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 bars were delicious and refreshing, and very easy to make! My only complaints were that the lemon flavor was not very strong, and the crust was quite soft and tended to fall apart.
These were lovely! Delightful summer flavours & nice, creamy texture.
I love cheesecakes! I used blueberries but it’s great too.
THEse taste amazing and aren’t difficult to put together. Getting the raspberry to swirl in a pretty way was tricky, but the flavor was great regardless of how my swirl looked.
Easy recipe for a perfect summer treat! The creamy cheesecake mixed with a hint off the tartness of the raspberries was perfect.
I finally got to make the Raspberry Lemonade Cheesecake. My Krogers did not have any frozen Raspberry’s. I already had blueberries so I used them.
This was very good, loved the lemon juice & zest. I will definitely be making these again. Thank you Tessa.
This was my first attempt at cheesecake & I was surprised how easy it was. It’s a delicious summertime recipe. Next time I think I’ll try taking it out a minute or 2 earlier.
Perfect summertime dessert – Light and refreshing!
My 9 yo daughter and I made these yesterday. They are delicious! She posted them on her baking blog and linked to your recipe. Thanks!
So delicious and simple to make. I’m not a cheese cake person but this is delicious!
These were easy to make. The lemon and raspberry complimented each other nicely. Not overly sweet which I liked. If you like your cheesecake on the sweeter side I would definitely recommend adding more sugar as Tessa suggests.
My swirls on my cheesecake wasnt impressive but the4 taste made up for it. It turned out AWESOME I would make this again real soon. I LOVED IT!!!!