Coco-Lime Cheesecake- Savvy Homemade Monday

I know summer has officially ended this weekend, but I want to keep it alive with my awesome cheesecake bars.  I made these for my birthday party in July, and they were so awesome, I ate half the tray myself.  There is nothing more summery than coconut and lime.  I stole this recipe from Betty Crocker and tweaked it to make it better.

Ingredients
Crust layer
1 pouch Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix
2 Tbsp. flour
1/3 cup butter
1 egg
(or you can make your own sugar cookie dough if you have time.  Or use premade, refrigerated dough if you don't have enough time to mix the package mix)
Filling
2 packages cream cheese
16 oz cream of coconut (I found this in the aisle where the drink mixers are-they also sell it at the liquor store)
2 limes, juiced (or use 3 Tbsp. of the lime juice in the jar shaped like a lime)
4 packets of True Lime
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
Frosting
8 oz. cream cheese
1 stick softened butter
1 cup confectioner's sugar (you can use up to 1 1/2 cups to taste)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 packets True Lime
(if you don't have time to make frosting, you can use canned cream cheese frosting, and just add True Lime to it)
Topping
1 1/4 cups toasted coconut
zest of 2 limes (you can use more if you want)

-Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, stir cookie base ingredients until soft dough forms. Press evenly in bottom of pan. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 15 minutes.

-Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in cream of coconut until well blended. Beat in lime juice, true lime, vanilla and 2 eggs until smooth. Spread over cookie base.


-Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until set and light golden brown on edges. Cool 30 minutes at room temperature. Refrigerate 1 hour to cool completely.

-Place cream cheese for frosting in a medium mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, soften cream cheese. Gradually add butter, and continue beating until smooth and well blended. Sift in confectioners' sugar, and continue beating until smooth. Add vanilla and true lime, and stir to combine.

-Carefully spread frosting over filling. Sprinkle with coconut and lime peel. Cover; refrigerate 30 minutes. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.

Photo courtesy of Betty Crocker, since I ate mine before photographing them