Lemon Cheesecake Bars Recipe
If you love bright, spring flavors, these Zesty Lemon Cheesecake Bars are hands-down one of my favorite treats to make! Fresh lemon juice and plenty of finely grated zest give the bars their tangy, citrus flavor, while the cream cheese base creates an ultra-smooth, creamy texture that sets beautifully every time. They’re easy to make, consistently delicious, and the kind of recipe your family will ask for long after spring is over.
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Why You'll Love These Lemon Cheesecake Bars
- They are a great make ahead dessert! These cheesecake bars get better as they sit in the refrigerator. So feel free to make them ahead of time and let them hang out and get cold.
- They are baked to perfection in less than 30 minutes! No need to fight with a water bath, these bars are baked in the oven in an 8x8 baking pan.
- You only need a few simple ingredients that you probably already have in your house. There's nothing in these that is strange or you wouldn't be able to get in the grocery store.
Lemon Cheesecake Recipe Ingredients
- Graham crackers- 1 package, or 10 crackers
- Lemons- Juice and zest
- Cream Cheese- Full fat, at room temperature
- Egg- Room temperature. This will hold the cream cheese filling together.
- Sugar- To sweeten these bars up!
See printable recipe card for full recipe information on ingredients and quantities.
How To Make Lemon Cheesecake Bars
In a large bowl, add the cream cheese, sugar, egg, lemon zest, and lemon juice. With an electric hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the mixture until completely combined and there are no more lumps.
Add parchment paper to an 8x8 baking dish. Press the graham cracker crumbs into the baking dish until it forms a layer on the bottom. Bake for 8 minutes. Take out the baking dish when it is done and let it cool.
Bake for 25 minutes or until the bars are slightly browned and there is no wobble in the middle of the bars. Allow the bars to cool before cutting.
How Do I Know When The Cheesecake Is Baked Through?
Cheesecake can be tough to know when it is done because you can't stick a toothpick in and see if it comes out clean. The toothpick will always come out with a little cheesecake on it.
You want the bars to be slightly browned on top, and for there to be very little jiggle in the middle of the bars. They will continue to set as they cool, but a lot of jiggle means that the inside is still too liquid.
Tips for Cream Cheese Lemon Bars
- In the grocery store, you can often find graham cracker crumbs. Use 1 ½ cups of those graham cracker crumbs instead of full graham cracker sheets.
- The cream cheese and eggs should be at room temperature. This will prevent the cream cheese from getting lumpy. It will produce a smooth, cheesecake filling.
- Make sure the oven is preheated. Just like any other baked dessert, it's important the oven is preheated fully so the cheesecake bars bake evenly.
- Lining the baking pan with parchment paper allows the cheesecake bars to easily be lifted out of the pan.
- Before cutting into the cheesecake bars, allow them to cool completely. If they are not cooled, they will likely fall apart.
How to Store Lemon Cheesecake Bars
These bars are a great make ahead dessert. Bake them and place them in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve them. They can stay in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Keep them in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve them.
These lemon cheesecake bars freeze wonderfully! Make sure the bars are cooled completely and then freeze them on a baking sheet. Once they are frozen, place the bars in a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 3 months.
Lemon Cheesecake Bars Recipe FAQs
Cheesecake filling tends to stick to the knife when you are cutting them. To get a clean cut, run your sharp knife under very hot water for about 2 minutes. Then dry the knife off and cut the cheesecake bars. After each cut, wipe off the cheesecake that is on the knife and run it under hot water for another minute. Continue this process until the bars are cut.
Full fat cream cheese is best. Low fat or fat free tends to be more watery than full fat and will change the texture and consistency of the cheesecake bars.
Other Recipes To Try!
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📖 Recipe
Lemon Cream Cheese Bars Recipe
Ingredients
- 10 Graham Crackers 1 package
- â…“ cup Sugar
- 6 tablespoon Butter Melted
For Cheesecake Filling
- â…“ cup Sugar
- 2 Packages Cream Cheese Full Fat
- 1 Lemon Zested
- 2 Lemons Juiced
- 1 Egg Room Temperature
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- In a food processor, add the graham crackers. Pulse them until they are crumbs. Then add the melted butter and sugar and pulse until the mixture looks like wet sand.
- Add parchment paper to an 8x8 baking dish. Press the graham cracker crumbs into the baking dish until it forms a layer on the bottom. Bake for 8 minutes. Take out the baking dish when it is done cooking and allow it to cool while you make the cream cheese filling.
- In a large bowl, add the cream cheese, sugar, egg, lemon zest, and lemon juice. With a hand mixer, beat the mixture until completely combined and there are no more lumps.
- Once the crust is slightly cooled, add the cream cheese filling to the pan. Spread it out so it is evenly distributed.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until the bars are slightly browned and there is no wobble in the middle of the bars. Allow the bars to cool before cutting.
Notes
- The cream cheese should be at room temperature to avoid any lumps in the cream cheese filling.
- The parchment paper will allow the cheesecake bars to be easily lifted out of the baking sheet.
- If you can find graham cracker crumbs, you can use that instead of processing them yourself.
Must just be me but what size package of cream cheese? 4ounce, 8 ounce?
8 ounces! Sorry for the confusion!
Love these cheesecake bars, the pop of flavor from the lemon is amazing!
These lemon cheesecake bars were so easy to make and so delicious! The only problem is we gobbled them all up. I'm planning my next batch this weekend!
This cheesecake recipe tastes AMAZING!!! I will be making this easy lemon cheesecake bars recipe again and again!
I am all in for these delicious lemon bars. The flavors are so great and a dessert we all enjoyed.
Love these bars! So much simpler than baking them in a water bath. I am making a batch for the kid's lunchbox.
These taste amazing and aren't complicated either! I love desserts that are easy and delicious.
I'm drooling over these dessert bars! They're so refreshingly good, especially on warm days like today