As you know, I’m a “from scratch” kind of girl. Sometimes I enjoy digging a bit deeper by making some of the ingredients for my cooking and baking. Making cheese at home is much easier than it sounds and with great starter kits, like the one I used from Cultures for Health, it was a total breeze.
Homemade cream cheese doesn’t taste quite like the cream cheese found in the small tubs at the grocery store. Because real cream cheese needs to sit at room temperature to ferment, it actually has a pleasant sour taste to it. When you make it at home, there won’t be any fillers or preservatives — that makes me feel good about serving it to my family. It’s a fun activity to do with kids, especially since homemade cheese making is a bit of a lost art.
This past weekend my youngest daughter and I put on our Christmas aprons, turned on some holiday tunes and made these bars from scratch. First we started with the cream cheese – a very easy process. Then we made the grain free graham crackers for the crust followed by the eggnog. Sure it was extra work, but it gave me some quality time with my daughter and I got to teach her a few new things in the kitchen.
I’ve been so impressed with the products sold by Cultures for Health that I wrote and asked them to offer a giveaway. They provided a DIY Deluxe Cheese Making Kit and a Cream Cheese Starter for one lucky reader. This would make a fantastic Christmas gift and can be shipped to whomever you choose in the U.S.
Enter this giveaway thru the Rafflecopter widget below:
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1. The two winners will be chosen via Rafflecopter.com and will be notified via email. Each winner has three days to respond before being disqualified and replaced by a new winner. 2. Contest open to US residents only. 3. Giveaway ends on December 15th at 12:01 PST. 4. Official rules can be found in the Rafflecopter widget.
Eggnog Cheesecake Bars (Grain Free, Gluten Free)
If you’re using homemade cream cheese, you might want to add a few tablespoons more maple sugar to even out the sweetness. After the filling is mixed, taste to see if it’s to your taste. If not, stir in a bit more sweetener. Adapted from Martha Stewart Living
Makes 18 bars
For the Crust:
1 1/2 cups finely ground graham crackers (click here for a whole wheat or gluten free recipe)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the Filling:
1 pound cream cheese
1/4 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
2 large eggs
2 large yolks
3/4 cup eggnog
1/2 cup maple sugar or organic whole cane sugar
1 tablespoon coconut flour
1 tablespoon brandy (optional)
1 vanilla bean, cut open and seeds scraped out (or 1 tablespoon vanilla extract)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350ºF and adjust rack to middle position. Line an 8×8-inch baking pan with parchment paper(two pieces, overlapping one another). Stir together graham cracker crumbs and butter until crumbs are moist. Press crumb into the bottom of the pan and bake for 12 minutes. Let cool. Meanwhile, beat cream cheese and salt until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, yolks, eggnog, maple sugar, coconut flour, brandy, vanilla and nutmeg and beat on medium speed, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Mix until smooth and creamy. Pour filling over crust and set pan in a large roasting pan. Add enough hot water to come up half-way up sides of baking pan. Bake until just set, about 40 minutes. Remove baking pan from water bath and set on a cooling rack. Cool completely, cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours, or overnight. Gently lift the bars out of the pan using the parchment paper. Cut into small squares and serve with a dusting of freshly grated nutmeg. Bars will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
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{ 97 comments… read them below or add one }
I have thought about making cheese for a while- now I’ll really have to try it:)
I absolutely love this idea! What a fabulous bar idea!
These are the types of things I can’t wait to do when I am done with school in six months. This is going to be an awesome Christmas time treat!
Beautiful bars! I love that you turned on the Christmas music while making them. I have such fond memories of baking Lefse with my family around the holidays; we always made sure to have Mannheim Steamroller playing!
Oooh, this looks delicious and making our own cream cheese would go perfectly right along side our kombucha & kefir!!!
These bars look delicious! Thank you for the recipe and for offering the giveaway!
These look amazing! My husband is gluten-free and often feels left out when it comes to Christmas cookies. These will definitely help him get into the holiday spirit – thanks for posting! We LOVE your recipes.
This looks so delicious! And I love Cultures for Health website. This would make a great treat for my kids!
Wow – this sounds so yummy! And I would love to try making homemade cheese
I’ve been wanting to look into making cheese–thanks for the recommendation! Checking out Cultures for health right now
I just may have to make these for the holiday parties coming up. I’ve been wanting to make the graham crackers for some time now. This may be the push to do so!
Those sound so yummy and fun to make!
These sound really yummy. Excited to try them. My kids all love eggnog so I think they will be a hit!
Haven’t bought cream cheese since we stopped eating process food. Would be great to be able to enjoy it again without worrying about weird ingredients.
Those look amazing! I would love to try making my own cheese, too.
I love making cheese! We have goats so I needed to figure out something to do with all the milk we don’t drink. Ricotta is super easy, but once I got the hang of hard cheeses (like cheddar) that is my favorite. I’d love to get better at soft cheeses though. Thanks for the awesome recipe! Can’t wait to try it this weekend =)
Sounds delicious. May give cheese making a try!
I’d love to give cheese making (and those dessert bars) a try!
This looks so wonderfull! I’ve been making fake cream cheese from yogurt, but I would love to try it the real way! Looking forward to making this eggnog recipe for my dad, too!
I’d love to win!
I’d love to win. I’ve been dying to make my own cheese!
So yummy! I’ve wanted to try making cheese but so far I’ve been too scared – maybe this book would help. And I would follow you on Pinterest if I was on Pinterest – so 1 less entry for me
Thanks for all the great grain free recipes. I would love to see some meal plans you may do with your family.
Amazing! I was JUST thinking about eggnog recipes AND whether you had posted a new recipe recently! What a coincidence. Thanks for this creative holiday. I will try it using dripped lactose-free yogurt instead of cream cheese, and eggnog made with yogurt instead of coconut milk.
Could you make these without the eggnog?
I haven’t tried it, but heavy cream or coconut milk should make for a great substitution.
I’m gunna make these tonight!!
I’m becoming more and more of a “make from scratch” kind of girl too. It’s both a fun challenge to know that I accomplished (or at least attempted) something that most people wouldn’t even think of being able to make themselves and a good way to control what goes into my body.
it looks so yummy! and very Christmas-y!
This is awesome!! Thanks for the giveaway!!
I’ve been wanting to learn more about cheesemaking. This would be a great way to start!
These look soo good!
I am constantly inspired by your recipes and the care that goes into each one!
Looks delicious! Thanks for the giveaway!
Been dying to try making my own cheese! This would be a perfect start!
I LOVE cultures for health and refer many of my friends to their website to find high quality cultures!
Just discovered your blog. Thank you for providing such a great resource for wonderful healthy food!
Those cheesecake bars look fabulous! Would love to make them with cultures for health cheese kit!
I love to make buttermilk for smoothies with their starter.
I would love to try to make my own cheese!
These sound divine, thank you for sharing!
I bet your daughter loved the project and time together. The bars sound delicious!
Carrie,
We have made homemade mozzarella and it is delicious! I am looking forward to checking out the Cultures for Health site.
Oh to have the time to go back from scratch! I have Farm Journal Cookbooks. That was the kind of cooking you love to do.
The Cultures for Health website is one of my favorites! I love the Kombucha recipe and I would love to try other cultures as well!
Making cream cheese sounds like a great idea. I haven’t been able to find any without added ingredients so I have given up all recipes that calls for it. Would love to try making my own.
Oh this is a great giveaway! I’ve been curious about making cheeses lately so I’d put this kit to good use. Thanks for the chance to win!
I would love to win this!
I haven’t tried cheese making yet. It is on my list after yogurt!
My mom makes homemade cheese! My whole family LOVES it! And they would love those cheesecake bars, too!
YUM! Those bars look so good. I’m so happy I’ve found your page. That giveaway is so so sooo cool!
What a great giveaway. My sourdough starter is from Cultures For Health… They are wonderful.
I was shopping their site this past weekend . . . how exciting!
What a great idea………hubby loves eggnog and cheesecake, but we do not eat it because we have not figured out a healthy replacement.
I LOVE Egg nog! I will be making these soon!
These look yummy!!
I agree with you, organic, cultured cream cheese does taste much better than the usual stuff with fillers. Making it at home sounds like fun!
These look delicious. I’ve been thinking about homemade cheese. It’s on my list of future projects for sure!
What a neat recipe!
OMG! I love eggnog and cheesecake. I’m definitely going to try this, but would love to learn to make my own cheese to use in this recipe!
I’m so happy to have found your website! I’m eagerly awaiting your cookbook and you have inspired me to try a grain-free trial – day 3 and feeling good with significantly lessened cravings! Cheese and yogurt are on my list to try this next year. Thank you for the lovely site and your hard work!
That’s so great to hear! I’m glad you’re feeling better. I hope you enjoy the cookbook!
My girls (all grown) and I are going to love making these. We have all gone to making everything from scratch with healthy ingredients since we found your site. Can’t wait to make the cream cheese!
I am always super inspired by your recipes and lifestyle! Thanks for posting.
I’ve been looking at their site for a while now. I’d love to try some of their starters, especially the cultured butter one!
Looks yummy! looking forward to making this!
I had a job making cheese during college, so this sounds awesome to me! Would love to be able to make it in smaller batches at home.
Carrie – You AMAZE me! These look incredible, I can’t wait to give them a try! I hope I win the contest, too.
It’s amazing how much we can learn to do ourselves and it’s so wonderful to have companies like Cultures For Health . Thanks for the giveaway!
Wow, these sounds delicious, I love cheesecake and I love eggnog.
Wow, I want to eat this now. You are amazing.
Thank you for hosting this giveaway. I would love to win this. Also, I’d like to thank you for posting about soaking and dehydrating nuts. I’ve always gotten stomach aches after eating them and never knew why. Since I tried your method I’ve been able to eat them again for the first time in years.
That’s great news!
Yum
Yesss. I’ve tried both your graham cracker (grain-free) and eggnog recipes, so, I’m eager to try this one out as well.
Every recipe of yours that I’ve tried has been yummy ~ I imagine these would be too!
This is so great… I’ve had such a craving for cheesecake!! Great giveaway too!!
~ GGG
Love cheesecake!
I’ve never done anything like this before. I would love to try!
Would coconut sugar work in the recipe or agave ?
I haven’t tried it, but coconut sugar should make for a nice substitute.
I too have thought about making cheese- I’ve made sourdough starter and yogurt before, this sounds interesting and would be a good way to start.
Great giveaway!
What a wonderful idea. I love cream cheese.
These look so god! Thank you for the recipe and I love your site!
oh my gosh, these sound/look AMAZING!!
I almost bought eggnog at the store tonight, but didn’t know what to do with it! Dang it… next time!
I’ve never made homemade cheese, but excited to try!
I didn’t even know it was possible to make cream cheese! How interesting !
Cream cheese eggnog bars…. Am I in heaven!!???
Can’t wait to try these, they look amazing!
Yum. I have always wanted to make my own cream cheese.
Would love to try it.
Oh fun! I tend not to buy cream cheese, so I never use it. I would love to try making it at home, however.
Those little bites look fabulous! A cheese cake to get us in the Christmas spirit. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much to you and your beautiful recipes I too have become a “from scratch” kind of gal as well. And I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Thank you for giving me the knowledge to care for my family in the ways I never knew I’d be able to.
Good quality cream cheese makes such a difference! This looks fabulous.
Great festive flavors here Carrie!
This recipe is also great for big parties. The presentation is absolutely wonderful and it looks really delicious. Good quality ingredients are always better so it is really good to have the best cream cheese.
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