Oat and cheesecake slice

Here I combine my two favourite things - buttery and crumbly oatmeal crust, and baked cheesecake. 

I made an oat and date slice a while ago and I really liked the oatmeal crust which encompassed the date mixture. I wondered what else I could layer the oatmeal crust with – what about cheesecake?

Using parts of two different recipes – the oatmeal crust from the Joy of Baking date squares recipe and cheesecake component of the brownie cheesecake recipe from the Breakfast, Lunch, Tea: The Many Little Meals of Rose Bakery cookbook I baked this oat and cheesecake slice.

I was happy with how the slice turned out especially the cheesecake part. I am partial to a really good baked cheesecake and the cheesecake in the middle of the slice was just the way that I like it.

Ingredients 

Oatmeal Crust
•    2 cups (200g) oats
•    1 cup (130g) flour
•    ¾ cup (160g) light brown sugar
•    ½ baking soda
•    ¼ salt
•    ¼ ground cinnamon
•    1 cup (225g) cold unsalted butter, cut into little cubes

Cheesecake Mix
•    250g ricotta cheese
•    100g cream cheese
•    4 tablespoons caster sugar
•    splash of vanilla extract
•    2 eggs
•    50g double cream
•    2 tablespoons plain flour, sifted

Method

Preheat the oven to 175C. Line a 8 inch x 8 inch pan with greaseproof paper.

Mix all the ingredients for the cheesecake together in the following order: the cheeses, sugar, vanilla extract, eggs, cream and flour. Make sure there are no lumps in the mixture. Set aside.

In the bowl of food processor, place the oats, flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and ground cinnamon. Pulse to combine. Then add the butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. 

Press firmly 2/3 of the oatmeal mixture into the base of the prepared baking pan. Spread the cheesecake mixture evenly over the oatmeal crust. Sprinkle the remaining oatmeal mixture evenly over the top. Bake for about 30 - 40 minutes or until golden brown. Place on a wire rack to cool. 

Once the squares have cooled, cover the pan with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator for a few hours or until firm enough to cut easily into squares.

These will keep, covered, in the refrigerator up to a week. Can also be frozen.