Cherry Swirled Cheesecake Bars

Sorry for yet another disappearing act. I’d bore you with the details of where I’ve been (I have exciting news to come on that front!) but in more important news, we have cherry swirled cheesecake bars to discuss. I’m having oven issues, so mine came out a bit … um toasty, but I assure you, they are perfection.

Cheesecake and I have a long and troubled past. I’ve only attempted it a few times, and can rack up only a few successes: a berry cupcake version, a piña colada version and one white chocolate version that’s kind of cheating since it’s no-bake. This oreo version tasted amazing but looked … damaged, and there have been a few other flops so disastrous that I didn’t even bother to mention them here. So slightly burned but delicious = a win in my book, at least when it comes to cheesecake.

Why did I go down this path, if I’d been burned (ha.) before? I had a handful of juuuuust barely still good cherries in the fridge, plus a big bag of bright shiny new cherries that I couldn’t resist (on sale!), and plans to go to the beach this weekend. So obviously my mind went directly to transportable dessert. While hand pies seemed to be a natural solution, I didn’t really want to mess around with pie crusts. And then I spotted a recipe for cherry cheesecake bars on Bake or Break that seemed too good to pass up. Creamy tangy cheesecake with a tart-sweet swirl of fresh cherry sauce — I had to try it.

Oven issues aside, this is a fairly simple recipe, even though there are a few steps. The only difficult part of the cherry sauce is pitting the cherries, which is a cinch if you have a cherry pitter and a slightly messy, kind-of-weirdly-fun way to pass the time if you don’t. Crushing the graham cracker crumbs is also kind of fun in a get-your-rage-out sort of way (if you have a food processor*, a few minutes worth of work). Everything else is minimal work, and honestly, the hardest part of this recipe is sitting around waiting for the bars to cool enough so that you can dig in.

*Despite almost 10 years of fairly frequent, oft-ambitious cooking, I still don’t have a food processor. At this point, it’s almost a game to see how long I can go before I succumb.

Cherry Swirled Cheesecake Bars

• Yield: 24 1x

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Ingredients

For the cherry swirl

• 2 cups pitted fresh cherries (or 1 bag defrosted and drained frozen cherries)
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch, sifted if clumpy
• juice of half a large lemon

For the crust

• 12 sheets honey graham crackers, crushed into fine crumbs (or cinnamon)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (omit if using cinnamon graham crackers)
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the filling

• 16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• a heaping 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• juice of half a large lemon

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Instructions

1. Make the cherry swirl: In a medium saucepan, combine the cherries and sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon zest, cornstarch and lemon juice. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes, until the sauce has thickened. Set aside to cool.
2. Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a 9-x-13 baking pan.
3. Mix the graham cracker crumbs, cinnamon (if using), and butter until thoroughly combined. Press the mixture firmly and evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.
4. Bake for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.
5. While the crust is baking, use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, eggs and lemon juice until smooth and well combined.
6. Use a food processor or stick blender to blend the cherry sauce until smooth and pourable.
7. Once the crust has cooled slightly, pour the cream cheese mixture onto the crust and spread in an even layer.
8. Dollop 8-10 tablespoonfuls of the cherry mixture over the cream cheese mixture, then use a sharp knife to swirl the cherry mixture into the cheesecake filling. (I was a bit heavy-handed with my dollops — you should have some leftover cherry sauce, which you should 100% spoon over vanilla ice cream.)
9. Bake for 35-45 minutes, rotating the pan halfway, until the bars are set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (My oven is way janky, so mine didn’t set up til 50-ish minutes in, and the top got a little … toasty. While they still tasted great, I’d watch yours like a hawk from 35 minutes onward.)
10. Cool the bars to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours before serving.

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