and roll them with a rolling pin) and melted butter. Press half of the buttered crumbs in the bottom of your buttered 9 X 13 pan.

Beat the cream cheese until softened. Combine in the sugar, whipping until smooth. Add vanilla, continuing to smooth. Gently fold in the whipped topping. Spread 1/2 of this mixture over the crumbs. Spread 1/2 of the blueberry filling over the cream cheese layer. Add another cheese layer followed by another blueberry layer in that order ending with the remaining crumbs.

Should look like this:

Cracker (sprinkled)

Blueberry

Cream

Blueberry

Cream

Cracker (pressed)

Chill overnight.

Source: Penzey's Magazine, transcribed by Asheville B&B