Cherry Cheesecake Bars are delicious and easy, no bake bars. They have a simple graham cracker crust topped with a cheesecake layer. Cherry pie filling is featured on top.
We’re pretty crazy about these no bake Cherry Cheesecake Bars! This is such an easy recipe to make, and it’s the perfect pretty dessert for Valentine’s Day. It’s also a good one for a party or a potluck. Much like my No Bake Oreo Cheesecake Bars, this is the kind of dessert that people love to eat! These cheesecake bars are creamy and delicious.
Ingredients needed:
- graham crackers
- salted butter
- granulated white sugar
- cream cheese
- half and half cream
- powdered sugar
- vanilla extract
- cinnamon
- honey
- cherry pie filling
How to make Graham Cracker Crumbs:
You can find graham cracker crumbs at most grocery stores. They’re usually sold in the baking aisle. If you have whole graham crackers to use instead, you can easily crush them into crumbs. Use a food processor to pulverize the graham crackers into crumbs, or put the graham crackers into a large zip baggie and use a heavy object or rolling pin to crush them.
How to make Cherry Cheesecake Bars:
Since these are no bake bars, they are so simple to make! The crust is made up of graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar. Press the graham cracker crust into a parchment-lined square pan and refrigerate.
Meanwhile, you can prepare the filling for your cherry cheesecake bars. This cheesecake filling does not contain egg, so it’s easy to make it a no-bake cheesecake recipe! Cream cheese is combined with powdered sugar, half and half, honey, vanilla, salt and cinnamon. The filling is spread over the graham cracker crust. At this point, the cheesecake bars need to be refrigerated. They need time to become firm. An overnight chill is ideal, but 2 hours should do the trick.
After these cherry cheesecake bars have had time to become firm, cut them into bars. Place them on your serving platter and top each with a spoonful of cherry pie filling. Put them into the refrigerator to chill again. You want the filling to have a chilled consistency too.
Ingredient substitution suggestions:
- graham crackers: substitute vanilla wafers or shortbread cookies
- salted butter: substitute unsalted butter with 1/4 teaspoon salt
- half and half cream: substitute cream or whole milk
- cherry pie filling: substitute another variety of pie filling
- honey: substitute with maple syrup or agave syrup
How do you store Cherry Cheesecake Bars?
Cover the bars and store them in the refrigerator for up to serve within 5 days. These bars won’t freeze well.
If you like this recipe, you might also like to try my No Bake Bailey’s Chocolate Cheesecake or this Strawberry Shortcake Icebox Cake.
Cherry Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
CRUST:
- 1¾ cups graham cracker crumbs (or 1 package graham crackers)
- 6 tablespoons salted butter, melted
- 2½ tablespoons granulated white sugar
CHEESECAKE:
- Two 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ¼ cup half and half cream
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
TOPPING:
- One 21-ounce can cherry pie filling
Instructions
PREPARE THE CRUST:
- Spray an 8x8-inch pan with nonstick spray, and then line it with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar. Stir to combine. Press the crust into the bottom of the prepared pan. Place in the refrigerator to chill. Alternately, if you have purchased whole graham crackers, use a food processor to combine the 3 ingredients.
ADD THE FILLING AND TOPPING:
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar, half and half, honey, vanilla extract, salt and cinnamon. Beat until smooth and creamy.
- Pour the cream cheese mixture over the crust in the baking pan. Smooth it out as best you can and then set it aside in the refrigerator to chill and set for a least 2 hours.
- Cut the cheesecake into bars and move them to a serving platter. Spoon cherry pie filling on top of each bar and refrigerate again for at least one hour until ready to serve. These bars are best when served cold.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
