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Don’t wait for the holidays to enjoy cranberries. These Cranberry Cheesecake Bars are delicious any time of year.
This recipe is a little late for Thanksgiving this year but it is just in time for the holiday baking season.
Cranberry Cheesecake Bars will make a great addition to any holiday party or holiday cookie plate you may be putting together in December. They are yummy!
This recipe is a combination of two of my favorite bar cookie recipes. The cream cheese layer from my lemon cheesecake bars and the crust and topping from the yummy sour cream apple bars. I added a cranberry layer and created a whole new yummy bar cookie.
They got two thumbs up from my husband and my friends who tried them and I loved them too. I added brown sugar into the whole cranberries to sweeten them up a bit and a little cornstarch to thicken it. It makes a lovely surprise in between the cream cheese layer and the crunchy topping. Why do we only enjoy cranberries between Thanksgiving and Christmas? I think they are worthy of year round enjoyment!
So if you are like me and have a can of whole cranberries lurking on your pantry shelf because you always forget to pull it out for Thanksgiving, you are good to go. If not, go out and buy one and give these yummy bars a try. You won’t be sorry – I promise. Trust me on this one!!
Other favorite bar cookie recipes:
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Cranberry Cheesecake Bar Recipe
Cranberry Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 C butter softened
- 1 C firmly packed brown sugar
- 2 C uncooked quick cooking oats
- 1 C flour
- 1 C chopped pecans
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp allspice
Cheesecake Layer:
- 8 oz. cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 Tbsp. milk
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Cranberry Layer:
- 16 oz. can whole cranberry sauce
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp corn starch
Instructions
Crust:
- Heat oven to 350 degrees
- Combine butter and brown sugar in large bowl
- Beat at medium speed until creamy
- Add remaining crust ingredients and beat until well mixed
- Press HALF of crust mixture onto bottom of ungreased 13 x 9 pan
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until light golden brown
- While baking make cheesecake layer
Cheesecake Layer:
- Combine the cream cheese layer ingredients; mix well
- Also put together the cranberry layer.(see below)
- Gently pour the cream cheese filling over the hot, partially baked crust
- Gently spoon cranberry layer over the top of the cream cheese layer
- Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture over the top and gently press down
- Bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes or until top is golden brown
Cranberry Layer:
- Mix all ingredients together
- Spoon over cream cheese layer
Janet says
For the canned cranberry sauce, you mean the whole berries sauce, not the jellied sauce, correct? Thank you!