Blueberry Cheesecake Bars with Lavender Sugar and audio giveaway

LESLIE BUDEWITZ: Hard to believe Lavender Lies Bleeding, the 9th Spice Shop Mystery, has been out a year! And to celebrate, I’m sharing a recipe for Blueberry Cheesecake Bars that uses lavender sugar in both the crust and the filling. It’s new but already much loved – and my neighbor who doubles as a recipe tester approves! (In truth, I knew she would, but we shared a few bars because as Mr. Right said, we could have eaten them all, but probably shouldn’t.) 

And of course, lavender is in full bloom right now, making using it in food and drink all the more fun!

After trying these bars, Mr. Right asked if we could use the same crust for his annual huckleberry birthday pie. Easy-peasy! The flake coconut and ground pecans make it extra yummy – and for the pie, I’ll add a dash of cinnamon. If you can’t find graham cracker crumbs, make your own by putting graham crackers in a sealable bag and crush with your hand or a heavy spoon or rolling pin. 

Make the lavender sugar at least 3 days ahead. Use any extra in your coffee or a cup of Earl Grey! If you’re using a coffee grinder, wipe it out with a damp cloth, then grind 1/4 cup or so of rice; dump the dirty rice powder and wipe out. The rice will remove the remaining coffee grounds and oils. 

Dried or fresh lavender will work, though I prefer to cook with dried lavender. 

Since lavender is commonly grown, and not so commonly used in cooking, make sure your lavender buds are food-safe. If you buy them from a reputable commercial source, no worries. If you grow your own or cut a few stalks from a neighbor’s plant—no special variety is needed—make sure no pesticides or herbicides were used nearby. Lavender is best harvested when the flowers are about 25%-50% open, in the morning before the oils begin to release in the heat of the day. 

To celebrate the 1st birthday of Lavender Lies Bleeding, make cake! And I’m offering three readers – listeners – audio codes. Details below.

PS: I finally figured out how to embed a PDF of the recipe for easy printing. 

Scroll down to the 💕 for the link. 

Blueberry Cheesecake Bars with Lavender Sugar

For the lavender sugar: 

1 tablespoon lavender buds 

2 cups sugar

For the crust:

½ cup butter

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup flaked coconut

½ cup pecans, finely ground

1/4 cup lavender sugar

For the filling:

12 ounces cream cheese, softened

2/3 cup lavender sugar

4 eggs

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained

To make the lavender sugar: 

In a spice grinder, a clean coffee grinder, or a small food processor, combine the lavender and 1/4 cup sugar. Blend until the lavender buds break down and are finely ground, about a minute. 

A little blurry but you get the idea!

Pour the mixture and the rest of the sugar into a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake well to mix. Allow to sit for 3 days, shaking occasionally. Strain through a mesh strainer to remove any large lavender bits or stems. 

To make the crust:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray or grease a 9X13 inch baking pan and line with parchment paper. 

In a small saucepan, melt the butter until it takes on a light golden color. Watch carefully, as butter can burn quickly. Remove from heat.

In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, flour, coconut, pecans, and 1/4 cup lavender sugar. 

Add the melted butter and mix thoroughly. 

Press firmly into the prepared pan, using your fingers or the back of a spoon. Bake 8-10 minutes, until lightly golden. 

To make the filling:

Using an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese and 2/3 cup lavender sugar. 

Add the eggs, milk, and vanilla, and beat again, until thoroughly mixed.

To assemble:

When the crust is golden, remove from oven. Pour in the cream cheese mixture and top with the blueberries. 

Bake until the center appears set, about 18-20 minutes. (A glass pan will take longer to bake.) Cool in the pan, on a rack. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours. Use parchment to remove the cheesecake from the pan. Cut into bars. Store covered in the refrigerator.

Sharing with the neighbors is optional. 

Lavender is more commonly celebrated and used for its scent than its flavor, but I love both! Talk to me about your favorite scents and flowers. Three readers – listeners – will win audio download codes for Lavender Lies Bleeding. Leave your email address to enter. Winners will be chosen Friday, July 21. 

💕 Click here for a free printable PDF! 

At Seattle Spice Shop, owner Pepper Reece has whipped up the perfect blend of food, friends, and flavor. But the sweet smell of success can be hazardous . . .                                                                                                                                       Spring is in full bloom in Pike Place Market, where Pepper is celebrating lavender’s culinary uses and planning a festival she hopes will become an annual event. When her friend Lavender Liz offers to share tips for promoting the much-loved—and occasionally maligned—herb, Pepper makes a trek to the charming town of Salmon Falls. But someone has badly damaged Liz’s greenhouse, throwing a wrench in the feisty grower’s plans for expansion. Suspicions quickly focus on an employee who’s taken to the hills. 

Then Liz is found dead among her precious plants, stabbed by a pruning knife. In Salmon Falls, there’s one in every pocket. 

Pepper digs in, untangling the tensions between Liz and a local restaurateur with eyes on a picturesque but neglected farm, a jealous ex-boyfriend determined to profit from Liz’s success, and a local growers’ cooperative. She’s also hot on the scent of a trail of her own, sniffing out the history of her sweet dog, Arf. 

As Pepper’s questions threaten to unearth secrets others desperately want to keep buried, danger creeps closer to her and those she loves. Can Pepper root out the killer, before someone nips her in the bud?

Available at Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * and your local booksellers!

ALL GOD'S SPARROWS AND OTHER STORIES: A STAGECOACH MARY FIELDS COLLECTION, now available in in paperback and ebook 

Take a step back in time with All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection of historical short mysteries, featuring the Agatha-Award winning "All God's Sparrows" and other stories imagining the life of real-life historical figure Mary Fields, born into slavery in 1832, during the last thirty years of her life, in Montana. Out September 17, 2024 from Beyond the Page Publishing.  

“Finely researched and richly detailed, All God’s Sparrows and Other Stories is a wonderful collection. I loved learning about this fascinating woman . . . and what a character she is! Kudos to Leslie Budewitz for bringing her to life so vividly.” —Kathleen Grissom, New York Times bestselling author of Crow Mary

Available at Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * and your local booksellers!

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Spice Shop Mysteries set in Seattle's Pike Place Market, and the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, set in NW Montana. As Alicia Beckman, she writes moody, standalone suspense, most recently Blind Faith. She is the winner of Agatha Awards in three categories: Best Nonfiction (2011), Best First Novel (2013), and Best Short Story (2018). Her latest books are To Err is Cumin, the 8th Spice Shop Mystery and All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection, in September 2024. Watch for Lavender Lies Bleeding, the 9th Spice Shop Mystery, on July 15, 2025.

A past president of Sisters in Crime and former national board member of Mystery Writers of America, Leslie lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine. 

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