LEMON CHEESECAKE BARS

Lemon Cheesecake Bars are light, easy to make and only call for six ingredients. The crust is made with a lemon cake mix for an easy lemon dessert recipe with lots of lemon flavor!

Lemon Cheesecake Bars are absolutely delicious. They are the perfect balance of lemon and sweet without being too rich or overwhelming in flavor. The crust is amazing and the cheesecake filling is incredible as well. I took them to a party recently and everyone kept asking me for the recipe – they were a huge hit! There are a lot of lemon recipes out there, but this is definitely one of my favorites. And I love how easy it is to make too! Even better!

Lemon Cheesecake Bars have three layers to them. The first layer is the crust and is made with a lemon cake mix, butter and an egg. The next layer is made with powdered sugar, cream cheese, lemon juice and and an egg. Once this layer has been added to the crust, the bars are baked until the cheesecake layer is done. A very thin layer of powdered sugar, cream cheese and lemon juice is then spread on top of the baked bars. Once the bars have been refrigerated and set, they can be cut and served.

Cheesecake bars are much easier to make than traditional cheesecake. You don’t need a springform pan, you can just use a regular 9X13. Also, because the cheesecake layer is so much thinner, it takes a lot less time to bake and you don’t have to worry so much about whether the cheesecake is cooked all the way through the middle!

Ingredients in Lemon Cheesecake Bars

1 box lemon cake mix

3 eggs

1/3 cup melted butter

8 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

How to make Lemon Cheesecake Bars

Blend cake mix, 1 egg and butter together. Press in the bottom of a greased 9X13 pan.

Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and lemon juice together. Set half of the cream cheese mixture aside.

Beat 2 eggs into half of the cream cheese mixture and then pour over the cake mix crust. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes. Take out of the oven and immediately spread the reserved cream cheese mixture on top. You have to do this carefully so you don’t tear up the baked cheesecake layer, but since the bars will be hot, this layer spreads pretty easily.

Let cool to room temperature and then place in the refrigerator to set and chill (at least 2-3 hours). Cut into bars to serve.

LEMON CHEESECAKE BARS

Lemon Cheesecake Bars are light, easy to make and only call for six ingredients. The crust is made with a lemon cake mix for an easy lemon dessert recipe with lots of lemon flavor!

5 from 4 votes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: lemon cheesecake bars

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 24

Author: Jessica & Nellie

Ingredients

• 1 box lemon cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 8 oz. cream cheese softened to room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Instructions

• Blend cake mix, 1 egg and butter together. Press in the bottom of a greased 9X13 pan.
• Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and lemon juice together. Set half of the cream cheese mixture aside.
• Beat 2 eggs into half of the cream cheese mixture and then pour over the cake mix crust. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes. Take out of the oven and immediately spread the reserved cream cheese mixture on top. You have to do this carefully so you don't tear up the baked cheesecake layer, but since the bars will be hot, this layer spreads pretty easily.
• Let cool to room temperature and then place in the refrigerator to set and chill (at least 2-3 hours). Cut into bars to serve.

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How to get the juice out of a lemon

I often use bottled lemon juice in this recipe, but it’s very easy to get fresh lemon juice if you prefer! To get the juice from a lemon, I just cut the lemon in half and squeeze it really hard. You can also use a citrus press like this one to get all the juice out of the lemon.

How to zest a lemon

You can also add a little more lemon flavor to the recipe by adding some lemon zest to the cheesecake filling.

Don’t be intimidated about getting the zest from a lemon – it’s really easy! And fresh lemon zest adds such an amazing lemon flavor to recipes!

Lemon zest is just tiny pieces of the outside of the peel of a lemon. I just use the small side of a regular cheese grater – as long as the holes are tiny, it will work just fine. You can also use a citrus zester like this one if you prefer! Either way, make sure to just grate the darker yellow outer layer of the lime peel. Once you have revealed the lighter part of the peel underneath, rotate the lemon and start grating another part of the outer layer.

How do you soften cream cheese?

Cream cheese is easy to soften – you can set it out at room temperature or soften it more quickly in the microwave.

-To soften at room temperature more quickly, just set the cream cheese on a plate and cut into smaller pieces. The cream cheese should reach room temperature in about 15-20 minutes with this method.

-To soften the cream cheese in the microwave, remove the foil packaging and set the cream cheese in a small bowl or on a plate. Microwave for about 10-15 seconds. If the cream cheese is still cold and hard, continue to microwave for about 5 seconds at a time until the cream cheese is soft throughout. Just make sure not to microwave it too long or it will start to melt!

Enjoy lemon desserts? So do we! Here are more you can try:

• Easy Lemon Quick Bread
• Lemon Poke Cake
• Lemon Buttermilk Pound Cake
• Lemon Ice Box Pie
• Glazed Mini Lemon Cupcakes
• Lemon Butter Bars Recipe
• Lemon Sugar Cookies
• Lemon Raspberry Muffins
• Lemon Buttermilk Bread
• Lemon Pudding Cookies
• Lemon Lush Dessert

Lemon Cheesecake Bars begin with a lemon cake mix crust and are super easy to make! Only six ingredients are needed to make this easy lemon dessert recipe!