Cherry Cheesecake Bars
Cherry Cheesecake Bars are the perfect summertime sweet treat. They combine a buttery graham cracker crust with velvety cheesecake filling and a swirl of cherry pie topping, making them the best way to satisfy that sweet tooth.
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These bars are easy to make and perfect for holidays, potlucks, yet their simple enough to make earlier in the day. Cheesecake lovers will go crazy for these. If you don't want to make bars, but still want a simple to toss together dessert, try this No Bake Cherry Cheesecake or go for a chocolate twist and try this No Bake Oreo Cheesecake!
Make These Creamy Cherry Cheesecake Bars
These cheesecake bars are perfect for gatherings. They're always a crowd pleaser and disappear quickly. It's the perfect dessert for special occasions, yet it is simple enough to enjoy any night of the week. Last, but certainly not least, the texture is to die for, without all the hassle of a traditional cheesecake
.
Let's Gather the Ingredients
- Graham cracker crumbs: You can grab a box from the store or make your own by adding graham crackers to a food processor and pulsing until they become crumbs.
- Dairy: melted butter, softened cream cheese, and sour cream.
- Sweet: cinnamon, sugar,
- Vanilla: I used white vanilla, but regular works fine.
- Cherry pie filling: Or use my strawberry jam recipe.
- Egg: Room temperature is always recommended.
- All-purpose flour: Provides stability to the bars.
How To Make These Bars
- Add graham cracker crumbs, cinnamon, and melted butter to a medium bowl and stir to combine.
- Line baking pan with parchment paper (or spray with nonstick spray). Press Graham cracker crumb mixture into the lined pan in an even layer and bake. Set aside to let cool.
- Add room temperature cream cheese to a large mixing bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until smooth and creamy.
- Add sour cream, sugar, vanilla extract, eggs, and flour to the whipped cream cheese mixture and mix to combine.
- Step 5: Transfer the mixture from the large bowl to baking pan with the baked homemade graham cracker crust.
- Step 6: Use a spoon to transfer some cherry pie filling over the creamy cheesecake layer. Use a toothpick to swirl the filling around the top layer before baking. Let the cheesecake cool before transferring to the fridge for a few hours before serving.
Recipe Tips
- Room temperature cream cheese really makes all the difference. It blends smoothly for a lump-free filling.
- When swirling the sweet cherry pie filling on top of the cheesecake batter, do so gently, or you'll end up mixing the layers too much.
- When lining the pan with parchment paper, I like to leave quite a bit extra on either side to act as handles to help remove the bars from the dish later. This also helps make clean-up faster.
- Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Keep them longer by freezing them for up to a month. Wrap individual bars in plastic wrap then in a zip-top bag.
- If you don't want a golden brown graham cracker crumb crust, you can use a shortbread crust recipe, chocolate cookie crumbs or even vanilla wafer cookie crumb crust.
Recipe Faq's
The best part is how versatile this recipe is. Blueberry, raspberry, or strawberry pie filling all work well.
Yes! Just bake it in a 9x13-inch pan and adjust the baking time by a few extra minutes. You'll know it's done by keeping an eye on it as it bakes. If you watch for a slightly jiggly center, then you know it needs more cook time
. If it doesn't move when the pan is jiggled, you are done.
New York cheesecake is made in a springform pan and baked in a water bath. Relies on heavy cream or sour cream, which gives it a denser, smoother, and creamier texture. Regular cheesecake is less dense and is a lighter and fluffier texture, both cheesecakes have a buttery crust and are equally delicious!
More Cheesecake Recipes
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Cherry Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 5 tablespoon melted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2-8 ounce pkgs cream cheese at room temperature
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 large egg
- 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups cherry pie filling
Instructions
- Spray an 8x8 baking pan with non stick spray, or use a piece of parchment paper for easy removal. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- In a medium bowl add graham cracker crumbs, cinnamon and melted butter. Mix until combined.
- Press the crumbs into the pan and bake for 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.
- Reduce oven to 325 degrees.
- In a large bowl add softened cream cheese, using a hand mixer beat until smooth and creamy about 30 seconds. Add in sour cream, sugar, vanilla, egg and flour and beat until combined.
- Pour filling on top of graham cracker crust. Add spoonfuls of cherry pie filling and swirl the filling using a toothpick or wooden skewer.
- Bake 35 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.
- Refrigerate at least 3-4 hours. Serve!
8x8 pan or dish 🙂
What size pan did you use to make this recipe?
The cheery pie filling is baked but you can add it after its baked if you want. You just get swirls if you bake it. Hope this helps Grace 🙂
HELP! FIRST TIME Trying this right now
DOES cherry filing bake also? Or after ?
Not sure, Ive never made before, trying to follow recipe.
Thank you:)