Lemon Cheesecake Bars

Lemon zest and fresh lemon juice bring summery flavor to these easy Lemon Cheesecake Bars!

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When I think of my favorite fruity desserts, everything that first comes to mind has some sort of buttery crumb topping. Whether it’s my quick & easy Cherry Dump Cake, an Apple Crumb Pie (ahhhhh YUM!) or the fan favorite Blueberry Cream Cheese Bars, there’s just something extra delicious about a crumb topping.

As much as I love classic lemon bars (any my new Pineapple Bars!!), these new Lemon Cheesecake Bars juuuuuust might take the cake when it comes to lemon desserts!! It’s the perfect combination of tangy lemon, smooth cream cheese and buttery crust and topping. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!!!!

Ingredients Needed

Crumb Mixture

• Butter – I prefer salted butter.
• Sugar
• Lemon Zest
• Salt
• Flour
• Oats – I use quick oats in this recipe.

Lemon Cheesecake Filling

• Cream Cheese
• Sweetened Condensed Milk – Don’t get this confused with evaporated milk!!!
• Lemon Juice – I highly recommend using freshly squeezed lemon juice in this recipe, however bottled lemon juice will work okay too.
• Lemon Zest
• Egg Yolk
• Flour

How to Make Lemon Cheesecake Bars

There are two components to these easy cheesecake bars. There’s the buttery oat mixture and the creamy cheesecake filling full of lemon flavor. Before mixing any ingredients, I like to get the oven preheated and line my pan with parchment paper.

Make the crumb crust/topping

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter, sugar and lemon zest. Mix on medium speed until light and fluffy.
2. Add the salt, flour and oats and stir until combined.
3. Press about half of the mixture into the bottom of the pan. It doesn’t need to be exactly 1/2 …just eyeball it!
4. Bake the crust for 12 minutes.

Make the cheesecake layer

1. Place cream cheese in a medium bowl (or in a food processor) and mix until nice and smooth.
2. Add the sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, lemon zest, yolk and flour and mix until well-combined.
3. Pour over the baked crust and smooth out with the back of a spoon.
4. Sprinkle the remaining crumb topping over the cream cheese mixture.
5. Bake until they’re a light golden brown, cool, cut and enjoy!

How to make sure the bars have a clean cut

It’s so satisfying to see a plate of bars with beautiful, clean edges. Here’s how to get these lovely edges every time!

1. Be sure to line the pan with parchment paper! If you don’t have parchment, you can use aluminum foil.
2. Once the bars are baked, let them cool completely and refrigerate for a couple hours.
3. Remove the bars from the baking pan and peel the parchment paper off.
4. Place the big slab of bars onto a cutting board.
5. Use a sharp knife to cut the bars into squares, cleaning the knife as needed in between cuts.

Other Easy Recipes with Lemon

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes – Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes have a soft cake, tart lemon curd filling, and a smooth cream cheese frosting. And the best part? It all starts with a cake mix – easy peasy!!

Lemon Rice Krispie Treats – These no bake Lemon Rice Krispie Treats are sweet, tart and bursting with lots of lemon flavor! It’s a rice krispie treat variation you’ll want to make again and again!

Creamy Lemon Pie – Another favorite lemony no bake dessert!! With a shortbread cookie crust and cool, lemony filling, this pie will be a quick favorite!

Strawberry Lemonade Cake – This bright & summery dessert has three layers of moist lemonade cake, strawberry buttercream and fresh strawberry slices!