With each easy homemade layer of creamy and fruity Strawberry Cheesecake Bars, your friends and family are sure to taste the time and love!
Luscious cream cheese has never had a best friend quite like sweet strawberries, and the two together make a dessert no one can turn down! Each layer, from the graham cracker crust to the cheesecake, the strawberries, and lastly the oatmeal crumble is homemade. Which makes these Strawberry Cheesecake Bars a decadent treat the whole family will rave about.
Amazing Layers
I love baking but I’m not always pumped to cook for hours and sometimes I want to eat my dessert pretty quickly. Strawberry Cheesecake Bars are the perfect compromise- each layer is so easy to make and between the baking and the time in the refrigerator, there’s not much I have to do and then I get to eat them! I mean, I get to share them with the family, who also really love these bars. The layers have the perfect amount of sweet and buttery flavors and the combination of cream cheese and strawberries is possibly the best pairing in the history of desserts!
Other Recipes to Serve with Strawberry Cheesecake Bars
- Sometimes having a really delicious cocktail while baking is a perfect choice and since you already have the strawberries out, why not mix up a Spiked Strawberry Lemonade?
- Keep the strawberry party going with Strawberry Shortcake Kabobs! These are simple to make and are super fun to eat!
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Crust: For this crust, all you need are graham crackers, sugar, and a stick of salted butter.
Cheesecake: Softened cream cheese, an egg, sugar, and vanilla extract are all you need for this layer.
Strawberry Filling: For the strawberry layer, you will need fresh strawberries, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. You will also need brown sugar and cornstarch.
Oatmeal Crumble Topping: For the topping, you will need old-fashioned oats, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and unsalted butter.
How to Make Strawberry Cheesecake Bars
STEP ONE: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 9×9 pan with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray. In a food processor, blend the graham crackers until they are fine crumbs. In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter and mix. Press the graham cracker mix into the prepared pan and bake for 8 minutes.
STEP TWO: To make the cheesecake, beat the cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract together in a mixing bowl until it’s smooth. Set the bowl aside for now.
STEP THREE: In a medium pot, cook the strawberries and lemon juice for a few minutes and then add the cornstarch and sugar mixture. When the strawberry mix resembles pie filling you can take the pot off the heat and begin to assemble the oatmeal crumble. In a large bowl, combine the oatmeal, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and cold cubes of butter, and press the ingredients together until you have a coarse crumble.
STEP FOUR: To assemble the bars, pour the cheesecake filling over the baked graham cracker crust and spread evenly. Next, top the cheesecake with the strawberry filling spreading it edge to edge. Top everything with the oatmeal crumble and then bake for 50-70 minutes.
STEP FIVE: Once the bars are done, let them cool for 30-60 minutes, and then place them in the refrigerator for a couple of hours or even better, overnight. When the bars are nice and cold they can be cut into squares and served.
Tips for Success
- Using parchment paper makes getting the bars out of the pan super easy. Once the bars have chilled, you can simply lift them out of the pan and slice. If you don’t have parchment paper you can coat the pan with cooking spray for baking and serve the bars right from the pan when everything is fully chilled.
- The cheesecake bars do need to go back into the fridge after sitting out for two hours, to prevent melting and spoiling.
- These Strawberry Cheesecake Bars will store well in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days after baking.
Can I freeze Strawberry Cheesecake Bars?
These cheesecake bars can absolutely be frozen after they have been made. Place the pan of cheesecake bars in the freezer and once they are frozen, take them out of the pan (if you haven’t already) and wrap them in tin foil. Pop the tin foil package into a freezer bag and seal tightly. The bars will store for about 2 months and when you’re ready for them, simply let them thaw at room temperature and enjoy.
Can I use frozen strawberries?
You sure can use frozen strawberries! Strawberry Cheesecake Bars are so good, they have to be a year round dessert so sometimes you’ll have to whip out the frozen strawberries but that’s ok because they taste great in this recipe too!
There’s so much more cheesecake to love!
- No Bake Cherry Cheesecake
- Sopapilla Cheesecake
- Oreo Mini Cheesecakes
- Strawberry Cheesecake Lasagna
- Raspberry Cheesecake Bites
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 15 crackers)
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ¼ cup butter melted
Cheesecake
- 16 ounces cream cheese softened
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Strawberry Filling
- 3 cups strawberries hulled and chopped
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
Oatmeal Crumble
- 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons cold butter diced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9-inch × 9-inch baking pan with parchment paper and set aside. (see note)
- Combine graham cracker crumbs and sugar in a medium bowl and stir together. Pour the melted butter into the bowl and mix until evenly combined.
- Transfer the crust mixture to the prepared baking pan and gently press the mixture into the bottom of the pan in an even layer. Bake for 8 minutes.
- While the crust is baking beat together the cheesecake ingredients in a medium bowl until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
- Add the strawberries and lemon juice to a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat for 5 to 7 minutes until the strawberries burst and juice starts to form.
- In a separate bowl, combine the brown sugar and cornstarch. Then stir it into the strawberry mixture and cook for an additional 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Once the mixture has thickened and resembles pie filling, remove from heat. Set aside.
- Make the oatmeal crumble by combining the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Use a pastry cutter or a fork to cut the butter into the mixture until it resembles tiny pebbles.
- To Assemble: Pour the cheesecake mixture over the baked crust and spread into an even layer. Top the cheesecake mixture with the strawberry sauce, carefully spreading it out over the cheesecake. Sprinkle the oatmeal crumble all over the top of the strawberry layer.
- Bake for 50 to 70 minutes, until the top of the crumble is golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 to 60 minutes. Then transfer the bars to the refrigerator to cool for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight, before slicing into 9 squares.
Notes
- Lining your baking pan with parchment paper makes removing the bars from the pan really easy after they’ve chilled. If you don’t have parchment paper, you can spray the pan with non-stick cooking spray instead and serve them right from the baking dish.
- Leftover bars should be covered and will keep for 3 to 4 days in the fridge.
Stephanie says
I just made this recipe and honestly the pan was full right up to the top. I baked it and now have it in the fridge. I’m wondering if it should be made in a 9×13 pan. This looks very thick and I’m worried about it being baked through the center!
Nelson Leach says
Way too SWEET! I can barely eat this because it’s so sugary. I’d recommend reducing the sugar by half to three quarters. Also leave out the cinnamon in the oats. Other than that it was easy to make and tasted good.
Angie says
This was a sloppy mess. Baking it in a 9 x 13 pan would have made a lot more sense. It overflowed while baking and never fully set in the fridge. I was too embarrassed to bring this to a get together and had to pick up a store bought cake. Total waste of time and money.
Sam says
Fabulous! Added a little more lemon and it was still great
Kathy Sullivan says
My grand daughter and I just made this. Waiting for it to cool I can tell its going to be marvelous.
Leah says
“It’s fresh strawberry season, and this recipe was perfect for using up all those extra strawberries. I used an 8×8 dish with tall sides and have included lots of tips below. Overall, it’s a simple recipe, but you need to read all the steps in advance because it comes together quickly.
I didn’t need quite as many graham crackers because of my smaller pan. If you like a crumbly crust, this is perfect. If you want a firmer crust, I would suggest a bit more butter to hold it together better. If you use an 8×8 dish, make sure the sides are TALL. It will look like it’s overflowing out of the oven, but it will all settle as it cools. I baked it at 350°F for 50 minutes, let it cool for about 2-ish hours before putting it in the fridge overnight.
I only had lime juice on hand, and it worked just fine. I also accidentally added a tad more vanilla extract, which didn’t seem to bother anything either. Personally, I think I could take or leave the oatmeal crumble.
If you are going to make this, I suggest getting everything prepped beforehand, before turning the oven on. Get the bottom crust made and in the pan, get your strawberries and juice on the stove, and make your cheesecake filling. THEN turn on your oven to preheat and the stovetop for the strawberries.
kimberly ann Senio says
Made this on Saturday and they were amazing! I would definately make it agsin and reccomend to friends amd family! Can they be frozen?
Rozalyn says
Can frozen strawberrys be used instead of fresh?
Kendra says
You would maybe just need to add more cornstarch since the frozen berries hold more water… but I think you could with this recipe!
Christi says
Did everything to spec and strawberry filling came up through oat crumble and I lost the topping
Tracy says
Same thing here. I won’t be tasting until later. I hope it tastes good at least, since it took forever to make