1/3 c. light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/3 c. butter or margarine, melted
1/4 c. sugar (the recipe says "I use 3 Tbsp. honey--if you use honey, omit milk")
1 c. unsifted all-purpose flour
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (I usually leave these out)
1 8 oz. pachage cream cheese, softened (I use regular brick-style; you can also use the kind that comes in a little tub or neufatschel, or one of the new flavored ones)
1 egg
2 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. lemon juice (I sometimes leave this out, too)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
In small bowl, mix brown sugar, flour, and walnuts. Stir in melked butter or margarine until well-combined. Reserve 1/3 c. of the crumb mixture (I sometimes reserve crumbs before adding the margarine). Pat remaining gently into pan and bake for 12-15 minutes (it's done when it's "set;" if you bake it until it's crisp or hard at the edges they may burn while the cake itself is baking).
Meanwhile, in a small bowl with electric mixer at medium speed, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in remaining ingredients. Pour over crust and sprinkle with remaining crumbs. Bake for 25 minutes more until set (knife inserted in center comes out with moist but not soft or doughy crumbs). Cool on wire rack.
When cool, cut into 2-inch squares; cut each square diagonally in half. (I usually just cut them into smaller squares.) Makes 32 cookies--about 85 calories each.