My lemon cheesecake bars are sweet, cool and irresistibly good on a warm summer day. The citrus flavor from fresh lemon juice and curd sings when paired with cream cheese and a crisp vanilla cookie crust. This recipe uses store-bought lemon curd, cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk as its base so it’s simple to make. It can be made ahead and is delicious with a swirl of whipped cream.
My husband and oldest daughter both love cheesecake, while my younger daughter and I are more partial to lemon desserts. So there’s something for everyone in our family to love about this new recipe. These bars are lighter than a traditional cheesecake with the all the bright citrus flavor of a lemon tart.
Lemon Cheesecake Bars
Vanilla Cookie Crust
- 2 cups Nilla wafer crumbs
- 1 stick of butter melted
- 1/4 cup of powdered sugar
Lemon Cheesecake Filling
- 1 (8oz) plain cream cheese bar, room temperature
- 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup lemon curd
- 3 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/2 cup whipping cream
Whipped Cream Topping
- 2 cups whipping cream
- 4 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 lemon for decorative slices
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Then line a 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper and the lightly spray it with butter flavored cooking spray. The paper will make it easy to lift the bars to of the pan so they can be cut and decorated.
Take the Nilla wafers and place them in a food processor and pulse until they are fine crumbs or alternatively place them in a large zip top bag and crush them with a rolling pen.
In a medium sized bowl mix together the Nilla wafer crumbs, powdered sugar and melted butter. Spread the cookie crumb mixture evenly in the bottom of the square baking dish. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until golden. Allow the crust to cool while making the cheesecake filling.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or in large bowl with a hand mixer cream the cream cheese on medium speed for a minute. Add the condensed milk and lemon curd and lemon zest. Add the lemon juice a little at a time. Continue to mix on medium until they come together. Then add the whipping cream. Beat on high speed for about 5 to 6 minutes or until the mixture thickens.
Pour the lemon cream cheese filling on top of the cookie crust and spread evenly with a separated spatula or butter knife. Let the cheesecake bars chill in the fridge for 3 to 4 hours before cutting.
Once the bars have chilled lift the dessert out of the pan using the parchment paper. Cut the dessert into 2½ inch squares.
Next make the whipping cream using a stand or hand mixer. In the bowl of the mixer add the whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla. Whip at high speed until stiff peaks form.
Using a piping bag with a large star tip decorate the tops with decorative stars or swirls of whipped cream. Then top with lemon slice twists and lemon zest sprinkles.
These cool and creamy lemon cheesecake bars make a wonderful summer treat. The whipped cream swirls make them as pretty as a patisserie tart, but they would be just as delectable with even layer of whipped creamed spread on top.
