“When it rains it pours.” We’ve all heard it said before, and Ryan and I certainly experienced the oft-cited phrase this weekend. Our water heater broke on Saturday evening, soaking our basement carpet AND THEN our car broke down in Denver today….just hours before a scheduled engagement photo shoot back in Colorado Springs. Thankfully, our car choose to malfunction in perhaps the best possible place–the parking lot of a Whole Foods–so Lucy and I strolled around the aisles (picking up chocolate bars, bags of popcorn, and soft pretzels) while we waited for my sweet sister to make the 60 mile drive from the Springs to rescue us.
So here we are on Sunday evening, tired and overwhelmed with unexpected money woes. How are we going to afford a new water heater? Are we going to have to replace the carpet? Is it time for us to retire my Jeep (I’ve had the car since I turned 15 and its wracked up an impressive 280,000 miles)? Do we even have enough money in the bank to buy another used car?
It’s also been said that couples fight most over money and kids. Thankfully, Ryan and I didn’t even raise our voices this weekend. Perhaps it was the blue sedan we saw on the way home from Denver that stymied any possible fight. A car had flipped off the interstate, and we drove past it just moments after the accident must have happened. The windows were blown out, and we couldn’t see any bodies in the car. A state trooper pulled off the highway to assess the scene. We all looked at each other and remembered the car accident that had taken my oldest sister and nephew’s lives two years ago. A car accident eerily similar to the one we were seeing as we drove home. How quickly we realized that all these “problems” really amounted to nothing. We’ll figure these messes out, and as my dad has always said, “Money comes and money goes.” We had each other, and we were safe. What a precious gift that truth is!
But if I ever needed a cheesecake bar, it would be after a weekend like this one. These Almond Streusel Cheesecake bars are the perfect pairing of creamy and crunchy. The graham cracker crust and the spice-laden streusel sandwich a thick layer of sweet and creamy cheesecake. You couldn’t ask for a more decadent treat. They’d be lovely on a holiday dessert table (or as a gift for a friend who survived a stressful week). I hope you make these for happy circumstances though. I don’t wish a broken water heater or car on any of you! (And look at this picture below…this really is all that matters in our world)
Almond Streusel Cheesecake Bars
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup quick-cooking oats
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold butter, cut into chunks
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a small bowl, mix together crumbs and melted butter. Press firmly into bottom of a parchment-lined 9-inch square pan. In a medium bowl, mix flour, oats, brown sugar and 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon in medium bowl. Cut in cold butter with pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in almonds. Set aside.
Beat cream cheese, granulated sugar, remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended and smooth. Add eggs; beat just until blended. Pour over crust. Sprinkle streusel mixture evenly over cheesecake mixture.
Bake bars for 45 minutes or until center is almost set and topping turns golden brown. Cool bars in pan on a wire rack and then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Once chilled, cut into bars and store any leftovers in refrigerator.
