Best Ever Strawberry Cheesecake Bars
One of my favorite childhood breakfasts was a toasted bagel with cream cheese and strawberry jam. I took that same concept and made bars. And these bars definitely beat my bagel memories. Sorry, bagels. I called upon my trusty blondie base for these very soft, slightly chewy, buttery bars that are topped with tangy cream cheese and sweet strawberry jam. It’s an easy, fuss-free, one-bowl, no-mixer base and with 25+ versions and counting, it never lets me down. Over the years I’ve customized it with anything from Oreos to M&Ms to pumpkin and here there’s cream cheese and jam. The bars are dense, ultra soft, and the taste contrast of the buttery bars, a cheesecake-inspired topping, and strawberry jam swirled throughout is just incredible.
Ingredients in Strawberry Cheesecake Bars
To make this easy recipe for strawberry cheesecake bars, you’ll need:
Unsalted butter Egg Light brown sugar Vanilla extract All-purpose flour Salt Cream cheese Granulated sugar Strawberry jam or preserves
How to Make Strawberry Cheesecake Bars
An entire slice of cheesecake is generally too rich for me but bars topped with just a thin layer of it, minus the work of having to make a cheesecake, a total win-win. Here’s how the bars are made:
Can This Recipe Be Doubled?
Very easily! Simply double the ingredients for this recipe for strawberry cheesecake bars and bake in a 9×13-inch pan.
Can I Use Lite Cream Cheese?
Yes, lite or low-fat cream cheese will work so long as it’s the kind you buy in a brick. Do NOT buy any type of cream cheese spread that’s sold in a tub.
Tips for Making Strawberry Cheesecake Bars
You need to use brick-style cream cheese for this recipe. Anything that comes in a tub will be too soft for the cheesecake layer. Feel free to use strawberry jam, jelly, or preserves. Any of those options will work. For a different take on this recipe, use a different flavor of jam altogether!
More Easy Cheesecake Bars:
Crème Brûlée Cheesecake Bars – EASY bars that taste like crème brûlée met a cheesecake on the way to the oven with a sugar cookie crust!! Rich, sinfully decadent, and a great make-ahead dessert for parties and events!! Tried this recipe? Leave a review! Consider leaving a 5 star rating if you’ve made and loved one of my recipes!
Death by Chocolate No-Bake Cheesecake Bars — Only for serious chocoholics because they’re rich, creamy, decadent, and loaded with chocolate!! NO-BAKE and an easy MAKE-AHEAD dessert!!
Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars— These caramel apple cheesecake bars feature a buttery crust that’s topped with cheesecake and spiced apples. After they’re done baking, the bars are drizzled with salted caramel sauce!
Butterscotch Cheesecake Bars — A super chewy crust made with butterscotch chips and graham cracker crumbs that also doubles as the topping!! The silky smooth tangy cheesecake layer is the PERFECT contrast! A simple recipe that FAR EXCEEDED expectations!!
Salted Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars — These bars are full of the flavors of fall! The soft yet dense apple cheesecake layer tops a crisp, brown sugar-graham cracker crust, while gooey, salted caramel drenches the top. Yum!!
Peanut Butter-Swirled Cheesecake Bars — Easy, one-bowl, no-mixer recipe for cheesecake bars with peanut butter swirls!
