Cherry Cheesecake Bars, silky cheesecake on an addictive Oreo crust, topped with cherries! These cheesecake bars are simple to make, but a total crowd-pleasing dessert.
Cherry Cheesecake is one of my husband’s favorite desserts. I say that a lot, but every time it’s true! I love to make him happy so I turned his favorite dessert into bars!
Why didn’t I just make a regular cheesecake and top it with cherries? Well, one, I didn’t want a humungous cheesecake in the fridge. It is just the three of us so there’s a good chance all of it wouldn’t get eaten.
And Cheesecake Bars are an absolutely delicious dessert and they take much less time and effort than if you were to make a regular cheesecake.
So you will see that I have a lot of Cheesecake Bars on my site here, it’s pretty much because we are addicted to them and you can make so many different flavors.
I love playing around with flavors, now this is just your basic Cherry Cheesecake Bar Recipe, but with an Oreo crust instead of a graham cracker crust, we love Oreo’s so I wanted to do that instead.
It really is the perfect pairing, you get chocolate, vanilla creamy cheesecake, and cherries all in one. You really can’t go wrong with that combination at all.
Some of our other favorite cheesecake bar recipes we have on our site include Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Bars, Strawberry Cheesecake Bars and Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- With less bake and chill time than a normal cheesecake, you will have these quicker.
- You can choose to top with whatever pie filling you’d like.
- The chocolate, cherry and cheesecake gives the best flavor profile.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE BELOW):
Oreos
Unsalted butter
Cream cheese
Sour cream
Granulated sugar
Vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
Egg
Cherry pie filling
HOW TO MAKE CHERRY CHEESECAKE BARS:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×9 baking dish with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a food processor, add the Oreos. Pulse into crumbs. Add the butter and mix to combine. Press crust into the bottom of the baking dish and set aside.
- Wipe out the food processor, add the cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, vanilla, and egg. Mix until smooth. Pour over the crust and smooth out with a spatula. Bake for 36 minutes until cheesecake is set but still will be very slightly jiggly just in the center.
- Let cool on the counter for about 10 minutes, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours to set. Cut into bars and serve with cherry topping.
ALTERNATIVES AND AD-ONS FOR CHEESECAKE BARS:
Feel free to make your own cherry sauce to go on top. Or, you can just serve with some fresh-cut fruit or berries.
A dollop of whipped cream or a drizzle of your favorite melted chocolate would be super yummy as well!
I DON’T HAVE A FOOD PROCESSOR, CAN I STILL MAKE THIS?
Of course! I love using one just because you can make everything in it very easily. But, if you don’t have one, no biggie!
You can crush the Oreos by hand by placing them in a ziptop bag and using a rolling pin or anything heavy to crush them up. Warning though, the cookies might punch through the plastic so be careful.
You can make the cheesecake filling in a large bowl and hand mixer. Place the cream cheese in the bowl and cream until smooth. Add the remaining cheesecake filling ingredients and whip until combined. Follow the rest of the recipe directions as is.
HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THESE ARE DONE?
Just like regular cheesecake, Cheesecake Bars will be very slightly jiggly right in the center. If it is loose or jiggles back and forth a lot they are not done. If it doesn’t jiggle at all or is cracked on top, they are overcooked.
HOW TO STORE:
You can store these bars in the pan covered with a lid or plastic/foil for up to 3-4 days.
These can also be frozen. Once baked and cooled completely, wrap the entire dish in plastic wrap and foil. They can be frozen for up to three months.
To thaw, just unwrap and let them sit on the counter until they reach room temperature. Or, place in the fridge overnight to defrost. Once they are no longer frozen, cut and top with the cherry topping!
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- You can swap out the Oreos with Golden Oreos for a more basic crust if you like.
- Try any type of pie filling or fruit mix you want on the top of these bars.
- They need to completely cool before being refrigerated, do not forget that set.
- You can double this recipe and use a 9″x13″ pan if you’d like, a little more time will be needed for baking.
- These can be frozen, see my tips above on how to do that.
If you want a delicious and easy dessert recipe then you have to make these Cherry Cheesecake Bars! They are a fun, simple recipe that you will want to keep around.
If you like this recipe you might also like:
If you’ve tried these CHERRY CHEESECAKE BARS let me know in the comments how it turned out! You can follow me over on PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM OR FACEBOOK to find some more of our mouthwatering recipes!
Cherry Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
- 20 Oreos
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- canned cherry pie filling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x9 baking dish with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a food processor, add the Oreos. Pulse into crumbs. Add the butter and mix to combine. Press crust into the bottom of the baking dish and set aside.
- Wipe out the food processor, add the cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, vanilla, and egg. Mix until smooth. Pour over the crust and smooth out with a spatula. Bake for 36 minutes until cheesecake is set but still will be very slightly jiggly just in the center.
- Let cool on the counter for about 10 minutes, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours to set. Cut into bars and serve with cherry topping.
Notes
- You can swap out the Oreos with Golden Oreos for a more basic crust if you like.
- Try any type of pie filling or fruit mix you want on the top of these bars.
- They need to completely cool before being refrigerated, do not forget that set.
- You can double this recipe and use a 9"x13" pan if you'd like, a little more time will be needed for baking.
- These can be frozen, see my tips above on how to do that.
Nutrition
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I am 100% for anything that combines cherries and cheesecake. Throw in an oreo crust and you’ve put me over the top!
You had me at cheesecake and then you went and added cherry! These are delicious!