Do you guys ever get caught up in the “panic loop?” Where you know you need to do something like write a report for work, an essay for school, organize your finances, make an uncomfortable phone call, or some other less-than-stellar task.
Where you avoid said task by suddenly and obsessively looking at your Tweets, looking at everyone’s perfect lives on Instagram, reading silly political rants on Facebook, checking your Pinterest follower count, staring at your overflowing email inbox, checking Google Analytics (if you’re a blogger), then you just start all over again. Suddenly 30 minutes, even an hour has passed and you’ve accomplished nothing. It’s the worst!!
The internet is simultaneously such an awesome tool of production AND such a time-waster. How do you stay focused at the computer?
Hopefully this spring/summer we can get away from the computer for a little bit to enjoy the warm weather and summer traditions. These Raspberry Lemonade Cheesecake Bars are the ultimate spring or summer dessert recipe. They’re as bright as they are flavorful with that balance of sweetness and tartness of your favorite summer drink. I think you’ll enjoy this recipe!
Although any cheesecake is an indulgence, this recipe is made a bit lighter by using 1/3-less-fat cream cheese and fresh lemons and raspberries. They’re certainly a crowd pleaser with their beautiful bright raspberry colored swirls!
For the crust:
- 10 whole graham crackers
- 4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter, melted
For the cheesecake:
- 2 (8-ounce) packages 1/3-less fat cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 lemons, zested and juiced
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon flour
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
For the raspberry swirl:
- 1/2 cup fresh raspberries
- 2 tablespoons sugar
For the crust:
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Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8 by 8-inch baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang.
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In the work bowl of a food processor, pulse the graham crackers until finely ground. Add the melted butter and pulse until moistened. Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until lightly golden brown and fragrant. Let cool.
For the cheesecake:
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In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth. Beat in the lemon zest, lemon juice, eggs, and vanilla until combined. Add in the flour and salt and beat until just combined. Spread the mixture over the crust.
For the raspberry swirl:
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In a food processor or blender, puree the raspberries until smooth. Press through a fine mesh strainer, discarding any seeds and pulp that remain. Stir in the sugar. Dollop the unbaked cheesecake with spoonfuls of the raspberry puree. Use a skewer to make swirls.
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Bake for 30 minutes, or until set at the edges but ever so slightly jiggly in the middle. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Cover and chill the cheesecake in the fridge until very cold, at least 3 hours. The cheesecake can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 days.
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Before serving, use the foil to remove the cheesecake from the pan. Cut into 15 squares. Serve chilled.
Cheesecake is my favorite food. I have often thought about starting a petition to get it added as a food group in the food pyramid. I LOVE the raspberry lemonade flavour! Pinned!
I am such a bar guy! I’d take these over a cookie any day 🙂
Those are so pretty and look so good!
Very pretty! My swirls never come out looking this nice. Do you have any pointers?
Good question! I just take a teaspoon measurement and dollop all over then I like to use a thick wooden skewer or the probe of a kitchen thermometer to swirl. I avoid swirling too much because then it just starts to look messy.
love this fun twist on traditional cheesecake! looks delicious!!
looks so yummy!! 🙂
I need at least 2 or 3 of these! So gorgeous!
I love that pretty pink swirl — I’ll take a dozen!
I made these this weekend for an 80s prom birthday party, and they are really good, especially if you don’t like super sweet things. They are easy and fun to make, and they look so pretty. The only thing that you have to make sure and do is zest the lemon really fine. i made the mistake of zesting it too thick, and needless to say, lemon peels aren’t the best thing to bite into in your bar 😉
Very good recipe though!
So happy to hear that! Yeah, fine zest is definitely best for baking. The best lessons are learned through experience, you’ll probably never do that again 😉
These look perfect! My kind of cheesecake!
Thanks Jaclyn!
yummy summery bars!
These are so gorgeous!! I want the whole pan right now!
I tried this today, i used strawberry instead of raspberry. I love the result so much. Thanks for this wonderful recipe.
Great! So glad you enjoyed it.
I made THREE of your recipes a couple days ago, and this was awesome. This is easily the best cheesecake I ever made.
Oh wow!! That makes me so happy to hear, thanks for commenting 🙂
Hi Tessa,
Can I skip the lemon juice and zest, if yes then should I substitute them with anything else?
Thank you,
Anu
Thank You ! These recipes look amazing.
Hı I am from turkey .I am following you I dont understand everthing about yor recipe. Cold you show us mostly video from your recipe. Thankyou
This looks so beautiful and delicious. When I got to the raspberries, pushing them through a fine mesh strainer turned it into a syrup. What am I doing wrong?
That’s just fine, that consistency makes it easier to achieve those swirls on top 🙂
Can i use the seedless raspberry jar instead