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Cranberry cheesecake bars are the perfect holiday dessert, creamy cheesecake, a buttery crust and crumble top and colorful cranberries.
Move over traditional cheesecake and make way for this delicious holiday dessert. These cranberry cheesecake bars are made with a simple cranberry sauce just like the one that you serve on Thanksgiving day to accompany your turkey and sides.
In fact you can even make this cranberry sauce and use it on Thanksgiving and then use the leftovers for these bars. They are a great way to use up your leftovers and create a sweet treat at the same time. Add these cheesecake bars to your Thanksgiving and Christmas table your guests will love them.
Today I am joining my friend Sheri for our monthly series, “Sweet treats for your Sweet tooth.” Each month we will be sharing our favorite version of a sweet treat, everything from cookies, bars, cakes, puddings and more. If you don’t know Sheri she is a professional photographer and the writer of the Sheri Silver blog. Today she is sharing Cranberry Curd Mud Hen Bars, they are a delicious dessert to add to your holiday table.
If you are a cranberry lover be sure to pin not only this recipe but Cranberry Bundt Cake, Cranberry Walnut Bread and homemade cranberry liqueur.
Cranberry Cheesecake Bars
This easy recipe is made with cheesecake ingredients and has a creamy filling layered over a buttery crust and a cranberry topping.
What You Need to Make Cranberry Bars
Crust
- 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup quick cooking oats
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean extract
Cheesecake Filling
- 1 1/2 packages full fat cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
- 1 cup whole fresh cranberries, cleaned and rinsed
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
- zest of 1 small orange
- a pinch of pumpkin pie spice, (or a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice)
How to Make Cranberry Cheesecake Bars
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Prepare an 8- x 8-inch (or 9- x 9-inch) baking pan with a layer of parchment paper or aluminum foil. Spray with baking spray and set aside. Leave some of the paper to overhang so that you can remove the bars from the pan easier.
Cranberry Sauce
- In a small saucepan combine the sugar and water over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Once the sugar is dissolved add the washed and drained cranberries and cook for 10 minutes. The berries will start to pop and burst. Then add the orange zest and spices(if using) to the cranberry mixture and mix well. Start with a pinch of spices and season to your taste. Remove from heat and let cool. The mixture thickens as it cools.
Topping and Crust
- In a bowl combine brown sugar, flour, oats, and salt, then add melted butter and vanilla extract. Using a pastry cutter or your clean hands mix until crumbly.
- Pour 2/3 of the crumb mixture into the prepared pan and press firmly in an even layer over the bottom.
Cheesecake Mixture
- Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. Turn the oven down to 325 F.
- In a medium bowl combine softened cream cheese with sugar. Stir the mixture until smooth. (You can also use a hand mixer, a stand mixer or a food processor to make the cheesecake mixture).
- Add the egg, and mix until smooth, then add the egg yolk and mix until creamy and smooth. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla to the cream cheese mixture, then sift and stir in the flour.
- Pour the creamy cheesecake filling onto pre-baked crust, smooth the top. Set aside.
- Using a spoon drizzle 1 cup of the cranberry sauce over the cream cheese filling.
- Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture over the top of the cream cheese layer and bake for about 38 minutes.
- Bake cheesecake bars until the center is no longer jiggly.
- Remover from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
- Once cooled cut into squares.
- Store in refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving.
Variations
- Use graham cracker crumbs or cookie crumbs to make a buttery graham cracker crust.
- Add almond extract in place or in addition to the vanilla extract.
- Substitute orange juice for some of the water if you want more of a citrus flavor.
- Add cherries to the tart cranberries.
- Use a leftover cranberry sauce or a can of cranberry sauce instead of making the cranberries in this recipe.
How to store cheesecake bars
Let cheesecake come to room temperature and wrap with plastic wrap orstore in an airtight container. Keep the bars refrigerated for up to 4 days or freeze for 1 month.
THAT’S ALL FOR NOW
I hope that you enjoyed these cranberry cream cheese bars they are the perfect dessert for the holiday season and are a great addition to your candy and cookie platters.
Don’t forget to hop over to visit Sheri and see her recipe for Cranberry Curd Mud Hen Bars.
Have a great day friends, thank you for spending part of your day with me.
You can also keep up with me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook. And last but not least, if you like Pinecones & Acorns share it with a friend!
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Print Easy Cranberry Cheesecake Bars with Crumble Topping
Cranberry cheesecake bars are the perfect holiday dessert, creamy cheesecake, a buttery crust and crumble top and colorful cranberries.
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
Ingredients
Crust
- 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup quick cooking oats
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean extract
Cheesecake Filling
- 1 1/2 packages full fat cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Prepare an 8- x 8-inch (or 9- x 9-inch) baking pan with a layer of parchment paper or aluminum foil. Spray with baking spray and set aside. Leave some of the paper to overhang so that you can remove the bars from the pan easier.
- In a small saucepan combine the sugar and water over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Once the sugar is dissolved add the washed and drained cranberries and cook for 10 minutes. The berries will start to pop and burst. Then add the orange zest and spices(if using) to the cranberry mixture and mix well. Start with a pinch of spices and season to taste. Remove from heat and let cool. The mixture thickens as it cools.
- In a bowl combine brown sugar, flour, oats, and salt, then add melted butter and vanilla extract. Using a pastry cutter or your clean hands mix until crumbly.
- Pour 2/3 of the crumb mixture into the prepared pan and press firmly in an even layer over the bottom.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. Turn the oven down to 325 F.
- In a medium bowl combine softened cream cheese with sugar. Stir the mixture until smooth. (You can also use a hand mixer, a stand mixer or a food processor to make the cheesecake mixture).
- Add the egg, and mix until smooth, then add the egg yolk and mix until creamy and smooth. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla to the cream cheese mixture, then sift and stir in the flour.
- Pour the creamy cheesecake filling onto pre-baked crust, smooth the top. Set aside.
- Using a spoon drizzle 1 cup of the cranberry sauce over the cream cheese filling.
- Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture over the top of the cream cheese layer and bake for about 38 minutes.
- Bake cheesecake bars until the center is no longer jiggly.
- Remover from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
- Once cooled cut into squares.
- Store in refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving.
Notes
If you make the cranberry sauce recipe included here you will have extra, you only need 1 cup for these bars. You can use the additional sauce on sandwiches, or make more bars or a cranberry swirl cake.
- Prep Time: 25
- Cook Time: 55
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
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