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Cranberry Cheesecake Bars are creamy white chocolate cheesecake on a golden cookie crust, crowned with sparkly sugared cranberries. I made a pan of these for a *chilly holiday weekend* and Maddie declared the sugared cranberries on top the prettiest thing I have ever baked. If you love our caramel apple cheesecake cake, these festive bars bring that same rich, tangy cheesecake magic in an easy sliceable form.
They are creamy, tangy, and just sweet enough, with a pop of tart cranberry in every bite.
Cranberry Cheesecake Bars Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 36 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 2 hours 51 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 9 bars
- ⚡ Calories: 554kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Creamy white chocolate cheesecake with tart, sugared cranberries
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, a make ahead holiday dessert like our caramel apple pudding
Quick Answer
Press a golden cookie crumb crust into a pan, then blend a simple white chocolate cheesecake filling and pour it over the top. Bake the Cranberry Cheesecake Bars until set, chill until firm, and finish with a batch of easy sugared cranberries and a white chocolate drizzle before slicing.
Jump to:
- Cranberry Cheesecake Bars Quick Look
- Quick Answer
- Why This Recipe Works
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Key Ingredients
- Variations and Substitutions
- How to Make Cranberry Cheesecake Bars
- Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Serving Ideas and Suggestions
- Cranberry Cheesecake Bars FAQs
- Other Recommended Holiday Dessert Recipes
- White Chocolate Cranberry Cheesecake Bars
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- A golden cookie crust. Crushed golden sandwich cookies make an easy, buttery crust with a hint of vanilla that pairs perfectly with cranberry.
- White chocolate cheesecake. White chocolate melted into the filling makes it extra creamy and sweet, balancing the tart cranberries beautifully.
- Sugared cranberries on top. Rolling fresh cranberries in sugar gives them a sparkly, frosted look and a sweet tart crunch that makes these bars feel festive.
- Made in a food processor. The crust and filling both come together right in the food processor, so cleanup is quick and the texture is silky smooth.
- Easy to slice and serve. Baked in a pan and cut into neat squares, these bars are perfect for holiday trays and gatherings.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- They look stunning on a holiday dessert table, all frosty cranberries and creamy cheesecake.
- The white chocolate and cranberry combo is tangy, sweet, and completely irresistible, a lot like our pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes.
- They are make ahead friendly, so you can prep them before the party and slice when you are ready.
- It delivers that same everyone asks for seconds energy as our white chocolate golden oreo cheesecake bars.
- It earns a spot in the rotation right next to our pumpkin oatmeal cookies.
- It delivers that same everyone asks for seconds energy as our white chocolate raspberry cheesecake.
Key Ingredients
Here is a quick look at the simple ingredients that make these Cranberry Cheesecake Bars so festive and creamy.
- Golden Sandwich Cookies: Crushed into a buttery crust with a sweet vanilla flavor that is perfect under the tangy cheesecake.
- Cream Cheese and Sour Cream: The base of a rich, tangy, ultra creamy cheesecake filling.
- White Chocolate Chips: Melted into the filling and drizzled on top for extra sweetness and that classic white chocolate cranberry pairing.
- Fresh Cranberries: Rolled in sugar to make sparkly sugared cranberries, they add tart flavor and a festive finish, a lot like the fruit in our lemon blueberry coffee cake.
- Sugar, Egg, and Vanilla: The simple pantry staples that sweeten and set the cheesecake layer.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
These Cranberry Cheesecake Bars are easy to make your own. Here are a few tasty twists to try.
- Swap the crust: Use graham cracker or gingersnap crumbs instead of golden cookies for a different flavor base.
- Add orange: Stir a little orange zest into the filling for a bright cranberry orange flavor.
- Cranberry swirl: Swirl a spoonful of cranberry sauce through the filling before baking for a marbled look.
- Simple topping: Skip the sugared cranberries and finish with just a white chocolate drizzle if you are short on time.
- More holiday desserts: If you love these, try our caramel apple pudding cups next.
- If you want to switch things up, our soft white chocolate cranberry cookies recipe plays on similar flavors in a whole new way.
- In the mood for something different? Our pumpkin cheese ball scratches a similar itch.
- If you want to switch things up, our cream cheese banana bread plays on similar flavors in a whole new way.
How to Make Cranberry Cheesecake Bars
- Pulse the golden cookies in a food processor into fine crumbs, mix with melted butter, and press firmly into the bottom of a lined baking pan.
- Add the cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, vanilla, and egg to the food processor and blend until smooth and creamy.
- Pour the filling over the crust and scatter white chocolate chips on top.
- Bake until the center is just set, then let the bars cool and chill in the fridge until firm.
- Make the sugared cranberries by tossing fresh cranberries in a simple syrup, then rolling them in sugar and letting them dry until sparkly.
- Cut the chilled cheesecake into bars, top with the sugared cranberries, and finish with a white chocolate drizzle.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Press the crust firmly. A well packed crust holds together when you slice, so press it down evenly with the bottom of a glass.
- Do not overbake. The cheesecake should be set at the edges but still slightly jiggly in the center, since it firms up as it chills.
- Chill until firm. Give the bars plenty of time in the fridge so they slice into clean, neat squares.
- Line the pan. Parchment paper with an overhang lets you lift the whole slab out for easy cutting.
- Dry the cranberries. Let the sugared cranberries sit until the coating is dry and sparkly so they do not get sticky on the bars.
- Wipe your knife. Wipe the blade clean between cuts for tidy, bakery style bars.
- Make it a full spread. Our pumpkin snickerdoodles rounds out the table.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
These Cranberry Cheesecake Bars are made for the holidays, gorgeous on a Christmas cookie tray or a Thanksgiving dessert spread. The sugared cranberries make them look bakery special with almost no effort.
Cranberry Cheesecake Bars FAQs
Yes. These Cranberry Cheesecake Bars are a perfect make ahead dessert. Bake and chill them a day in advance, then add the sugared cranberries and white chocolate drizzle closer to serving so they look fresh.
Toss fresh cranberries in a simple syrup of sugar and water, then roll them in granulated sugar and let them dry. This gives the Cranberry Cheesecake Bars their sparkly, frosted topping.
Fresh cranberries work best for the sugared topping on these Cranberry Cheesecake Bars. Frozen ones release too much moisture and turn soft, so save those for a cooked cranberry sauce instead.
Store Cranberry Cheesecake Bars covered in the refrigerator for up to four days. Because they are cheesecake, keep them chilled until you are ready to serve.
Yes. Freeze the baked, un topped Cranberry Cheesecake Bars tightly wrapped for up to two months. Thaw in the fridge and add the sugared cranberries fresh before serving.
Golden vanilla sandwich cookies make a sweet, buttery crust for these Cranberry Cheesecake Bars. You can also use graham crackers or gingersnaps for a different flavor.
Still filling out the menu? Readers love pairing this one with our cranberry coffee cake, pumpkin sheet cake, pumpkin donut holes, and pumpkin monkey bread.
And when you are planning next week’s dinners, our gingerbread bars keeps the same easy comfort going.
White Chocolate Cranberry Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
White Chocolate Cheesecake
- 12 Golden Oreos
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 8 oz cream cheese room temp
- 1/3 Cup sour cream
- 1/3 Cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- 1 egg
- 1/2 Cup white chocolate chips
Topping
- 2 Cups fresh cranberries room temp
- 1/3 Cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 Cup water
- 1 1/2 Cup granulated sugar separated from the other sugar
- 3/4 Cup white chocolate chips
Instructions
White Chocolate Cheesecake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place golden oreos in a food processor and pulse to form crumbs. Drizzle in the butter to coat and pulse to combine. Press crust into the bottom of a 9×9 baking pan that is lined with foil or parchment paper. Bake for 5 minutes, set aside.
- Place the remaining ingredients except for the white chocolate into a food processor. Pulse until smooth. Add in the chocolate and pulse to break up the cups and mix. Pour mix over the crust, bake for 35 minutes, filling will be slightly jiggly. Allow to cool on a wired rack for 1 hour. Cover and place in fridge to set for at least 3 hours or overnight.
Topping
- First make the sugared cranberries. Place the 1/3 Cup sugar and water into a shallow pan over medium heat, whisk until the sugar melts and comes to a simmer. Take off the heat. Add in the cranberries to coat. With a slotted spoon, scoop out the cranberries onto a wired rack over a sheet tray. Make sure cranberries are not touching. Allow to dry for 1 hour.
- Place the remaining sugar in a shallow pan. In small batches, roll the cranberries in the sugar. Place on a clean sheet tray and allow to dry an additional hour.
- Cut cheesecake bars into 9 equal pieces. Melt the white chocolate and place in a baggie with the end snipped off and drizzle over the cheesecake slices. Top with the sugared cranberries. Enjoy! Store in the refrigerator in an air tight container.
Nutrition
Love This Recipe?
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Oh, wow, these bars are incredibly beautiful indeed!
Nope, no orange zest in this recipe. Although, I bet that will be delicious!
I don’t see orange zest mentioned in the recipe, but it sure looks like there is orange zest in them and I added the zest of 2 oranges to the batch I just put in the oven.
Yes, as I showed in the gif, I drizzled each bar individually and then pressed in the cranberries right away. This way they stuck while the white chocolate was cooling. Also, the white chocolate chips don’t break up too much like you said. I like it this way, but if you want it more incorporated I suggest melting the chocolate down, letting it cool slightly and then adding it into the cheesecake mixture that way. I hope this helped I’m so glad they came out pretty still! Thanks so much for taking the time out to comment on them. 🙂
I just made these last night, so pretty (maybe the first time I made a Pinterest recipe that came out looking like the pictures)! However, do you have any tips for getting the cranberries to stick to the bars? By the time I had piped all the white chocolate drizzle on my bars, the drizzle had solidified and my cranberries just roll around on top of the bars. Also, my white chocolate chips didn’t break up much in the food processor, so it could be a difference in white chocolate chips?
This recipe looks so delicious! Hi, I’m Anita visiting from Pin Junkie Pin Party.
These are gorgeous! Thanks for linking up with What’s Cookin’ Wednesday!
These look AMAZING! Just pinned and will make soon!
These cranberries are beautiful!!!!! For real, it was the cranberries that drew me in :). i might have to try these out!!