Blackberry Cheesecake Bars with Brown Sugar Crust

I warned you about these on Instagram yesterday. Aren't they a beauteous sight? I know you may be getting sick of the berries and cheesecake theme by now. It seems like all I've been doing all summer is picking berries and making them into cheesecake. It's a tough life.

But these cheesecake bars are different than that strawberry pretzel tart and that blueberry white chocolate cheesecake. Know why? 

Color. That's why. They go in black and they come out a whole spectrum of the most mesmerizing colors. Whatintheworld??? I cannot explain. All I know is that the beauty of it sends my eyeballs into a fluttering frenzy of joy.

One thing that these cheesecake bars are like is this blackberry cheesecake tart. I guess you can't teach an old hog new tricks after all. See, I was trying to make them like these cranberry bars, but then I decided to double the cream cheese and I didn't have the heart to put crumbs over my beloved berries, so here we are. Back to almost the exact same thing I made two years ago only in a different pan. Sheesh.

Blackberry Cheesecake Bars

For the crust:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup soft butter

For the filling:
8 oz. softened cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons flour
1 egg
2 cups washed and dried blackberries

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line an 8x8 inch pan with parchment paper and grease the parchment paper. Mix together all the crust ingredients until crumbly and press firmly into the bottom of the pan. Combine the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, 2 tablespoons of flour, and egg and mix until smooth. Pour over the crust. Sprinkle with the berries. Bake for about 35 minutes. Store in the refrigerator.

Now, don't forget to follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest, and if you like blackberries check out these chewy, GF, oat bars on the other blog. They're pretty awesome.