Name: Strawberry Cheesecake Bars
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 430 min
Ingredients: 7 sheets graham crackers (makes about 1 cup); 2 tablespoons brown sugar; ¼ cup butter (salted and melted); 16 ounces cream cheese (softened); ½ cup sugar; 2 large eggs; ¼ cup sour cream; 1 tablespoon vanilla; 6 ounces strawberries (diced (makes about 1 cup)); 5 tablespoons sugar; 1 teaspoon lemon juice

If you love cheesecake but not all the hassle, these Strawberry Cheesecake Bars are about to be your new favorite. The creamy filling and fresh strawberry topping make them a hit for birthdays, holidays, and they feel just fancy enough for any get-together!

A stack of strawberry swirled cheesecake bars with a graham cracker crust on a plate stacked with the top bar missing a bite.

Table of Contents

Why We Love Strawberry Cheesecake Bars

Feels Like A Special Treat – Cheesecake always feels a little extra special whether it’s for someone’s birthday, a party or just because you’re craving cheesecake!
Bars Are Simpler To Make Then Cheesecake– These easy cheesecake bars use a regular square pan instead of a springform pan like traditional cheesecake. I find bars are just a little less fussy too, and most of the work is waiting for them to chill.
Great For Celebrating – These bars are smooth and creamy, perfect for parties, birthdays, Christmas and Thanksgiving holidays, baby showers, Easter and more! These bars can also easily be sliced large or bite-sized for a dessert platter.

I originally made this recipe with my raspberry cheesecake bars. We had been invited to one of my husband’s coworker’s homes and I was asked to bring dessert. We were eight people (with four kids and teens) and I had some sad, end of the week, strawberries and raspberries in the fridge.

I made both batches a few days before and cut them into 12 mini bites instead of 9 to make sure there was enough for everyone to try both flavors. One of the teens (knowing we like to bake at our house) exclaimed “Ohhh I was really hoping she’d bring cheesecake!” Not a single cheesecake piece was left at the end.

Ingredients For Strawberry Cheesecake Bars

Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements and directions below in the recipe card.

Ingredients For The Graham Cracker Crust

graham crackers
brown sugar
butter salted and melted

Ingredients For The Cheesecake

cream cheese softened, it works best if you slice it up into pieces and leave it out for about 15 minutes before you add the cream cheese so it’s room temperature. I use full fat cream cheese, I don’t recommend using reduced fat cream cheese in this recipe.
sugar – white sugar
eggs
sour cream
vanilla extract

Ingredients For The Strawberry Topping

strawberries diced, can also use frozen strawberries.
sugar – white sugar
lemon juice – can use fresh from a lemon or jarred lemon juice.

If you like these cheesecake bars you have to try some of my others too! Try the Oreo cheesecake bars, caramel apple cheesecake bars or pumpkin swirl cheesecake bars. All of these bars freeze well, which means you don’t have to make them all at the same time for a party.

How To Make Strawberry Cheesecake Bars

Making The Graham Cracker Crust

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
Place the graham crackers in a food processor and pulse until they become crumbs. Add the graham cracker crumbs to a large mixing bowl. Place the brown sugar and melted butter in with the graham cracker crumbs. Mix together until the crumbs are no longer dry.
Add the graham cracker crumbs into the bottom of the pan. Use a ½ cup measuring cup to press the crumbs firmly and evenly into the bottom of the pan. Bake the crust in the oven for 8 minutes then let the pan cool for at least five minutes.

Baking pan lined with parchment paper with a graham cracker crust being pressed into the bottom of the pan with a measuring cup for strawberry cheesecake bars.

Make The Cheesecake Filling

Place the cream cheese in a large mixing bowl. Mix with an electric mixer (a stand mixer or hand mixer) until smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Add ½ cup sugar and cream together the sugar and cream cheese until fully mixed.
Crack the eggs into a medium bowl and beat lightly with a fork. Add the eggs half at a time to the cream cheese mixture, whipping until fully mixed.

A metal bowl with creamed cream cheese and sugar with eggs , vanilla and sour cream nearby for strawberry cheesecake bars.

A cream cheese egg mixture after mixing with sugar with vanilla and sour cream nearby on the counter.

Add the sour cream and vanilla to the cream cheese filling. Whip with an electric mixer until smooth.

Make The Strawberry Topping

Add strawberries, 5 tablespoons of sugar and lemon juice to a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a slow boil over high heat. Reduce the mixture to medium low heat to simmer, stirring regularly to keep from burning. Cook for 10-12 minutes until thick sauce begins to form, then set to the side to cool for a few minutes.

Chopped strawberries in a bowl, a cup of sugar, and a bowl of liquid on a marble surface with a blue checkered cloth.

A bowl of strawberry filling next to a dish full of the strawberry cheesecake bars.

Adding The Strawberry Layer And Baking The Bars

Add the cheesecake filling to the top of the graham cracker crust. Use a silicone spatula to smooth the mixture evenly in the pan.

Cheesecake batter spread over a graham cracker crust in a parchment-lined square dish from above.

Drizzle the strawberry mixture over the cream cheese. Swirl a chopstick or butterknife through the mixture to allow the raspberry layer to mix more into the top of the cheesecake layer.

A baking dish lined with parchment paper contains cheesecake batter topped with strawberry sauce before mixing.

A baking dish with raw strawberry cheesecake bars swirled with with the strawberry mixture on a counter.

Place in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes until fully set in the center. You can test by holding the pan with hot pads and gently rolling the pan from left to right just a little. The top center of the pan should not look liquidy but will still jiggle a little. The middle of the cheesecake should feel slightly tacky when carefully touched.
Allow the cheesecake to cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes. Place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours to chill, or overnight so it will cool completely. Then slice and enjoy!

After an hour or two in the refrigerator you can also transfer the cheesecake bars to a freezer safe container and place in the freezer. I find they are a little easier to slice cleanly when frozen anyways. Then you just take them out 10-15 minutes before you want to serve them.

Nine strawberry swirl cheesecake bars arranged on a piece of parchment paper, with fresh strawberries, graham crackers, nearby.

Variation Ideas For Strawberry Cheesecake Bars

Use jam– The strawberry swirl in this recipe is a homemade jam, but you can swap flavors of delicious jam in this creamy cheesecake recipe. Try my blackberry jam, or make a full batch of raspberry jam and use the rest of the jam for toast! Store bought jam can also be swapped, but the quality of the jam may change the flavor and results. I don’t recommend using a jelly, it just won’t taste the same.

Swap the berries– Try using blueberries, blackberries, or even a mix of berries swirled into the cheesecake mixture. They won’t have the same strawberry flavor but will be delicious.

Swap Oreos For Graham Crackers – Chocolate or golden Oreo cookies both make a delicious crust. You’ll need about 1 cup total of cookie crumbs. You could also swap in another type of crunchy cookie like Nilla Wafers or even Biscoff cookies to make the crust.

Add Chocolate Chips – At the very end of making the cheesecake batter fold chocolate chips or mini chocolate chips in to make a cheesecake that tastes like a chocolate covered cherry.

Can I Use Frozen Strawberries?

Yes, we cook the strawberries down into a quick jam on the stove. Frozen strawberries can absolutely be swapped in for fresh strawberries with no changes, we cook the water out of the berries anyways.

Can You Freeze These Strawberry Cheesecake Bars?

Yes! Cheesecake freezes very well, so don’t hesitate to freeze the bars for a party or later. Place them in an airtight covered freezer safe container.

If I know I need to stack the bars in the container, I’ll freeze them on parchment paper on a cookie sheet, and then use the parchment paper between the layers to keep the tops of the bars looking pretty.

If you freeze the cheesecake bars in slices, it should only take about 15-20 minutes left on the counter to defrost enough to enjoy, and sometimes less in the summer.

How Do I Slice These Cheesecake Bars Cleanly?

I like to use a really large knife, and I keep a towel handy to wipe the knife clean between cuts. A large, serrated bread knife actually works really well, but any kind of long chef’s knife also works.

Press directly down with the knife and then pull the blade straight back up. Don’t drag the knife through the cheesecake as this can create more tears. Wipe the blade clean between cuts as needed.

It also helps to have the cheesecake chilled well, if it’s warm or too soft it won’t cut nicely. I find I get my best slices if I freeze these bars first, and then slice them. You don’t have to take this extra step, but it can be helpful if you want the cheesecake slices to cut extra nice.