These blueberry cheesecake bars are outrageously delicious! Our recipe has a graham cracker crust, lemon cheesecake filling, blueberries, and a crumbly brown sugar topping. It’s the best!
We shared these easy cheesecake bars years ago, and they became so popular that Betty Crocker asked to share them as well! The bars are super delicious, with fresh lemon and blueberries! If you love cheesecake, these bars are for you!
For more dessert recipes with that blueberry lemon combination, see our lemon blueberry cake, this easy blueberry crumble, and our lemon blueberry muffins!
Key Ingredients
- Blueberries: I love fresh blueberries (when they are in season), but you can substitute frozen berries if that’s what you have. Other berries like raspberries or blackberries are great, too.
- Lemon: I use lemon zest and juice in this recipe! For finely grated lemon zest, use a microplane zester.
- Graham Crackers: I love cheesecake with a graham cracker crust, which I use in this recipe. Non-US bakers can substitute digestive biscuits.
- Cream Cheese: Use full-fat block cream cheese for cheesecake. Make sure it is at room temperature.
- Eggs: Two eggs help firm up the cream cheese in our cheesecake filling, making it more creamy and rich.
- Sugar: You’ll use granulated sugar for the crust and cheesecake, then brown sugar for the delicious streusel topping.
- Butter: I use butter two ways. First, it helps bind the crust, and second, I add it to my topping.
How to Make Blueberry Cheesecake Bars
These blueberry cheesecake bars come together quickly, especially when using a food processor. It makes quick work of the crust. You’ll combine graham crackers, sugar, lemon zest, and melted butter in the food processor and pulse until fine crumbs. Then, press the crust into your baking pan and bake for 10 minutes.
You can also use a food processor to make the lemon cheesecake filling. Combine cream cheese, eggs, more lemon zest, lemon juice, and sugar and pulse until smooth.
Then, top the baked crust with the cheesecake filling and scatter blueberries over it. Finish with the brown sugar crumble topping and bake until golden brown.
If you don’t have a food processor, no problem. You can put the graham crackers in a plastic bag, bash them into crumbs with something heavy, and then stir in the remaining ingredients with a spoon. Then, use a stand or handheld mixer to make the cheesecake filling.
Easy Blueberry Cheesecake Bars
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
These blueberry cheesecake bars are a dream! They combine the tangy flavor of lemon cheesecake with sweet blueberries and a crumbly brown sugar topping. If you can’t find fresh blueberries, feel free to use frozen ones or try other berries like raspberries or blackberries. Make sure you chill the baked cheesecake thoroughly before cutting them into bars.
You Will Need
Graham Cracker Crust9 whole graham crackers, 1 ¼ cups (125g) graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons (25g) sugar
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
4 tablespoons (56g) butter, melted
Cheesecake Layer16 ounces (450g) full-fat block cream cheese, at room temperature
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
¼ cup (60ml) fresh lemon juice
½ cup (100g) sugar
1 ½ cups (225g) fresh or frozen blueberries, 8 ounces
Crumble Topping1 cup (200g) packed light brown sugar
¾ cup (98g) all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons (85g) cold unsalted butter
Directions
1Preheat the oven to 325°F (162°C). Line a 9-inch square pan with aluminum foil and lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2Make the crust. Add graham crackers, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, and 1 teaspoon of lemon zest to a food processor bowl. Pulse until fine crumbs. Add the melted butter, cover, and process until moistened.
3Press the graham cracker crumb mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until lightly toasted. Cool for 10 to 15 minutes before adding the cheesecake layer.
4Meanwhile, make the cheesecake bar filling. Wipe the food processor mostly clean with a paper towel, then add the cream cheese, eggs, 2 tablespoons of lemon zest, lemon juice, and ½ cup of sugar. Process until smooth and creamy.
5Spoon the cheesecake filling over the crust, then top with blueberries.
6Make the streusel topping. Add the brown sugar and flour to a medium bowl. Cut the butter into small cubes and add them to the bowl. Work the butter into the flour and sugar until crumbly using your fingers or a hand-held pastry cutter. Scatter the topping over the blueberries.
7Bake the cheesecake bars until the topping is lightly browned and the center is almost set (the center should jiggle only slightly when moved), 35 to 40 minutes.
8Cool for 1 hour at room temperature, then refrigerate for 2 hours or until chilled. Cut into 9 bars.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Cheesecake bars can last up to a week in the fridge! I store them in a container or wrap them in foil to prevent them from picking up fridge odors.
- No food processor: Make the crust by crushing the graham crackers in a plastic bag with something heavy, like a rolling pin. Add the crumbs to a bowl along with 2 tablespoons of sugar, lemon zest, and melted butter. Stir until blended. Then for the cheesecake filling, use a hand blender to blend cream cheese, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar until smooth and creamy.
- Nutrition facts are estimates.
These were easy to put together and oh so delicious! My new long weekend go to desert! Actually why wait for a long weekend….
Yay! Glad you loved the recipe 🙂
I made this twice now. I like how easy your receipes are. Thank you for setting these up for everyone. I just made this now and I notice that the cream cheese filing isn’t set. I follow the instructions word for word. Did I miss something?
Hi Kimberly, It sounds like you needed to bake the bars slightly longer. Bake the cheesecake bars until the topping is lightly browned and the center is almost set (the center should jiggle only slightly when moved).
To double this recipe, should I just double the ingredients and use a 9×13 pan ?
Yep.
I made this for a party and it was fabulous! That one goes into the stable of favorites. I could have sworn I saw a variation with cranberries but now I can’t find it. Any help?
Hi Kate, I am so happy you enjoyed them! We do not have one with cranberries, although, it would be amazing! Maybe we should add a recipe to the site. I’d do fresh cranberries instead of blueberries and use orange instead of lemon in the cheesecake.
Ginger goes great with cranberries. Consider using ginger snaps for a cookie crust.
I made these today and they were absolutely amazing! I didn’t have fresh blueberries so I used frozen raspberries and blue berries from a bag. I let them thaw and left behind the liquid it didn’t hurt the recipe at all! Next time though I will plan ahead. The topping was wonderful and we loved the lemon in the crust. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes! I did make your banana bread and it was fantastic as well. Thank you!
I made these cheesecake bars for Easter and they were a hit! I’m not big on lemon desserts but this recipe is NOT overpowering with lemon taste. Very much on the sweet side so you could cut back to 3/4 cup brown sugar for the crumble to help. But regardless they are very delicious!!
I’ve made these for a friends birthday. They were a hit. What we didn’t eat she wrapped individually and froze them. These lemon blueberry bars freeze well. Great recipe.
I have made these several times and they are PERFECT just as the recipe is. I wouldn’t change anything. Everyone who has ever tasted them is blown away by how amazing they are!
Dear Joanne, Thanks for the simple yet delicious recipes! I cannot take sugar, can it be substituted by stevia? How is the measurement? Thanks, Grace
Hi Grace, You are welcome and thanks for being so kind. Unfortunately, we have not had any experience baking with stevia so it is hard for us to say. That said, since this isn’t a cake or complicated baking recipe, you can probably get away with it. I’d check the container and see if there are any suggestions for substituting sugar for a guide.
I use monk fruit as a sugar substitute. It doesn’t spike my blood sugar and works really well.
I made these for a dessert social for new parishioners at my church last night. I mistakenly baked the crust before I realized the one teaspoon of lemon zest I had set aside for it was still on my counter. I thought there was too much crumb topping so I refrigerated half of it so I can use it when I make these again very soon. Also, after reading some of the comments that the cheesecake layer is too lemony, I tasted it and I thought it needed to be tempered with a half-teaspoon of vanilla. I had to bake it almost twice as long as the directions state, but that’s typical of my oven. When I shook the dish and the center was only SLIGHTLY jiggly, I knew it was perfectly baked. These squares are creamy and delicious! I will definitely make them again and I have the extra graham cracker crumbs to motivate me to do it! Thank you for a great recipe!
Made it with blueberry jam ( high quality)
It looks fantastic I like the swirls
Could you tell the amount of (graham cracker crumbs)that are needed to make the crust? Thanks
Hi Shirley, I just updated the recipe with this. You need about 1-1/4 cups of graham cracker crumbs for this.
I know this is an old post but I thought I’d ask! I want to make this for my husbands birthday, but I will be so busy that day. What is the best part to make ahead. Or better yet, can I make the entire thing ahead of time, freeze or refrigerate it, and then bake it when Im ready?
Thank you!
The whole thing can be made in advance. Baking, cooling completely then then freezing is a good idea.
Hi Andy, We’re glad you gave our recipe a try. If you’re up to it, you could add a little more sugar to the cheesecake mixture to sweeten things up a little. Thanks for coming back and commenting.
This recipe is nothing short of spectacular. I literally made it a dozen times last summer during blueberry season! I can’t wait to share it with even more people this summer 🙂
Love the website and so many of the great recipes you have shared!! Thank you for so many delicious ideas!
Thank you so much! We are thrilled you enjoy our lemon bars so much!
Hi there. This recipe looks beautiful and delicious as spring approaches! I live abroad and don’t have graham crackers, so I’ll have to supplement. Could you give me the cup or gram measurement for crumb crust quantity, please? Thanks!
There should be about 1 1/4 cups of graham cracker crumbs. By the way, a great alternative is finely crushed Digestive biscuits.
HI! i just made this recipe twice with in the past 2 weeks. once i brought it into work and it was eaten within 2 hours. the other we had a baby shower and i made it with fresh rasberries. I preferred it with the blue berries because they bring out the lemon flavor the best. thank you so much for sharing this will definately be a staple in my house hold and functions.
I really want to try this recipe, but I a wondering whether it can be done with chocolate. My niece specifically asked for chocolate cheesecake and I’d like to accommodate her. Can this recipe be modified?
Hi there — you could try. We have never tried it ourselves. You could leave the blueberries out and add chocolate chips or add a layer of chocolate ganache on top once it has cooled instead of the streusel topping. Or, make the recipe as stated and drizzle melted chocolate over the streusel after it is done.
I am researching a lemon cheesecake bar that I can make in a sheet pan, and I ran across yours. I may use it, though it’s not the time of year (almost November) to get fresh blueberries – I wonder if I could use dried somehow….
But my bigger question is about preparing the pan: in the recipe you say to grease the pan, but the photo shows a foil-lined pan. Have you also baked these without the foil?
Hi there — Foil makes things easy when removing the bars from the pan. We have updated the recipe to call for a foil-lined pan. Thanks!
This recipe looks awesome…………………
My favorite type of recipe — very easy to put together, and great results. Love! I used cinnamon graham crackers, as I had them on hand, which added a nice little taste. Based on other comments, I made half the streusel amount (perfect), and baking/cooling was no problem. My filling did look a bit thinner than yours does in the photo, but I suspect I just had it in the food processor a bit longer (I was doing a couple of things at once). Either way, it had no problem setting. Will definitely make again! Thanks, you two!
These looks so fantastic! Love that mix of tangy cheesecake and sweet berries!
Thanks, Kelly!
I just made these bars and they are nothing short of AMAZING!!! I am not a great baker or cook but I really wanted to make a special dessert for my long distance boyfriend who is coming to visit me and it’s going to blow him away! I can’t stop sneaking in a bite. I actually think they would be great without the streusel if you wanna cut a little bit of the sugar out. Or maybe even reduce it by half. It did make a lot of streusel. Great recipe! I will definitely make this again and again! Oh and I did have to bake it the full 40 mins and I let it sit for about 1/2 to cool before I put in the fridge.
I always throw fresh blueberries in the freezer for later breads and such. Can I use them and do I thaw them first or sprinkle with flour so as not to have them sink?
Frozen berries should work just fine.
I just made this recipe, and while it tastes fantastic, it refused to set in the oven. I had to bake it for over an hour at the recommended 325F. Then again, my filling looked nothing at all like yours in the photo; mine was really runny with the same ingredients. Any ideas why that might be?
Hi Kblair – We’re not sure. Did it eventually set? The only thing we can think of is that your oven temperature may not be accurate. We have two ovens and one of them is 25 degrees lower than what the oven is set at. We added a stand alone thermometer to the inside of our oven to accommodate for this.
I’ve now made this recipe twice, and it’s AMAZING. Everyone who tries it gets the “OMG” big eyes and mystified look on their face. I cannot really explain how wonderful it is.
Two notes: First, maybe it’s the graham crackers I use but I found the crust to have WAY too much butter. (The first time I made it, the sheen was so great when I first patted down the crust that I took a paper towel to soak some of it up.) I reduced it to 1/3 c.
Second, this recipe makes enough streusel to cover 2 cheesecakes! I cut it in half (unless you like things very streusely!)
Takes 45 mins in my old-arse oven for perfect results. Many of my berries burst, but the consistency and done-ness was otherwise perfect. I like the way it looks with the burst berries, all gooey and streaked with deep purple.
I now make these bars whenever I have the opportunity to bring anything anywhere.
No comment.
My boss brought this into the office this morning and shared- I have to say, this is AMAZING!!!! I love blueberries, so I know I will be making this myself VERY SOON… 🙂
Oh my! These look amazing… a must try! A crust on the bottom and the top… genius! Thank you!
These Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake bars were YUMMY! I had company for a week, this was one of the the new recipes i tried and it was a big hit. The pan was empty within the day. Thanks for posting this yummy recipe.
these look so good… and your photographs are beautiful! I love the step by step shots!!
-Amanda
So, these ROCK. Super quick really, and the results are perfect. The berries explode in your mouth and I found you could tweak the sweetness level by adding more or less lemon juice. I know you could do the same with the amount of sugar added but an over zealous husband added the sugar while my back was turned. The cooling process is essential to properly tasting this I made them at 4 and they were bar like by 8:30. I also used half fat free cream cheese and half lite cream cheese. It set and tasted perfectly
My mouth is watering just looking at these pictures! I can’t wait to give this recipe a try!!!
Just made this! Delicious but my blueberries burst?
Any idea why?
Robert — hmm.. not sure! We’re they fresh or frozen?
They were fresh. I used a glass pan – seems like I overcooked it a bit. It was delicious, I just didn’t have a pretty picture to post so I stole yours. 🙂
Glass pans usually take a little less time as well as a little less heat.
Some of my berries burst as well….also used fresh.
Thanks Joanne, these are now officially too big of a hit.
I just made 5, yes FIVE, pans for a friend’s baby shower.
A lot of work but well worth it. Thank you again for such a winner!!
These really do look like the perfect summery treat 🙂 I have always loved cheesecake but recently have been craving it particularly badly..may well have to indulge with these!