Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars
It’s no secret that I am an unadulterated cheesecake fanatic. If it’s on a menu, I can’t turn it down. It’s my birthday cake of choice, and I’ll come up with the most obscure excuses to bake one up at home. I love trying new varieties when out, and experimenting with new recipes when at home. If there ever happens to be time when I don’t want to make a full-blown cheesecake, I’ve found cheesecake bars to be a more than acceptable substitute. In some cases, they’re (gasp) even better. You can pick them up and eat them without a plate and a fork, and you don’t feel nearly as guilty if you eat multiple pieces (I speak from experience, of course). In the past, I’ve whipped up Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars, Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Squares, and Eggnog Cheesecake Bars, all of which were amazing. With summer on our doorstep, I was salivating just thinking about the bright, fresh flavors of cheesecake bars loaded with lemon and blueberries. Cheesecake is my favorite dessert, and blueberries are absolutely my favorite fruit, which makes them a match made in heaven!
Last Sunday, my mom and I had a marathon garden-planting day, which included a 2-hour trip to Lowe’s. We had a list of plants we definitely wanted to buy, and then, of course, we impulse-shopped like nobody’s business. Among those impulse purchases? A beautiful blueberry plant. Although berries grow wild around many parts of the area we live in, I’ve never attempted to actually grow fruit myself. All of those little budding blueberries were too much to resist, and I snatched it up faster than a cute pair of shoes. Hopefully in a couple of months I can walk out onto the deck and grab the blueberries for my oatmeal (or my latest baking project), instead of going to the fridge and opening a plastic container!
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In the meantime, I’ll trek to the grocery store for blueberries if the end result is a plate full of cheesecake bars infused with lemon and loaded with blueberries! Hello summer!
Have any of you grown blueberries (or strawberries or blackberries) before? Any tips?
One year ago: Root Beer Float Cake
Two years ago: Classic Lemonade
Three years ago: Chocolate Chip Cookie-Topped Brownies
Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 9 graham crackers, broken into pieces
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- Pinch ground cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the Filling:
- 16 ounces (453.59 g) cream cheese, room temperature
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- Zest and juice of 2 lemons
- 1½ cups (222 g) fresh blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9x9-inch baking pan with butter. Line the pan with parchment paper, letting excess hang over the sides of the pan.
- Make the Crust: In a food processor, process the graham crackers, sugar, and cinnamon until you have the texture of bread crumbs. Add the melted butter and pulse a couple of times to fully incorporate. Press the mixture into the lined baking pan and gently pat down evenly. Bake for 12 minutes, until golden. Set aside to cool.
- Make the Filling: Wipe out the food processor. Add the cream cheese, sugar, eggs, lemon zest and lemon juice. Process until well combined. It should have a smooth consistency. Pour the filling onto the cooled crust and then sprinkle the blueberries over top. The blueberries will sink slightly, but should still be half exposed. As they bake, they will sink a little more and break down.
- Bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until the center only slightly jiggles. Remove from the oven and cool completely to room temperature and then refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving. Once set, remove from pan using the parchment lining and slice into 16 square bars.
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Love these flavors, Michelle!
This cheesecake looks so springy and fresh! And I am not even close to the cheesecake lover that you are, but I do love the graham cracker crust and would love the bursts of flavor from the blueberries in this one!
Blueberry and lemon? Sounds like the perfect summer treat and the thing that will make me the most popular person at the bbq this weekend :)
These look like a perfect Memorial day treat! Maybe add a strawberry drizzle for a touch of red…super festive! Thanks for the great recipe!
Just found your website – it is great! Will be trying these today – my husband is a huge fan of all things cheesecake and blueberry!
These look amazing! Love lemon and blueberry together.
Who could resist one of those – honestly? Have a great weekend!
I agree, I’m quite the cheesecake fanatic too! These are SO good! I made Tyler’s cheesecake bars (http://www.epicureanmom.com/2011/09/lemon-blueberry-cheesecake-bars.html) and got RAVE reviews! They are incredible.
My hubby is an avid gardener. When we plant strawberries mulch is a must and pine needles laid down all around the plants. It may not be visually appealing but it helps keep the snails away organically; rather then using chemicals :)
Have you ever had blueberry grunt, or is that more of an eastern Canadian thing?
Hi Vicki, I have never heard of blueberry grunt! I just did a quick Google search and it looks sort of like a cobbler that you make on the stove? It looks delicious! I need to try it!
It’s delicious! I think it’s an Acadian recipe here in Nova Scotia, and I’m pretty sure it gets its name from the sound of the blueberries boiling on the stove top. My grandmother was Acadian, and always insisted that it be made with wild blueberries. Some places will bake it and call it a grunt, but the stovetop method is essential for the traditional recipe.
Great dessert bar for summer!
These bars are definitely welcoming summer! Love the flavor combination in cheesecake form!
With the price of blueberries out here I would love to grow my own!
These look absolutely delicious and quite easy- perfect for summer!
A few years ago I planted a scraggily, little raspberry bush. The results have been a happy accident. I’m not much of a gardener. I gave it a tomato cage to climb and that’s about it. I don’t even water regularly. I wish I had planted it in a better spot with more room (I put it in a corner of the yard) because that thing has gone crazy. I get a ton of fruit from that one bush. It does get full sun.
I’m a cheesecake lover too and lemon + blueberry is my absolute favorite summer combination!
I actually haven’t done these as bars, but I HAVE done the Tyler Florence recipe for his Cheesecake – I recognized it immediately! It is FANTASTIC!
Now these bars are perfect for any summer party, I love the combo of citrus and berries!
This is a yummy recipe! Made it for the first time a few weeks ago. Making it again this weekend for barbeque at my aunt’s.
Last year I planted three Duke blueberry plants. Between the plants, peat moss & paying someone to dig the holes, I had almost $100 invested. Then the birds ate the berries – I got ONE blueberry. This year I spent $30 on bird netting & it seems to be working – I’m going to pick the first berries today & maybe I’ll get a pint this year. But I’m heading to TX for the weekend so the critters may decimate the rest of the crop while I’m gone. Maybe I’ll recoup my costs over 20 years. I now understand the frustration that farmers feel.
Cheesecake is also my favorite dessert, but I eat it maybe once a year. If I make it, I’ll eat the whole thing. But these bars are calling my name. Have a great holiday weekend.
Looks wonderful! I love blueberries on top! Great recipe!!
I love blueberries! We grew blueberries when I was a child, so I can’t offer any planting/taking care of advice, but good luck! These cheesecake bars look great, and I can’t wait to test it out.
I have grown blueberries and I know that you need to have at least 2 varieties for them to cross pollinate. There are different varieties that bloom in early, mid and late summer. Blueberries need acidic soil and should only be pruned when the plants are over three years old. The plants need to be pruned to provide good air circulation ( helps prevent disease) as well as to keep the fruit from getting small and inferior. Good luck!!!!
Mmm I love cheesecake in all forms!
Michelle, I saw this recipe just after reading an email from a local blueberry farmer letting me know their blueberries will be ready in a week. What timing!
I love lemon and blueberry together…and with cheesecake incorporated into the mix you can’t go wrong!
These look so amazing! We are growing some strawberries right now and they are doing beautifully so far. You just have to pick them as soon as they start to get ripe so they don’t spoil. I would love to try growing blueberries!
We just planted our 4 blueberry bushes last weekend- they were also an impulse buy with all the little tiny blueberry buds on them. I also can’t wait until they ripen! :) I will have to add this to my list of to-do this summer once they are ripe! ;)
I’ve been craving cheesecake like nobody’s business, and I actually have all these ingredients on hand!! I’m definitely making it this weekend, looks delicious! Good luck with your blueberry plant :)
between you and Naomi’s posts tonight, blueberry cheesecake is a hot ticket. This looks awesome!
You’re killing me here Miss Michelle! We just went blueberry picking last week and I picked 6 pints of the biggest, sweetest blueberries ever! Now I’ll have to get some lemons from the trees and make these little ditties. My new mixer is gonna get a workout! Yay!!