Lemon Cheesecake Bars are amazing! These babies are going to become your favorite lemon bar ever!!
Today’s recipe for Lemon Cheesecake Bars is a favorite of my family and just about everyone who tries it. It is a not to be missed recipe, so if you like lemon you need to make these bars!
I recently made them for the Tea Party Bridal Shower I hosted. Because every good tea party should have a good lemon bar. Lemon Cheesecake Bars are not your ordinary lemon bar though. They are something special. A layer of cheesecake like filling takes these lemon bars far and above your regular old lemon bar.
How to make Lemon Cheesecake Bars
First, you make a shortbread like base. After baking it, you cover it with a cheesecake layer and bake again. Next, you add the lemon layer on top. Pour this layer gently! As you will see from my photograph I wasn’t gentle and it caused the cheesecake layer to separate. But they still taste fabulous! 
After the final layer is baked give it a nice generous sprinkle of powdered sugar to hide any flaws and just to make it look pretty!
I received this recipe from one of my wonderful blog readers. When Rachel shared it with me, she promised me they would become my new favorite lemon recipe. And boy was she was right. The cheesecake layer makes for a much creamier and yummier lemon bar!
Best Tools for Making Lemon Cream Cheese Bars
Because I love lemons so much and cook and bake with them a lot having the right lemon tools is important.
I want to tell you about two kitchen tools you are going to need if you are going to work with lemons. These are essential for lemon cheesecake bars and any of your favorite lemon recipes.
First – the microplaner. I love this tool. It is a long, small grater type tool. You use it to “zest” a lemon which basically means grating the lemon rind. Fresh lemon zest adds great flavor to recipes.
Second – you will need a lemon juicer. I use this handy little hand juicer – it quickly and easily squeezes all the juice out of the lemon. I got mine for a couple of dollars at Ikea but both of these tools can be found at any kitchen shop or even Target.
You are going to want to use fresh lemon juice, not that fake stuff that comes in the green bottle at the grocery store for the recipes I will share with you so get juicing!
Check out these delicious lemon recipes: Delicious Lemon Ice Cream
My favorite Lemon Cream Cake
Easy Lemon Drop Cookies
And this unforgettable Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
Lemon Cheesecake Bars Recipe
Lemon Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
Crust:
- 3/4 cup butter chilled
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp. salt
Cheesecake:
- 8 oz. cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 Tbsp. milk
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Lemon Layer:
- 4 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/3 cup flour
Instructions
Crust:
- Preheat oven to 325.
- Cut butter into pieces.
- In a food processor (or blender on low, pulse setting) Process all ingredients until mixture becomes tiny and fine pieces.
- Sprinkle mixture into a 9 x 13 baking pan and press evenly into bottom of pan.
- Bake for 12 minutes and remove from oven.
Cheesecake Layer:
- In medium bowl, blend cream cheese until smooth.
- Then add sugar and mix well.
- Cream together the rest of the ingredients until smooth.
- Pour cheesecake evenly over hot crust. Pour slowly and gently, a little at a time.
- Bake 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and reduce oven temperature to 300.
Lemon Layer:
- In a bowl whisk together eggs and sugar until combined well.
- Stir in lemon juice and flour.
- Pour gently and smoothly over semi-baked cheesecake.
- Bake at 300 for 25-30 minutes.
- Remove from oven and sprinkle powdered sugar over top if desired.
- Cool for an hour and then refrigerate until ready to serve.
Nutrition
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Mary Anne Best
February 22, 2008 at 12:30 pmI can testify the lemon cheesecake bars are delicious. Thanks for the plate of them you brought to us. Mom
Rachel
February 22, 2008 at 1:13 pmI am so excited that you like them, too, Leigh Anne! This recipe is pretty special to me, because it was created by one of my good friends, Teresa. She had several favorite recipes that she combined to make the perfect Lemon Bar! Teresa plans at least one annual tea/garden party in her beautiful backyard each year, and this was just one of several scrumptious desserts she served last summer. Teresa… now you are famous! :o)
Rachel
February 22, 2008 at 1:22 pmAlso… Leigh Anne- your photos of your dishes are always SOOOOOOO cute! Do you use a specific software program to put the title on top of the picture? Is it something you do with “memory manager”? And what’s your brand and type of camera?
Laura
February 22, 2008 at 3:31 pmOh my word do those ever sound good…I’m drooling right now!
Teresa
February 22, 2008 at 4:56 pmThanks Rachel for the compliments and thanks Leigh Anne for posting this so others can enjoy the scrumptiousness. I created this recipe for a tea party several years ago and was delighted that it turned out so well. One special reason I love this recipe is because it brings back many happy memories of sitting with friends, having lovely conversations and eating delicious food. What a perfect way to spend an afternoon!
Teresa
February 22, 2008 at 5:03 pmThanks Rachel for the compliments and thanks Leigh Anne for posting this so others can enjoy the scrumptiousness. I created this recipe for a tea party several years ago and was delighted that it turned out so well. One special reason I love this recipe is because it brings back many happy memories of sitting with friends, having lovely conversations and eating delicious food. What a perfect way to spend an afternoon!
Teresa
February 22, 2008 at 5:07 pmOops….I can cook, but I can’t navigate through websites. 😉
Rhonda
February 23, 2008 at 7:55 pmOh dear…. lemons are my absolute favorite of all the wonderful tastes out there. I even go so far as to buy all my cleaning, dish-soap’s, candles…. always lemon or at the very least lemon infused.
I am going to try this recipe out this next week. Hope it turns out as well as your’s has.
Yum!
Leigh Anne
February 24, 2008 at 5:26 pmTeresa,
Thanks for stopping by and thank you for creating such a wonderful recipe and sharing it!! Wish I could come to one of your tea parties! I love tea parties!
Leigh Anne
February 24, 2008 at 5:32 pmRachel,
In answer to your question about my photos. I use a program by Creative Memories called Storybook Creator Plus to add the text to my photos and other fun stuff. My camera is a Nikkon D-40 and I love it.
julie
February 25, 2008 at 9:25 pmwell, i made these the day you posted the recipe…because i am so lucky to have a huge meyer lemon tree in my backyard…the bars are DELICIOUS! we ate through the entire pan in two days – my father-in-law loved them and he was so impressed! thank you, leigh ann, for sharing – another great recipe!
Leigh Anne
February 25, 2008 at 10:01 pmJulie,
I am so jealous – a lemon tree of your very own. I would be in lemon heaven!!! Glad you and your family enjoyed the recipe.
andi wagstaff
March 6, 2008 at 7:05 pmHi,
I am Brooke’s aunt and I just want to testify that your lemon bars are indeed the best I’ve ever had (and I’m pretty picky)! I was in Provo yesterday visiting my daughter, Kelsie, who is Brooke’s roommate. Brooke offered me a lemon bar that she and Clark had made the night before. At first I declined, but then Kelsie showed them to me and told me to try “just a bite”. Of course the bite turned into the whole piece and I was hooked! When I demanded the recipe, she told me about your blog. Loved it!!! Your photos are as great as the recipe!! Just know you have several new fans- I showed your website to my daughters and they were impressed. Can’t wait to try the recipe, I think it will be tomorrow or sooner! By the way, you have a wonderful son. I got to meet him on Valentines’ Day.
Sincerely,
andi wagstaff
Teresa
March 9, 2008 at 8:06 pmAndi, you made my day! I’m glad I could make something that others enjoy. My neighbors and I have a bi-monthly cooking class and this month we are doing a class on cheesecake. I plan to make this recipe, but would welcome others. So if any of you have a cheesecake recipe with a twist…please send my way! I’m particularly looking for a diabetic recipe, because we have a gal with diabetes and I want to do one for her. Thanks everyone!
Leigh Anne
March 9, 2008 at 8:19 pmTeresa,
Would love to see what great cheesecake recipes you come up with – my oldest son Logan, loves cheesecake and for his birthday last year I had a cheesecake from Carnegie’s Deli in New York sent to him at school – he was in heaven.
Please share!
Christy
April 6, 2010 at 10:41 amLeigh Anne: I made these bars for Easter Sunday & they were a huge hit!! Everyone asked for the recipe. Thanks for the wonderful recipes! Christy
Chris
April 18, 2010 at 5:48 pmOh these were so good! I made one plate of this recipe and another plate of a regular lemon bar recipe for a church meeting. These were hands down, the favorie!
Karen
April 28, 2011 at 7:46 pmThese were great, Leigh Ann! I made them for a teacher appreciation luncheon and not a one came home. Next time I make these I’ll line the pan with foil first so I can lift them out of the pan after cooling and they will be even more easier to cut.
Mary Lynn
August 21, 2013 at 8:44 amI thought I had a great lemon bar recipe, now this one goes to the top of the list. Anything lemon is my favorite.
Susan P
August 21, 2013 at 8:55 amQuick question, do you sprinkle the powdered sugar on when it’s just out of the oven and hot? These look delicious!
Leigh Anne
August 21, 2013 at 12:54 pmI let it cool for a bit and then sprinkle it on but it doesn’t need to cool completely.
Kelly
August 21, 2013 at 12:46 pmThank you for posting this! Looks oh so yummy. I am just starting to spread my “baking wings” and this is going to be one of my first recipes to try. 🙂
kuazue
August 21, 2013 at 6:04 pmthanks sharing the recipe here… love to try…and will let u know when i did it..
Cara McNichols
August 21, 2013 at 7:00 pmThank you!!!
Diane {Created by Diane}
August 21, 2013 at 9:13 pmLemon Cheesecake….yes PLEASE! These bars look fantastic.
Whitney
August 25, 2013 at 10:44 amThese just went into the fridge to cool. However, I think they may be ruined. The lemon part is very liquidy! I’m afraid too much so for the fridge to help. Any ideas what I did wrong?
Leigh Anne
August 25, 2013 at 2:54 pmWhitney – they shouldn’t be runny after baking. Wondering if you baked them long enough? Might want to check the temperature of your oven. I bet they still taste good though :)!
Vanessa
August 26, 2013 at 6:52 amCheesecake is my weakness. These look so delicious!
Leigh Anne
August 26, 2013 at 5:10 pmBeware Vanessa – you will want to eat the whole pan yourself.
Melanie @ Just Some Salt and Pepper
August 26, 2013 at 7:02 amThese look SO GOOD! Lemon cheesecake sounds amazing!
Leigh Anne
August 26, 2013 at 5:10 pmMelanie, One of my all time favorites!
Kylie Helm
August 26, 2013 at 5:03 pmDe.Lish.Us. All I want in life is to have these in the kitchen right now! Seriously, this looks divine.
Leigh Anne
August 26, 2013 at 5:09 pmThanks Kylie – they taste divine too! Hope you’ll try them.
Laura @ The Rookie Cook
August 27, 2013 at 8:40 amThese look soooo good! I love lemon bars and the cheesecake makes them that much better! Pinned!
Mareli Lim-Evora Dabi
August 28, 2013 at 3:31 amHi Leigh Anne,
Oh my ..your place is such a delightful place to be.Im your newest follower.Im gonna try these Lemon Bars asap…Thanks for sharing and I will be back for sure.
Leigh Anne
August 28, 2013 at 6:09 amSo glad you found me. Hope you will visit often.
Holly @ Holly's Helpings
August 28, 2013 at 3:45 pmYum! I love lemon bars and these sounds AWESOME. I’m co-hosting Great Idea Thursday with A Handful of Everything and I’d love if you shared these. The link is the one I picked for CommentLuv. 🙂
Leigh Anne
August 28, 2013 at 4:17 pmThanks for the invite – heading over!
Carol Miner
January 19, 2014 at 7:04 amShould the bars be stored in the refrigerator?
Leigh Anne
January 19, 2014 at 7:24 amYes, since they have cream cheese in them it is best to store in the refrigerator
Doreen
May 1, 2014 at 8:54 amHi! This looks yummy! If I use a 9×9 pan, how long should I bake it? Thanks!
Melinda
August 28, 2014 at 1:42 amI made these last night and they taste delicious! Such an easy and great recipe, my husband loved it!
However, in my case there was a very very thin cheesecake layer (almost can’t taste it and can’t see it) and pretty thick lemon layer on top. I did everything per recipe but still wonder what happened. For my taste it was little bit too sweet.
Elizabeth
November 12, 2014 at 11:52 amAwesome. I really love lemon bars. I have a great recipe, but I wanted another one so I could serve two kinds at a wedding shower I have this week. This one fits the bill perfectly. Thank you!
Leigh Anne
November 16, 2014 at 8:18 amThese are divine – enjoy them!
Heather
January 6, 2015 at 7:43 pmCan this be made without a food processor?
Leigh Anne
January 7, 2015 at 7:59 amI am sure you could just use a pastry cutter instead of a food processor, will just take a bit more work.
Evelyn Goettner
January 7, 2015 at 2:34 amI made these last night and I have to say these were the best lemon bars I’ve ever tasted. Every layer was pure perfection. Thanks for sharing!
Leigh Anne
January 7, 2015 at 7:58 amAren’t they yummy! So glad you tried them and loved them too!
Allison Davis
January 20, 2015 at 4:16 amHi! I would LOVE to make these to bring to my friend’s birthday party because they look AMAZING! What type of flour should I use?
Leigh Anne
January 20, 2015 at 7:50 amJust regular all purpose flour
Maki
March 7, 2015 at 3:20 pmHi, Leigh Anne!
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
This looks soooo good, and I am giving it a try actually right now.
I just poured the lemon layer on top of the cheesecake layer, and I am afraid I screwed up. Lemon layer mix broke the cheesecake layer, and the broken cheesecake layer came floating on top… I should have baked the cheesecake a little longer? Or I should have poured little by little very slowly? I am sure it is going to taste as delicious, but your advice will be greatly appreciated to help me make the perfect layered bar next time : )
Thank you!
Leigh Anne
March 8, 2015 at 12:06 pmMaki, I am sure it still tasted yummy but next time pour it slowly and gently to prevent that form happening.
Maki
March 10, 2015 at 12:03 amThank you!
By the way, everyone loved it. Perfect balance of sweet and tart.
I will make it again!
Jean
April 6, 2015 at 12:45 amThe lemon cheesecake bars look amazing. Going to attempt make it soon. Just had a question about the recipe. The recipe doesn’t say how much lemon zest is needed and where to add it. Is it added to the cheesecake or lemon layer or both? Can’t wait to make this.
Jean
April 7, 2015 at 9:40 amThe lemon cheesecake bars look amazing. I just had a quick question. How much lemon zest is needed and how much added to the cheesecake and/or lemon layer? Thank you for your time.
Stephanie Bruss
May 10, 2015 at 5:45 pmJust made this for Mother’s Day and it was delicious. Big hit and plan on making them again. Loved, loved, loved the crust. Thanks for sharing.
Leigh Anne
May 12, 2015 at 7:35 amStephanie, Definitely one of our favorites, glad you loved them too!
Latoya
July 3, 2015 at 6:29 pmOMG I JUST SAW THIS RECIPE ON PINTEREST AND I MADE IT TODAY!!! It’s the BEST!!!!🎉🍋🍋🍋🍋🍴 thank you thank you thank you especially the crust yummmm Yummm the best!!! From scratch!!
Leigh Anne
July 3, 2015 at 7:58 pmThey are amazing – so glad you agree!
Adrian
July 5, 2015 at 9:33 amCan you freeze these?
Leigh Anne
July 6, 2015 at 5:06 pmI haven’t freezed them but they should freeze fine.
JS
December 16, 2015 at 8:53 amYou mention using zest, but I don’t see it in the recipe anywhere?
Leigh Anne
December 16, 2015 at 9:39 amJS , I was just sharing some of my favorite tools I use when working with lemons and one of them is a lemon zester. There isn’t actually lemon zest in this recipe though. Sorry for the confusion.
JS
December 16, 2015 at 10:12 amOK, thank you! 🙂
Heather
February 19, 2016 at 7:35 pmThese were… Past tense… So delicious. Thank you!
Leigh Anne
February 21, 2016 at 1:49 pmThere are or should I saw were So Delicious! Glad you enjoyed them too!!
Rhea
February 24, 2016 at 5:34 pmI never thought I’d find a recipe I liked better than my go to lemon bars….till now! Followed your recipe exactly and came out perfect!! They are still warm but I couldn’t wait to try and they are delicious!! Next time, I think I will line the pan with parchment so I can remove them before slicing into bars but other than that, will not change a thing! Thank you!
Lisy
March 12, 2016 at 4:30 pmI have made these 3 times and they have been gobbled up every time. I’m making batch number 4 tonight. Excellent recipe, thank you for sharing!
Sly
July 12, 2016 at 10:15 amI made it yesterday for a meeting i was attending and everyone loved it! I could eat the whole thing by myself but i wont. My favorite part was the biscuit base.
Leigh Anne
July 12, 2016 at 1:27 pmI could eat the whole thing myself too! Glad everyone enjoyed it!
Barb
July 15, 2016 at 6:14 pmCan’t wait to make these. Do you use all purpose flour or self raising. Thanks 🙂
Leigh Anne
July 15, 2016 at 6:59 pmI use all purpose. I will always specify if I’m using self raising.
Sara Wachter
May 13, 2017 at 5:14 pmnext time i will try letting the cheesecake layer cool a few minutes before pouring the lemon layer. i poured the lemon layer as per the instructions and the cheesecake layer completely separated. hopefully they will still look and taste amazing as i am making them for a special occasion.
Rhea
August 12, 2017 at 8:41 amI made these bars far a vacation with extended family and they were delicious. BUT, something very mysterious happened. First of all, as some other commenters mentioned, when I poured the lemon layer some of it got mixed up with the cream cheese layer. So I was expecting it to be more of a 2 layer bar, with the lemon/cheesecake layer combined. But the weird thing was, that as we got past the first row of bars, we noticed that the lemon layer was on the very bottom, the crust layer in the middle and the cheescake layer on top. How on earth did this happen???? I’m baffled. The edges were in 3 layers as intended, but the inner rows were flipped around. So weird. How would that lemon layer seep through the already bake crust and already baked cheesecake? I’m so curious!
Leigh Anne
August 12, 2017 at 9:24 amRhea, Curious indeed! Not sure what happened. When I pour the 2nd layer on, do it very slowly and gently. You will still get some of the other layer lifting up but it still tastes good!!
Pam
September 30, 2017 at 11:00 amMaking this right now (last layer on and in the oven)… I have a question/concern. When I added that last egg/lemon layer to the hot cheesecake layer, I think some of the eggs cooked/scrambled. I could see chunks floating in the liquid as I was putting it in the oven. I’ve read that sometimes these 2 layers mix, but I don’t think that’s what happened to me – pretty sure it was chunks of scrambled egg. Is this normal, or are the bars going to taste eggy now?
Thank you
Leigh Anne
October 9, 2017 at 8:52 amPam, It is just some of the dough from underneath lifting up. They will still be delicious!
Adela
November 19, 2017 at 2:37 pmHi there just wondering if this can be frozen??
Leigh Anne
November 20, 2017 at 7:36 pmI have never frozen them so I’m not sure how they would hold up.
Don McPhee
November 25, 2017 at 10:48 amThe wife brought home a bag of lemons so I chose to make these bars because we had almost all the ingredients. I added lemon zest to the cheesecake and lemon topping. Had to substitute 1/4 cup sugar with icing sugar because I ran out. Baked 27 minutes and the very edges just brown. Other timings were exactly as ordered. Edges came away without much effort, next time parchment paper.
Tastes great. I will be proud to have these as a part of a Christmas gift.
Maria
January 19, 2018 at 6:21 pmThese are perfect!! It’s a no fail recipe that gives the fantastic creaminess to balance the tart lemon. They work gluten free, they work with olive oil in place of butter, they just work anytime and every time. Instantly a family favorite!
Leigh Anne
January 20, 2018 at 7:46 amThey are one of my favorite I am so glad you love them too!
Sheila
February 5, 2018 at 10:12 pmGreat recipe! I have a lemon tree and tons of lemons so, always looking for great Lemon recipes. I tweeked the recipe a bit by the following:
1. I put lots of lemon zest and a tablespoon of lemon juice to the shortbread dough
2. Also, I realized I didn’t have brown sugar for custard dough so I used organic cane sugar
3. I increased the lemon juice and zest to both the cream cheese and lemon custard mixtures
4. In the lemon custard I decreased the sugar to ony 1cup so it would be more tart
ENJOY and thx for the recipe!!!
simone Sammut
August 12, 2018 at 12:46 pmCan these be prepared a day before? Or will the Base get soggy?
Leigh Anne
August 12, 2018 at 4:48 pmThey can definitely be made ahead, just be sure to keep them refrigerated.