friends till the end

I’d like to think that it was cheesecake that brought my best friend and I together. Sara Lee frozen cheesecake, to be exact.

I met Julia during my freshman year and we both were awkward, gangly, and dorky. I always felt like the outsider with my group of friends and most of my friends at the time intimidated the shit out of me. So when I met Julia, I realized that not all girls were catty, childish, and vain. What a relief! I wish I could look back at high school fondly, but for the most part, I hated it. It wasn’t class or homework; strangely enough I have always enjoyed school. It was the superficial friendships that annoyed me the most. I’m definitely played a role in perpetuating those friendships, but what else were you supposed to do in high school? In order to survive, you smiled and gossiped quietly. It was Mean Girls without the fancy hair and clothes.

That freshman year, Julia and I spent the majority of our time hanging out after school. Since we lived near each other, we’d walk to and from school together, and once the bell rang at 2:54 p.m., we’d run back to her house where we’d devour cheese and mayo sandwiches (don’t judge, they were good!!) and gulp down numerous diet pepsi’s. If the sun was shining, we’d hop in the pool, and if we were feeling extremely rambunctious, we’d run up to the local grocery and buy a Sara Lee’s Frozen Cheesecake. After the hour walk to-and-from the store, we’d be starving and nothing was better than sitting out in her backyard with a two forks and the tinfoil pan between us.

I can still remember the taste of that ice cold cheesecake, and I can still hear us giggling like mad as we shoveled bites in to our mouths. It was the beginning of a true friendship.Who knew that two little girls could polish off a whole container? I thank my starts for my super speedy teenage metabolism. 

I still talk to some of my high school friends every now and then, and I love them to pieces for the most part, our lives have all taken different and unexpected turns. It’s become harder to relate to some of them, and while I enjoy seeing them once and a while, it’s pretty clear that our friendships might have run its course. But I couldn’t imagine life without Julia. 8 years later, she is still the most loyal, honest, and true friend I could hope for. And every time I bake cheesecake, I am reminded of our high summers in her backyard where nothing matter besides food, soda, and boys.

These chocolate-cheesecake squares are simply delicious. After a quick whirl in the food processor, you have a pan full of deceivingly rich cheesecake. I know some of you are watching your figure (4 weeks till bikini season!! yikes!) so I thought I’d test out this Martha Stewart recipe. I was a little iffy about using both reduced fat cream cheese and light sour cream, thinking the texture would be all wrong. But thankfully, the recipe worked like a charm!! The cheesecake squares weren’t too sweet and had a little tang from the sour cream. The cream cheese filling melted in your mouth lightly, and kept it’s fluffy texture even after spending 5 days in my fridge. I prefer my cheesecake ice cold, so I left them in the freezer, eating them one by one right before bed but if you prefer a warmer cheesecake, let them thaw on your kitchen counter.

For the crust, I used Chocolate Teddy grahams, which happen to be my favorite chocolate cracker because they have more flavor and crunch as opposed to plain chocolate graham crackers. But use whatever chocolate cookie you want. I think Trader Joe’s Chocolate Animal Crackers would be good here too.

As summer comes, I can’t wait to share these cheesecake squares with Julia. We can sprawl out in my new backyard, laughing and gossiping over our adventures, all the while noshing on these cheesecake squares.

Chocolate Cheesecake Squares
Origin: Everyday Food
Yield: Makes 9 squares
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 35 to 40 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: at least one hour, preferably overnight

Ingredients:
● Nonstick cooking spray
● 2 cups chocolate wafer cookies, (I used Chocolate Teddy Grahams)
● 8 ounces (One bar) reduced-fat cream cheese
● 1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
● 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
● 2 tbsp. cornstarch
● 3/4 cup sugar
● 1 large whole egg plus 1 large egg white
● 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, (you can substitute finely chopped dark chocolate or bittersweet chocolate if you prefer)
● 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. Line with two crisscrossed pieces of parchment or wax paper, spraying between sheets. Spray lined pan; set aside.

Process cookies in a food processor until finely ground. Gently press crumbs into bottom of prepared pan (do not rinse processor bowl).

Blend cream cheese and sour cream in food processor until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add cocoa, cornstarch, vanilla, sugar, egg, and egg white; process until smooth. Pour into pan; sprinkle with chocolate chips.

Bake until just set, 35 to 40 minutes; cool completely in pan. Refrigerate at least 1 hour, but overnight is better. Invert onto a tray; peel off paper, and reinvert crust side down. Cut into 9 squares.

Well wrapped, you can store the squares in the refrigerator or freezer. I prefer slightly frozen from the freezer but if you prefer a softer cheesecake square, let them sit in the fridge 30 minutes prior to serving.

Printable Recipe here.