Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Like your favorite summer drink turned into cheesecake. Tangy, tart, sweet, and fresh.
Texture: The crust is thick, buttery, and crunchy to perfectly balance the smooth, creamy, and rich cheesecake.
Ease: Easier than a traditional cheesecake. The hardest part is waiting for the bars to chill in the fridge!
Appearance: How pretty are those vibrant raspberry swirls??
Pros: Fun, fresh, and flavorful dessert. I even used low-fat cream cheese to make this recipe a *little* more summer swimsuit friendly.
Cons: None, really. If you aren’t a fan of a little bit of tartness, you may want to add an extra few tablespoons of sugar.
Would I make this again? Sure!
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Do you guys ever get caught up in the “panic loop?” Where you know you need to do something like write a report for work, an essay for school, organize your finances, make an uncomfortable phone call, or some other less-than-stellar task.
Where you avoid said task by suddenly and obsessively looking at your app messages, looking at everyone’s perfect lives on Instagram, reading silly political rants on Facebook, checking your Pinterest feed, staring at your overflowing email inbox, checking Google Analytics (if you’re a blogger), then you just start all over again. Suddenly 30 minutes, even an hour has passed and you’ve accomplished nothing. It’s the worst!!
The internet is simultaneously such an awesome tool of production AND such a time-waster. How do you stay focused at the computer?
Hopefully this spring/summer we can all get away from the computer for a little bit to enjoy the warm weather and summer traditions. These Raspberry Lemonade Cheesecake Bars are the ultimate spring or summer dessert recipe. They’re as bright as they are flavorful with that balance of sweetness and tartness of your favorite summer drink. I think you’ll enjoy this recipe!
This cheesecake bar recipe is certainly a crowd pleaser with their beautiful bright raspberry colored swirls!
More cheesecake bar recipe
- Creme Brulee Cheesecake Bars
- Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Bars
- Brownie Bottom Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars
Raspberry Lemonade Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 9 whole graham crackers (138 grams)
- 4 tablespoons (57 grams) unsalted butter, melted
For the cheesecake:
- 16 ounces (454 grams) cream cheese, completely softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
For the raspberry swirl:
- 1/2 cup (62 grams) raspberries, fresh or thawed frozen
- 2 tablespoons sugar
Instructions
Make the crust:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8 by 8-inch baking pan with foil or parchment, leaving an overhang.
- In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the graham crackers until finely ground. You should have about 1 cup crumbs.
- Add the melted butter and pulse until moistened. Press the mixture firmly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until lightly golden brown and fragrant. Let cool.
Make the cheesecake:
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, scraping down the edges as necessary. Beat in the lemon zest, lemon juice, eggs, and vanilla until combined. Add in the flour and salt and beat until just combined. Spread the mixture over the crust.
Make the raspberry swirl:
- In a food processor or blender, puree the raspberries until smooth. Press through a fine mesh strainer, discarding any seeds and pulp that remain. Stir in the sugar. Dollop the unbaked cheesecake batter with spoonfuls of the raspberry puree. Use a knife or skewer to make swirls.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until set at the edges but ever so slightly jiggly in the middle. Don’t overbake. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Cover and chill the cheesecake in the fridge until very cold, at least 3 hours. The cheesecake can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 days.
- Before serving, use the foil or parchment to remove the cheesecake from the pan and onto a work surface. Cut into 15 squares. Serve chilled.
These are so gorgeous!! I want the whole pan right now!
yummy summery bars!
These look perfect! My kind of cheesecake!
Thanks Jaclyn!
I made these this weekend for an 80s prom birthday party, and they are really good, especially if you don’t like super sweet things. They are easy and fun to make, and they look so pretty. The only thing that you have to make sure and do is zest the lemon really fine. i made the mistake of zesting it too thick, and needless to say, lemon peels aren’t the best thing to bite into in your bar 😉
Very good recipe though!
So happy to hear that! Yeah, fine zest is definitely best for baking. The best lessons are learned through experience, you’ll probably never do that again 😉
I love that pretty pink swirl — I’ll take a dozen!
I need at least 2 or 3 of these! So gorgeous!
looks so yummy!! 🙂
love this fun twist on traditional cheesecake! looks delicious!!
Very pretty! My swirls never come out looking this nice. Do you have any pointers?
Good question! I just take a teaspoon measurement and dollop all over then I like to use a thick wooden skewer or the probe of a kitchen thermometer to swirl. I avoid swirling too much because then it just starts to look messy.
Those are so pretty and look so good!
I am such a bar guy! I’d take these over a cookie any day 🙂
Cheesecake is my favorite food. I have often thought about starting a petition to get it added as a food group in the food pyramid. I LOVE the raspberry lemonade flavour! Pinned!