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.
Servings: 16
Ingredients
Sugar Cookie Crust
- ½ Cup Butter Softened
- ½ Cup Granulated Sugar 100g
- ½ Cup Powdered Sugar 65g
- ¼ Cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 Egg Large
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ teaspoon Cream of Tartar
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- 2 Cup All Purpose Flour 240g
- ⅓ Cup White Chocolate Chips
Cheesecake Layer
- 8 ounces Cream Cheese
- 1 Egg Large
- ¾ Cup Granulated Sugar 150g
- ¼ Cup Lemon Juice Fresh
- 2 Tablespoons Lemon Zest
Instructions
- 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.
- The mixture will turn a very pale yellow and be whipped nicely. About 3 minutes
- Gradually add egg and vegetable oil.
- Mix ingredients until combined and 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.
- Extra 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 fully cool.
- The sugar cookie crust needs to fully cool before topping with the cream cheese mixture.
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.
Notes
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. Tried this recipe?Mention @bestcookierecipes or tag #bestcookierecipes!