Lemon Cheesecake Bars

Craving something lemony? Or are you dreaming of cheesecake? Well here you’ll get the best of both worlds!

The bottom crust has the addition of coconut, followed by a layer of smooth cream cheese, topped with tangy lemon pie filling.

If you are pressed for time, just use a box of lemon pie filling instead of making it from scratch, also canned pie filling works just as good. But,if you’re feeling ambitious, I have a recipe for lemon pie filling at my post for Lemon Meringue Pie.

Print Recipe

Lemon Cheesecake Bars

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Keyword: banana muffins, bars, cheese cake, coconut, lemon, squares

Servings: 12

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1 ½ cups graham wafer crumbs
• ⅓ cup butter melted
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• ½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes

Cream cheese layer:

• 2 packages cream cheese, 250 grams each softened at room temperature
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 2 large eggs

Topping:

• 1 box of lemon pie filling or canned filling should make roughly 2- 3 cups

Instructions

Crust:

• Melt butter and mix well with graham crumbs, sugar and coconut. If omitting coconut, replace with equal amount of graham crumbs.
• Press crust into a 13 x 9 inch pan that has been lined with parchment paper. Bake in a preheated oven at 325°F for 10 minutes. Remove from oven.

Cream Cheese Filling:

• On medium speed, mix softened cream cheese, sugar, lemon zest and eggs until well blended and not lumpy.
• Pour cream cheese filling over the baked graham crumb crust and bake at 325°F for 35 minutes or until center is almost set. Remove from oven and let cool.
• Prepare lemon pie filling according to package directions, when lukewarm spread over the cheese cake and refrigerate a couple hours.

  If using ready made lemon pie filling from a can: Open can and spread filling over cheesecake.

  Once the cheesecake bars have set, cut into 12 squares or smaller.

Decoration:

• Decorate by sprinkling coconut, slivered almonds, or grated lemon peel