Lemon Cream Cheese Bars

5 from 12 votes
52 Comments

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Lemon Cream Cheese Bars are tangy, sweet, soft, chewy, and perfectly delicious. These tasty treats are always a crowd pleaser!

Three Lemon Cream Cheese Bars on a plate.
Featured with this recipe
  1. Ingredients in these Lemon Cheesecake Bars
  2. Benefits of Lemon
  3. Tips for the Perfect Lemon Cream Cheese Bars
  4. How to Store Lemon Dessert
  5. Frequently Asked Questions
  6. More Favorite Bar Recipes
  7. More Lemon Desserts
  8. How to Make Lemon Cream Cheese Bars
  9. Lemon Cream Cheese Bars Recipe

Lemon Cream Cheese Bars are a true family favorite. My mom made these for years when we were growing up and we all loved them. The luscious, creamy bar cookies took center stage at every family reunion, every picnic, and every weekend lake trip and they were always the first thing to be devoured. I like them more than traditional lemon bars because they’re much creamier and more like cheesecake. The buttery crust layer and crumble on top complement the light, fluffy lemony cream cheese mixture. They’re so yummy; you will absolutely love this recipe.

Stack of three Lemon Cream Cheese Bars.


Ingredients in these Lemon Cheesecake Bars

All you need for luscious, rich lemon cream cheese bars is six ingredients! This dessert comes together really fast. Here’s all you need:

  • Lemon cake mix – you can always find lemon cake mixes in the baking aisle of your grocery store. This little shortcut gives you all the flour, salt, baking soda, and other baking ingredients right in one cake mix and gives the recipe a delicious shortbread crust.
  • Vegetable oil – you could try other types of oil, or melted butter but regular vegetable oil helps give this the perfect consistency.
  • Eggs – you’ll need one for the cakelayer and another for the cream cheese layer.
  • Cream cheese – make sure it’s room temperature before you start to whip together your ingredients for a smooth, light texture that makes a creamy cheesecake filling.
  • Lemon juice – use lemon juice from a bottle, or you can use a sharp knife to cut a fresh lemon in half and squeeze fresh lemon. Then save a little of the lemon zest to sprinkle in for an extra zingy lemon flavor.
  • Sugar – regular white sugar works great.
Ingredients to make Lemon Cream Cheese Bars.

Benefits of Lemon

Cooking and baking with lemons is not just delicious; there are so many health benefits too! Lemons are high in vitamin C, fiber and is known to control cholesterol and improve overall health. Of course this is a rich dessert, but everything in moderation, right?

Tips for the Perfect Lemon Cream Cheese Bars

  • These bars taste delicious cold. When we were little, our mom would pack these cream cheese squares in a cooler and bring them to the lake. I also love them right out of the refrigerator or freezer. They are a bit more chewy when they’re cold, which I love!
  • Make sure to grease your baking pan by spraying a light layer of cooking spray or a sheet of parchment paper.
  • ​Then, to the bottom of the prepared baking dish, gently press the crust into a nice, even layer. Sometimes I find that using my fingers is the best way to get it even.
  • Pour in the cream cheese filling, then top with the rest of the crust in crumbles.
  • You can get fancy and top these with blueberries, raspberries or strawberries too. So delicious!
  • When mixing the filling, make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature! Cream cheese at room temperature mixes up light and fluffy with absolutely no lumps. Use an electric mixer at low to medium speed, then whip at high speed until it’s fluffy and creamy.
Spatula holding up a Lemon Cream Cheese Bar.

How to Store Lemon Dessert

  • Store Lemon Cream Cheese Bars covered in the refrigerator for up to five days.
  • Serve at room temperature by allowing them to rest on the counter for about thirty minutes.
  • You can also freeze cream cheese desserts. Chill in the fridge until they’re firm, then layer using parchment paper into an airtight container. Keep them in the freezer for up to two months.
  • If you love a graham cracker crust, you can add some graham cracker crumbs to the cake mix or sprinkle some on top for extra texture and flavor.
Plated Lemon Cream Cheese Bar.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did my lemon bars crack?

If your lemon squares have cracked you may not have baked the crust long enough. This can cause the filling to lose moisture and absorb into the crust.

Why are my lemon bars gooey?

To avoid these lemon cream cheese bars from being underbaked, make sure you allow them to set completely when you take them out of the oven. You know when lemon bars are done when you move the pan a bit and they don’t jiggle.

Do you have to refrigerate cream cheese bars?

Anything made with cream cheese should be refrigerated within two hours, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) This includes baked goods made with cream cheese, such as pound cakes and cream cheese cookies.

READ MORE: 33+ Easy Dessert Ideas

Hand holding up a Lemon Cream Cheese Bar.

More Favorite Bar Recipes

Love the ease of making bar recipes? Here are a few of our most favorite bar cookie recipes.

More Lemon Desserts

Is lemon your love language? Try some of these deliciously sweet and tart lemon desserts.

How to Make Lemon Cream Cheese Bars

Three Lemon Cream Cheese Bars on a plate.

Lemon Cream Cheese Bars

5 from 12 votes
Lemon Cream Cheese Bars are tangy, sweet, soft, chewy, and perfectly delicious. These tasty treats are always a crowd pleaser!
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 15 bars

Video

Equipment

  • Conventional Oven
  • 9 X 13 inch Pan

Ingredients

  • 1 box lemon cake mix
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 large egg
  • 8 ounces cream cheese
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup sugar

Instructions

  • Combine dry cake mix, vegetable oil, and 1 egg until crumbly. Reserve one cup of crumble mixture and set aside. 
    Crumble mixture for Lemon Cream Cheese Bars.
  • Spread remainder of crumbs in a 9×13 pan and pat down to form a crust. 
    Pressed crust in a 9X13 pan for Lemon Cream Cheese Bars.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until crust is lightly golden brown. 
    Baked bottom crust of Lemon Cream Cheese Bars.
  • Place remaining ingredients in a bowl; whip until fluffy and light.
    Lemon Cream Cheese Bars mixture.
  • Spread over baked crumb mixture nice and smooth, covering the whole pan.
    Lemon Cream Cheese Bars layer on top of crust in a 9x13 pan.
  • Add the crumble from the reserved cup of crumbs over the top. 
    Unbaked crumble topping on a pan of Lemon Cream Cheese Bars.
  • Return to oven and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool and cut. Delicious!
    Baked Lemon Cream Cheese Bars in a 9x13 pan.

Notes

  • Store Lemon Cream Cheese Bars covered in the refrigerator for up to five days.
  • Serve at room temperature by allowing them to rest on the counter for about thirty minutes.
  • You can also freeze cream cheese desserts. Chill in the fridge until they’re firm, then layer using parchment paper into an airtight container. Keep them in the freezer for up to two months.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 281kcalCarbohydrates: 42gProtein: 3gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 38mgSodium: 308mgPotassium: 45mgFiber: 1gSugar: 29gVitamin A: 235IUVitamin C: 0.4mgCalcium: 91mgIron: 0.9mg

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About the author

Erica Walker

Erica lives in Boise, Idaho with her husband, Jared, an attorney, and her three beautiful girls. Beyond the world of recipes, she loves adventuring with everything from kayaking, to cruising, to snowboarding and taking the family along for the thrill ride.

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5 from 12 votes (5 ratings without comment)

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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    These Lemon Bars did not last long at our house! They were AMAZING!! I will be making these again and again! Thank you!

  2. Could I make these two and a half days prior to serving?
    What about one and a half days?
    Will the quality suffer a lot?
    Refrigerate or not?

    1. Yes, you can make them ahead and keep them covered with plastic wrap in the fridge for a few days. The quality and taste will not suffer. Thanks for asking!

  3. I’ve made this recipe for years. It’s always wonderful. Always requested. Try them…you’ll love them!!

  4. I made these for a pot luck party I attended and they were an epic fail for me. They tasted okay but I didn’t feel they cooked up properly – just too gooey for my liking. Once I saw how gooey they were, I did cook longer than the recipe called for. I won’t be making these again but wish others the best of luck with them!

  5. Made these for a company bake sale. They sold them out first. Lol. Making again today for me and my team as a pick my up for a rough few days! Thank you!
    I do add lemon zest to the filling and the base for extra lemon flavor. Don’t want to waste lemon!

    1. Woohoo! It is always nice to be the “hot” item at bake sales haha. So glad that you (and your company) like them!

  6. These sound delicious. I would like to know the nutritional information first. My husband is diabetic and this would be very helpful for us. Thanks

    1. At this time we are unable to provide nutritional information but you can plug the recipe in a nutritional calculator like livestrong.com and you will be able to find the nutritional info!

  7. These sound wonderful
    I want to make these for a party in June. Cam I make these now and freeze? Party is 3 weeks away.

    1. I don’t know how well cream cheese freezes. You might be ok, but I probably wouldn’t do it :/

      1. 5 stars
        I order from NY Juniors Cheesecakes and they do offer seasonally a lemon option and all of them come frozen to me in NC. I also send as gifts and every Cheesecake has been perfect as frozen. Hope this helps to know how a company like Juniors frozen cakes work great. NOTE: Only one cake came dethawed during summer and had cracks but was cold enough to still eat and enjoy.

    1. It would definitely be thicker and you would want to cook it longer and maybe at a lower temp. I don’t know exactly how to advise because I haven’t done it that way before. Let us know how it turns out!

  8. I made a dish of these last night!!! AMAZING!!!!!!! I cut them small, into 26 squares. Making more today!!!! Such a quick and easy recipe.

  9. 5 stars
    I made this for Thanksgiving and it was yummy!! Everyone who tried it raved about it. It is also a very forgiving recipe, because I misread the instructions to back the crust for 10 minutes and then again for 25 minutes with the filling and crumbs on top. I baked the crust for 25 minutes as well as the rest. And you know what? It was a nice crunchy bottom, but not burned at all – just perfect!

  10. I have made these 3 times since finding this recipe a few months ago….these are incredible! I love the lemon taste with the cream cheese. Most lemon bars I don’t care for the jelly-like filling, I think that’s why I love these. Plus they are super easy. Wondering…have you ever doubled this recipe and done it in a cookie sheet? Thanks for sharing a winner! One of my favorite desserts!

    1. Yes– my mom did it that way just last week for girls camp and she said it worked out just fine! She uses one cake mix for the main part and one cake mix for the crumble.. it’s easier to divide that way.

  11. If I had no access to “cake mix” would I just mix together flour, sugar, b. powder and b. soda with salt possibly also lemon juice for the “cake mix”. Maybe dumb ? but I live outside the USA and often have to subsitute things for what is readily availible in uSA.

  12. Amazing! I made these today and we loved them! I am a big fan of lemon and these are much better than any lemon bar. So easy and so tasty. I will make these again for sure!

  13. These look amazing! Could you tell me roughly how many this batch yields? (newbie at baking, even with simple recipes I need help! lol)

  14. This are amazing! Made some for Thanksgiving and they were devoured. My Aunt even called asking me to make some for gifts!! Storage question: do these need to be refrigerated or can they sit out at room temperature? Wasn’t sure given the cream cheese. THANKS!

  15. Just made these this evening! I did it with a square pan so that I could use less crumbs for a packed down crust, and more crumbs scattered on top! LOVED them!

  16. Oh my god!!! These are awesome, they taste great, are easy and quick and my whole family love them. It is just like eating a cheese cake. YUMMO!!!

  17. Just made these, they were a huge hit! So easy and yummy! I love that they are not super rich, so we could eat alot. 🙂

  18. I made these for a get together last night and they were scarfed down fast!! Very easy and yummy! Thanks or sharing!!

  19. Okay Erica, I just made these tonight and they are SO GOOD! Tell your mom a big ‘thank you’ from the Fishers 🙂 We’re also having the fish tacos for dinner. I can’t wait! Lindsey