Lemon Cheesecake Bars

Tart and Tangy Lemon Cheesecake Bars with White Chocolate chips are a dessert made in heaven. With a soft sugar cookie crust and creamy lemon cheesecake filling, you will love the sugar cookie crumble it's topped with.

Welcome to #LemonWeek 2022 hosted by Lynn from Fresh April Flours and Rebecca from Devour Dinner.  This week is sponsored by Rodelle and La Tourangelle. I may have received product samples from these sponsors to help in the creation of my recipes. All opinions are my own. Come join me and my fellow Lemon Week bloggers as we bring you recipes from appetizers to drinks to entrées and desserts!

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Every bite will heighten your senses and keep you wanting more of these Lemon Cream Cheese Bars. I promise! The white chocolate helps balance the tart and tangy lemon beautifully and I just love it!

These Easy Lemon Bars are nothing like a traditional lemon bar. I think they are better. They are similar to my Oatmeal Lemon Bars with an Oatmeal Cookie crust. And although they both share the lemon taste, they are so very different. So make sure to check out this classic Betty Crocker recipe because it's delish too!

Ingredients Needed

Dry Ingredients. Granulated Sugar, Powdered Sugar, All Purpose Flour, Cream of Tartar and Baking Soda

Wet Ingredients. Vegetable Oil, Vanilla Extract, Egg

Other Ingredients. Butter, Lemon Juice and Lemon Zest, White Chocolate Chips

How to make Cheesecake Sugar Cookie Bars

Let's start by whipping up my favorite soft sugar cookie recipe. It's soft and delicious and works perfectly every time. Make sure to use room temperature butter and egg. They should both sit on the counter for 1 hour. This will soften the butter just enough but won't turn the butter to mush.

In a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer cream Butter and granulated sugar for 3 minutes. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl often.

Believe it or not it is important to cream these two ingredients together. The mixture will turn a very pale yellow and be whipped nicely. This really does help in the finished product of the cookie recipe, I promise.

Gradually add egg and vegetable oil. The mixture will change consistency and will appear like it's struggling to all combine. Just keep whipping! Then add the powdered sugar and cream for another 2 minutes.

In a separate bowl combine All Purpose Flour, Cream of Tartar and Baking Soda together and mix together. Add about half of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until combined.

Add Vanilla Extract and then add remaining dry ingredients.

In an eight by eight baking pan spray with cooking spray or line with parchment paper and press ⅔ of the cookie mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake the crust in a preheated oven to 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes.

The remaining Cookie Dough should be placed covered in the refrigerator so it does not dry out.

Sugar Cookie Crust will be a very light golden on the edges and the center will be set when baking is done. Remove from oven and allow to full completely. This is an important step for these Cream Cheese Lemon Bars.

The sugar cookie crust needs to fully cool before topping with the cream cheese mixture.

Creamy Cheesecake Filling

To make the Cream Cheese filling combine cream cheese, egg, fresh lemon juice, lemon zest and sugar in a separate mixing bowl. Mix ingredients together until smooth using a hand mixer.

Pour lemon layer mixture over top of cooled sugar cookie crust and spread evenly.

Stir White Chocolate Chips into cookie dough and then crumble dough on top of baked cream cheese mixture. Making sure to evenly distribute cookie dough across entire baking pan.

Place these Sugar Cookie Cheesecake Bars back in the oven for an additional 17-22 minutes. The edges will turn golden and the cookie dough on top will also turn a light golden. The cheesecake filling will also set up during the baking process.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for 2 hours. I prefer to cool in refrigerator as soon as the pan has cooled to the touch.

Pro Tips

Also bake with room temperature Butter and eggs. It really does make a difference when creaming ingredients together.

It's always best to weight ingredients. Adding too much or too little of an ingredient will greatly change the outcome of the recipe. Even if you follow the recipe to a "T".

Store remaining cookie dough in refrigerator while baking cookie crust. Do not skip this step. No one wants a dry cookie.

Allow cookie crust to fully cool before topping with the cheesecake layer. No one wants the creamy cream cheese layer to curdle.

Allow finished easy lemon bars recipe to fully cool before cutting into bars. A properly chilled bar will slice easily.

Storage and Freeze

Lemon Bar Cheesecake squares should be stored in refrigerator for up to one week. Best if enjoyed within 2-4 days. Always keep bars sealed in an air tight container

Freeze. I do not recommend freezing these Lemon Cheesecake Bars because of the cream cheese. Cream Cheese tends to turn grainy when frozen.

Substitutions

I'm always asked about substitutions, so I'll try to give my best advice should you want or need to substitute any ingredient.

Fresh Lemon Juice. Yes, it does make a difference. To me, it's well worth the time to squeeze a large lemon and zest it too. The fresh lemon flavor is fantastic. But you could use bottled lemon juice. I won't tell anyone.

White Chocolate Chips. I love the rich flavor white chocolate adds to this recipe. You can choose to leave out this ingredient if you wish.

Rodelle and La Tourangelle

Both Rodelle and La Tourangelle are sponsors for #Lemonweek and I have loved using both their products this week in my recipes. Using quality extract in your recipes makes all the difference. Don't skimp on this simple ingredient but purchase your extracts through a reputable source.

For me, I love the flavor of Rodelle Vanilla Extract and how it compliments this recipe so nicely. Mmmm, it's just so good.

La Tourangelle is the maker of quality Baking Spray. I bake a lot and I love how well their cooking spray works to keep things from sticking to pans while baking. They pride themselves on producing exceptional products for the kitchen.

Make sure to leave me a comment and rate this recipe if you have given it a try. I'll apologize in advance because I know how tempting this easy dessert is and I know you secretly ate the entire pan by yourself without sharing. It's okay. We all have those days.

Wednesday #LemonWeek Recipes

• Lemon Curd Layer Cake by Fresh April Flours
• Lemon Poke Cake by Blogghetti
• Lemonade Cake by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Crepes with Lemon Curd and Mascarpone by Art Of Natural Living
• Braided Lemon Bread with Blackberries by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Chicken Costoletta by Cheese Curd In Paradise
• Lemon Lush by Devour Dinner
• Lemon Cheesecake Bars by Best Cookie Recipes
• Lemon Pudding Cake by The Freshman Cook
• Lemon Cheesecake Bombs by Simply Inspired Meals
• One Pot Lemon Garlic Pasta Recipe by The Fresh Cooky
• Lemon Loaf Cake by A Day In The Life On The Farm
• Glazed Lemon Poppy Seed Pudding Cookies by The Spiffy Cookie
• Lemon Blueberry Crumb Bars by An Affair From The Heart
• Mini Lemon Cheesecakes by Kathryn’s Kitchen Blog
• Lemon Sorbet by Jen Around The World
• Lemon Blueberry Waffles by Lemon Blossoms
• Lemon White Chocolate Chip Cookies by Home Cooked Harvest
• Lemon Rosemary Marmalade by That Recipe
• Lemon Crepes by The Redhead Baker
• Glazed Lemon Bundt Cake by Jonesin’ For A Taste
• Lemon Coriander Soup by Magical Ingredients