Lemon Cheesecake Cookie Bars – Perfected

A lemony treat that is part cookie, part cheesecake, 100% delicious.

Here is a cheesecake treat recipe I originally found on ShugarySweets.com that is a favorite in our home. I didn’t feel the original had enough lemon flavor for me, and we always strive to use fresh-ground whole wheat in our cooking, but sometimes it can be hard to find recipes that ACTUALLY call for ONLY whole wheat flour. So, I decided to modify it a little bit, and the outcome was perfect. They have a wonderful lemon flavor mixed into a bar that is part cookie, part cheesecake, 100% delicious.

Print Recipe
Lemon Cheesecake Cookie Bars - Perfected
A lemony treat that is part cookie, part cheesecake, 100% delicious. Served chilled you will struggle to take only one piece. Honestly, you should make more than one batch, because you'll want to hide some in your fridge for after you surprise and delight your dinner guests, and they'll be unlikely to leave you any.
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Passive Time 4 hours
Servings
9x13 Dish
Ingredients
Crust
Cheesecake Layer
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Passive Time 4 hours
Servings
9x13 Dish
Ingredients
Crust
Cheesecake Layer
Instructions
Preparation
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13" baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.
Crust
  1. Pulse Vanilla Wafer cookies with sugar in a food processor until you have fine crumbs. Add melted butter and pulse until mixed well.
  2. Use a spatula or the palm of your hand to firmly press crumb mixture into the bottom of your prepared baking dish.
Cheesecake Layer
  1. Using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, beat cream cheese and sugar. Add eggs, lemon extract, and lemon juice, and beat until smooth, then pour over cookie crust.
Cooking
  1. Bake for 30-35 minutes with a sheet of aluminum foil on the rack above the baking dish, until lightly browned. Center will still wobble.
  2. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for 4 hours. Cut into squares and serve cold. Keep refrigerated.
Share this Recipe

It is a tradition in our family that on your birthday you get to choose what you want to eat for your birthday breakfast, dinner, and cake. These Lemon Cheesecake Cookie Bars taste so good they have been chosen for birthday cakes AND as a birthday breakfast! I’m sure, sooner or later, they will end up being chosen for all three meals!

I love how adaptable this recipe is. As mentioned, it easily handles my desire to use fresh ground white wheat flour. While some recipes are greatly enhanced by the use of butter over margarine, this particular recipe is forgiving in the extreme. Likewise, if you’re counting cholesterol, egg whites can be easily substituted in with practically no change to the wonderful finished product.

Lemon Cheesecake Cooke Bars, the Crust The cheesecake filling for our Lemon Cheesecake Cookie Bars Perfection lovingly placing the cookie layer on top of her Lemon Cheesecake Cookie Bars

The Final Verdict

This recipe does have a few steps: the crust, the cheesecake layer, and then the cookie layer. It also takes a fair bit of time to make. You have to refrigerate it after it is baked and have the cream cheese and butter at room temperature before making it. They are delicious, though, and well worth the effort. While it may be daunting when looking at the recipe, it is not so bad once you actually make them. When you are done, you, and your family, will all be glad you took the time.

Please try this recipe. With my little adjustments it is most definitely… a little taste of perfection.

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