These Red White and Blueberry Cheesecake Bars are lightened up a bit. They’re the perfect dessert recipe to make in the summer with fresh berries!
Sometimes you just need a quick dessert to make and bring to a small gathering with friends. That’s how this recipe came to be. My husband and I are always (sometimes) watching our calories, and I tried my best to make this one a little bit more diet conscious.
Let me begin to describe these Red White and Blueberry Cheesecake Bars for you. They start with a classic graham cracker crust (crumbs + butter) that is pressed into a pan lined with parchment paper. I use regular crumbs for this recipe because I prefer to buy the box of crumbs that are already crumbed and ready to measure, but you can certainly buy low fat graham crackers and cut the fat a little bit more. That just means you’ll need to whir them in your food processor to create crumbs yourself. The crumb crust does not need to be baked before adding the filling.
The filling is (kind of) typical of your classic cheesecake filling in that it begins with (low fat) cream cheese, sugar and eggs. A little milk and cornstarch is added in to help it set. Lemon juice is added in too.
The cheesecake batter will be thinner than you’re used to. You might be worried that it won’t bake into firm cheesecake bars but no worries necessary.After you pour the batter onto the crumb crust, you’ll drop all of the fresh berries on top.
When it comes out of the oven, I like to place it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours until it is well chilled. Then I grab the parchment paper and lift the whole thing out of the pan and transfer it to a cutting board. You can see from the photo above that the edges brown up in the baking process. I just take a large, sharp knife and cut off the edges before I cut them into squares. Then you get to eat the edges!
And there they are! Nice, clean cut edges and super pretty to boot. These creamy Red White and Blueberry Cheesecake Bars are the perfect summery dessert. You might try serving them at your 4th of July party or other barbecues you’ll be having all summer long!
If you are looking for more summer dessert recipes, you might also enjoy trying my Red White and Blue Finger Jello or this S’Mores Ice Cream Cake. A Strawberry Trifle or a Frozen Snickers Pie are also delicious choices!
If you happen to be following the Weight Watchers WW plan, you’ll find a link to the WW Points on the recipe card below
Red, White and Blueberry Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
CRUST:
- 1½ cups graham cracker crumbs
- 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted
FILLING:
- 12 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
- ¼ cup granulated white sugar
- 3 large eggs
- ¼ cup 1% milk
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 cup fresh raspberries
- ¾ cup fresh blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8-inch pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Spray lightly with cooking spray.
PREPARE THE CRUST:
- In a small bowl, mix crumbs and melted butter. Press mixture firmly into the bottom of the prepared pan.
PREPARE THE FILLING:
- In a large bowl, use and electric mixer to combine the cream cheese and sugar. Mix in the eggs. Place the milk in a small bowl, and slowly whisk in the cornstarch, whisking until smooth. Add the milk/cornstarch and lemon juice to the bowl and mix again until it is blended and creamy.
- Pour the filling mixture on top of the crumb crust. Scatter raspberries and blueberries on top. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until touch to center feels slightly firm and set.
- Cool completely (I like to refrigerate for a couple hours) before cutting. Use foil or parchment to lift the cheesecake out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Use a thin, sharp knife to cut into clean-looking bars (wiping blade clean with a paper towel between cuts). If you want every single bar to have clean cuts all around, cut off the browned edges of the whole thing before cutting into 16 bars. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
When making the cheese filling, beat in eggs one at a time. If this is not done, the filling separates, lumps up and curdles and the whole dessert ends up a disaster. The directions say to put all ingredients for the filling in a food processor or blender and blend. DO NOT do this. The recipe also says DO NOT overbeat. Very confusing. Won’t make this dessert again. The problem may also be the addition of cornstarch which seems strange to me for a cheese filling.
Hmmm- I’m sorry you had trouble with it…read all of the previous comments.
Make sure to make cornstarch paste before, otherwise you get lumps. Found out the hard way. Hopefully the lump will bake out??
Made these for our 4th party. LOVED THEM!!! I love cheesecake and these were no exception! I did not add the zest…just the lemon juice. WONDERFUL and pretty! Will definitely make these again!
YUM!! I added this to my list of recommended holiday selections and will definatley make them and refeature them. thank you@
Thanks for the recipe…just found your page. These look amazing and I can’t wait to try them 🙂
These bars are definately pleasing to the eye and easier to make than a whole cheesecake. We liked them.
I made the bars tonight without the fruit. They were delicious but a bit too lemon-y. Next time I will try the squares without the lemon juice and zest.
What a great idea, RecipeGirl! I love how beautiful these bars are, and they’re more practical than a whole cheesecake for outdoor get-togethers. Thanks for the recipe!
this is so pretty and looks easy to make too.
My husband’s favorite dessert is cheesecake, so we made the Red, White and Blueberry Cheesecake Bars for Father’s Day Dessert! YUM! Everyone loved them! Easy and delicious!