Blue Raspberry Cream Dream Bars

Blue Raspberry Cream Dream Bars

Ingredients

▢8 ounces Cool Whip or 1 recipe of my Stabilized Whipped Cream instructions to divide below

Nilla Wafer Crust

▢1 ½ cups Nilla Wafer Cookie Crumbs about 45 cookies

▢5 tablespoons unsalted butter

Raspberry Cream Layer

▢3 ounce package blue raspberry jello

▢¾ cup boiling water

▢¾ cup cold water

▢8 ounces cream cheese room temperature

▢1 teaspoon raspberry extract

▢8 -10 drops blue food coloring

▢2 cups Cool Whip or Stabilized Whipped Cream

Cheesecake Layer

▢8 ounces cream cheese room temperature

▢1 cup powdered sugar

▢1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

▢1 cup Cool Whip

▢additional Cool Whip, my Stabilized Whipped Cream or can whipped cream for serving if desired

▢blue sugar for sprinkling if desired, pictured and directions in recipe

▢blue sprinkles or edible decorations if desired

Instructions

Nilla Wafer Crust

Line an 8 X 8-inch baking pan with parchment, so that you can easily remove the bars to evenly slice and serve.

In a medium bowl, melt the 5 tablespoons of butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Stir and melt for another 5-10 seconds, if necessary.

In a food processor, pulse the Nilla Wafers until they are fine crumbs. Add the cookie crumbs to the melted butter and mix with a rubber spatula until all is well incorporated.

Pour into the prepared baking pan and spread, pressing down to create an even crust. Place pan into the freezer while preparing the rest of the recipe for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Blue Raspberry Gelatin

Into a 2-cup measuring glass, mix the blue raspberry gelatin with 3/4 cup boiling water. Stir until dissolved. Add the 3/4 cup cold water and stir. Place into refrigerator until completely cooled, but not set - about 10 minutes.

Blue Raspberry Cream Layer

In a mixing bowl, beat 8 ounces of the cream cheese with the raspberry extract and blue food coloring.

Slowly pour in the chilled gelatin mix while mixing everything together. Once completely smooth, place into refrigerator to chill and thicken for one hour. *See Note.

Cheesecake Layer

In a mixing bowl, beat another 8 ounces of cream cheese, the confectioners' sugar, and vanilla together until smooth and creamy. With a rubber spatula, fold in one cup of the Cool Whip.

Place dollops of cheesecake mixture onto the frozen crust and with an offset spatula, spread to form an even layer.

Blue Raspberry Layer continued

With a rubber spatula, fold the remaining Cool Whip (about 2 cups) into the chilled blue raspberry cream mixture, combining until evenly distributed and smooth.

Gently pour the blue raspberry cream onto the cheesecake layer and spread evenly with an offset spatula.

Place into the refrigerator overnight or for a minimum of 6 hours. I've found that overnight is best.

When slicing, remove the bars from the entire pan by lifting them out in the parchment. Run a large knife under hot water, dry off, and then slice through the bars, repeating with each cut, if desired. This will allow for clean cuts.

Serve with dollops of additional Cool Whip of my Stabilized Whipped Cream and top with blue sugar or sprinkles.

Blue Sugar

In a small bowl, place 2 tablespoons granulated sugar. Add 2 drops of blue food coloring and mix thoroughly. Pour sugar onto a folded paper towel and set aside to dry. Sprinkle over the bars before serving, if desired

Notes

Use the amounts of water in this recipe required to mix the raspberry gelatin. DO NOT use the amounts listed in the box instructions. We want a more stable gelatin and less of it. If raspberry cream mixture is left in the refrigerator for more than one hour, the gelatin will harden and form. This isn't an issue unless you want a completely creamy layer for the top with NO blue gelatin specks. Plus, the more slowly you pour the gelatin into the cream cheese mixture the more evenly it will spread without clumping.