In this post, we’ll show you how to make creamy, dreamy Lemon Curd Cheesecake Bars. This cheesecake recipe is baked in a 9 x 13 sized pan and produces perfectly sweet and tasty cheesecake bars with a sweet graham cracker crust. Get all the flavors you love from a lemon cheesecake in an easier to eat portion.
These Lemon Curd Swirled Cheesecake Bars are out of this world delicious! They bake up easily and can be made with store-bought or Fresh Lemon Curd (we have this easy recipe on our site). These bars are the perfect treat for small get-togethers, parties, or BBQs. Just remember to keep them chilled since they are made with real cream cheese.
If you are looking for a delicious cheesecake recipe for the summer, these Marbled Lemon Cheesecake Bars are exactly what you need in your life. They are the perfect marriage of cheesecake and lemon curd swirl all wrapped in one easy to eat bite.
Cheesecake Bars Ingredients
Before starting this recipe, you’ll want to verify that you have the following ingredients:
- PHILADELPHIA Original Cream Cheese – This is by far the most superior cream cheese (when compared to store brands) for making cheesecake. After years of trial and error, I pay more for this creamy, quality brand.
- Granulated sugar – Every cheesecake needs some sweetness. This one gets it from both the lemon curd and the sweet cream cheese base.
- All-purpose flour – Used to thicken the cheesecake batter so it bakes up like a gem.
- Salt – Commonly used in baking to enhance the flavors.
- Vanilla extract – This adds a tasty vanilla flavor to the cheesecake batter.
- Eggs – Farm fresh work best, but store-bought, large-sized eggs at room temperature are a must.
- Lemon Zest – This adds the lemony POP of vibrance these bars possess.
- Lemon Curd – You will need 1 cup of lemon curd. Follow this recipe, or use store-bought variety.
- Graham Crackers – We used the cinnamon and sugar type for this crust which tasted superb! You can use plain honey graham crackers as well if you prefer.
- Butter – Unsalted butter melted is what will help to bind your crumbs for your cheesecake bar base.
Equipment and Supplies Needed
We used the following equipment and supplies to make this recipe. Items that are optional or can be substituted will be noted.
- 9 x 13 Pyrex baker – This is what is used to bake these lemon cheesecake bars.
- Parchment paper – To line the baking dish. This makes cutting the chilled bars easy.
- 2 large mixing bowls – Used to mix the graham cracker crust and the cheesecake filling.
- Food processor – To get the graham cracker crumbs finely crumbled.
- Hand-mixer – Needed to whip the cheesecake batter until smooth, creamy, and fluffy.
- Measuring cups & spoons – To measuring out your cheesecake and crust ingredients.
- Zester – To get the precious lemon skin off the lemon. Only zest the yellow portion since the pith is bitter.
- Rubber spatula – To smooth the cream cheese over the baked crust.
- Oven – Adjust oven racks to the center position for baking.
Recipe Tips
This recipe is easy to make if you know the right tips and tricks! Here are my tips for ensuring your Lemon Swirled Cheesecake Bars comes out perfectly.
Crust Options
We used cinnamon and sugar graham crackers for the crust. I found them to be perfectly sweet and flavored for this crust. However, you can use plain or honey-flavored grahams. If you want to replicate cinnamon and sugar grahams, adds 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to the finely processed crumbs and mix before adding the melted butter.
Lemon Curd Swirl
I recently made fresh Lemon Curd which I have used in these Lemon Danish, and Lemon Hand Pies. I also made delicious Lemon Bars but those do not feature this exact curd recipe.
Lemon Curd is made with fresh ingredients like eggs, butter, lemon juice, zest, and sugar. You can make it in 15 minutes and our recipe will yield about 2 cups. You can also buy it in-store and will find it in the specialty aisle, or jams and spread aisle.
Chilling Bars
These bars must be left out for one hour after baking, and then (once the pan has cooled) chilled in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before cutting the bars with a wet knife.
Storage
If you want to store your Lemon Cheesecake Bars, just follow these easy steps.
Refrigerator
Store any leftovers covered in the fridge. These will last up to 3 days for best taste when covered properly in an airtight container.
Freezer
Remove cooled and chilled cheesecake using the excess parchment paper overhang. Place bars (whole or sliced) on a baking sheet and freeze for about 4 hours. Once frozen, wrap bars in plastic wrap, and place them in an airtight freezer-safe bag for about 3 months.
Recipe
Follow the recipe below to make Lemon Cheesecake Bars! This recipe makes 12 large bars, but you can cut your bars to a smaller size if you prefer, or adjust the recipe card for other serving sizes.
Lemon Curd Cheesecake Bars
Equipment
- 9 x 13 Pyrex or baking dish
- parchment paper
- 2 large mixing bowls
- food processor
- Hand Mixer
- Measuring Cups & spoons
- Zester
- rubber spatula
- oven
Ingredients
- 16 ounces Philadelphia Cream Cheese room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 cup lemon curd
Crust
- 14 whole cinnamon and sugar graham crackers processed until fine in a food processor.
- 10 tablespoons butter unsalted, melted
Instructions
- Add half the graham crackers to a food processor and process until fine. Add the first half to a large mixing bowl, and process the next half. Add the melted butter to the bowl, and mix until all crumbs are moist.
- Add moisted graham cracker crumbs in a parchment-lined pan, and press crumbs firmly to form a bottom crust layer.
- Bake crust for 15 minutes and then remove it from the oven to cool.
- In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, and sugar until fluffy using an electric hand mixer on medium speed. Add in the salt, flour,vanilla extract, and mix until combined. Add eggs in one at a time beating in-between each. Mixture will be smooth and fluffy.
- To assemble these bars, spread all the cheese mixture over the cooled crumb topping. Use a rubber spatula to smooth it out. Add 6 plops of lemon curd to the top of the cheese evenly spaced out. Use a large wooden skewer to swirl the curd into the cheesecake batter.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes until set. The bars will have golden-brown edges and feel firm.
- Allow pan to cool on top of the stove for one hour. Cheesecake will continue to set as it cools. Refrigerate for 3 hours before cutting. Remove the bars from the pan using the parchment paper overhang before cutting them with a wet knife into 12 bars.
Notes
Nutrition
Amy, you might want to add the measured amount for the Graham cracker crumbs for the crust. When we made this recipe, we just played it by ear- the Graham cracker crumbs amount, I mean.