Thick buttery graham cracker crust topped with lemon strawberry-swirled filling to make these delicious Strawberry Lemon Cheesecake Bars! Chill them for a tasty summer dessert!
If you love easy and delicious dessert recipes, then you’ll also love my Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake Bars, Chocolate Sheet Cake with Strawberry Frosting, and Cream Cheese Brownies (Cheesecake Brownies).
I have some really happy news…
I FINALLY got my hands on a batch of mouthwatering, perfectly sweet and juicy strawberries!!
Pretty please pretend to be half as excited as I am.
I’ve been seeing crates and crates of strawberries in the stores lately, so naturally I’ve been buying them in droves, but every single week I’ve been disappointed. Too sour. Too soft. Not soft enough.
Is a perfect batch of strawberries too much to ask for??
But like I said, I got some incredible strawberries this week and I am shoving them into my mouth by the handful. Don’t worry though, I saved enough of them to whip up these ultra-mega-yummy cheesecake bars. With a hint of lemon and the most incredibly buttery graham cracker crust you could ever ask for, these beauties are nothing short of summerlicious!
Try this No-Bake Cheesecake recipe next!
Strawberry Lemon Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
- 12 graham cracker sheets
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ cup butter - melted
Cheesecake Layer
- 16 ounces cream cheese - softened (2 8-ounce bricks)
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 egg - at room temperature
- 1-2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Strawberry Swirl
- ⅓ cup chopped strawberries
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons water - as needed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8×8 inch baking pan with foil and lightly grease with cooking spray.
- First prepare the crust. In a food processor (or good quality blender) pulse graham crackers and sugar until fine crumbs form. Add melted butter and pulse again until mixture comes together. Press into the bottom of prepared pan and bake 10 minutes.
- Next prepare the cheesecake layer. In a medium-large bowl cream together cream cheese, sugar, egg, lemon juice, and vanilla until smooth. Pour mixture over crust.
- To make the strawberry swirl, add strawberries and sugar to a blender or food processor and pulse until finely pureed. (add 1-2 tablespoons as water until mixture is easily spreadable)
- Drop spoonfuls of the strawberry mixture over the top of the cheesecake layer. Use the tip of a knife to swirl the strawberry mixture into the cheesecake mixture – a figure 8 pattern works great! (Careful not to insert the knife too far so that you don’t disturb the crust at the bottom)
- Bake for 25-35 minutes until cheesecake is set. Allow to cool for 20-30 minutes, then transfer to fridge to chill at least 30 minutes or until ready to serve. Store chilled in airtight container or covered with plastic wrap.
This was a great recipe and I will be using it again!
Is it safe to double it? I’m looking to take it to a bbq and 12 servings doesn’t feel enough. Can I just simply double the recipe or do I need other modifications?
You can double it and either bake them in a bigger pan or two 8×8 pans.
Changed your
Good starter recipe-used it with my expertise as a chef to make it sugar free – looks and tastes magnificent and has less than 2 grams of sugar per bar – i could even make it less and a little healthier.
I made it but had no idea what 12-14 sheets of crackers is so used 1 1/2 cups may not have been enough time will tell.Now we waite lol
Loved this recipe! When making the strawberry swirl, I thought it was fine without adding water. Will probably always make it that way. Recipe is definitely a keeper!!!
Intersting! Thanks for sharing!
Loved this recipe! When making the strawberry swirl, I thought it was fine without adding water. Will probably always make it that way. Recipe is definitely a keeper!!!
Absolutely loved the recipe. Didn’t add any water to the blended strawberry & it was perfect!
everYthing was good, except the strawberry swirl. Even without adding water, the strawberry sugar mixture was complete soup. So it was just a puddle of steawberry water On top of the cheesecake. Usually i would have sinmered the strawberry sugar With cornstarch on the stovetop to get it A more jelly CONSISTENCY, then swirl accordingly. Maybe this will help others who may have had rhe same problem. Crust and filling was delicious!
Sorry to hear you had that issue! Thanks for sharing your feedback and insight.
Do I need to let the crust chill before I add the Cheese cake mix?
It does not need to be completely cooled- but a couple minutes out of the oven would be good!
how early can I make this recipe or Do I need to make it the day we are eating it?
You could make these a day or two in advance and keep in an air tight chilled container!
How much crumbs in cup measure do 12 sheets of graham crackers make? I buy the crumbs, not the full graham wafers.
It’s about 7.5 ounces for 14 honey graham crackers – chef Katie McGookey.
This is indeed summerlicious! It looks like watermelon slices from the top.
Amazing colors!
HI
WHEN I SERVE CHILLED I ALWAYS HAVE A PROBLEM OF CRUST BEING HARD. AM I DOING SOMETHING WRONG? THANKS IN ADVANCE
Hi, for this recipe, you shouldn’t need to worry about the crust hardening too much after being chilled. The butter content will keep it nice and soft!
Twice baking the crust will harden it but will soften after a day or two in the fridge – chef Katie McGoo