FRENCH APRICOT CREAM CHEESE BARS

      Title: FRENCH APRICOT CREAM CHEESE BARS
  Categories: Dessert, Cookies, Bars, Suzy, Tried
       Yield: 24 Bars
  
 MMMMM---------------------------CRUST--------------------------------
       1 pk French Vanilla Cake Mix
     1/3 c  Unsalted butter or margarine
       1 lg Egg
 
 MMMMM--------------------------FILLING-------------------------------
       8 oz Pkg. cream cheese,softened
     1/4 c  Granulated sugar
       1 ts Vanilla extract
       1 lg Egg
      12 oz Jar apricot preserves*
  
   * I used Bing Cherry Preserves and they were delicious.
   
   Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease 13x9-inch pan. In a
   large bowl, combine cake mix, butter and egg; Mix only until crumbly.
   Gently spoon 1 1/2 cup of the crumbled mixture into a mixing cup; set
   aside for topping. Press remaining crumb mixture on the bottom of the
   greased pan.
   
   Bake at 350 degrees F. for 10 minutes.
   
   Meanwhile, in a smaller mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar,
   vanilla and egg; beat until smooth. Set aside.
   
   Spread preserves evenly over hot crust. Then spread cream cheese
   mixture evenly over preserves.
   
   Sprinkle reserved topping mixture over cream cheese.
   
   Bake at 350 degrees F. for an additional 30 minutes or until topping
   is light golden brown. Cool to room temperature, then chill until
   serving. Store in refrigerator.
   
   Note: The dough must be crumbly. I had to add a bit more flour to the
   reserved 1 1/2 cups to get the proper consistency as I mixed it
   beyond the crumbly stage and a smooth dough started to form. You
   don't want  balls of dough, but lumpy CRUMBS!
   
   From the recipe files of suzy@bestweb.net
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