Vanilla Bean Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs, about 8 whole crackers
- 4 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 5 tablespoons melted butter
Batter
- 16 ounces (2 large packages) cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup heavy cream or sour cream
- 3 large eggs
- 2 to 3 teaspoons Vanilla Crush or vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lemon peel, optional
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice, optional
Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2) To make the crust: Stir together the crumbs, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and melted butter.
3) Press into the bottom and about 1/2" inch up the sides of an 8" x 8" square pan.
4) Freeze for 15 minutes if using a metal pan (not necessary if using ceramic or glass). Note: this is to prevent the edges of the crust from slumping. If you're not worried about slumping (and in our testing, it only happened some of the time), you can skip this step.
5) Bake the crust for 8 to 10 minutes, until set; the color won't change much.
6) Remove the crust from the oven and cool for a few minutes while you lower the oven temperature to 325°F.
7) To make the batter: Mix the cream cheese and sugar together until smooth.
8) Add the cream, eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice; mix until combined, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as you mix.
9) Spoon the batter into the crust.
10) Bake the bars for 30 to 40 minutes, until the filling is set but still soft in the center. An instant-read thermometer, inserted into the filling about 1" in from the edge, will read about 180°F.
11) Remove the bars from the oven, and cool at room temperature for 30 minutes. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
12) Just before serving, top with fresh berries, fruit pie filling, or whipped cream.
Yield: 16 servings.
Reviews
10/14/2011- I don't eat cheesecake but this recipe was chosen for a pot luck supper, without whipped topping and fruit. It was all eaten up and I was asked for the recipe. I asked for opinions and the graham cracker crust was over cooked on the edges. At first I thought I ruined it! It was hard for me to slice and the first couple of slices got mushed when I released them from the pan. After that I was able to put a wide spreader underneath the bottom of the crust and the rest of the cheesecake lifted right up and was easy to put on parchment paper for cutting. I baked the crumb crust for 7 minutes. Any suggestions? Can I put parchment paper down before baking for easier release too? Thank you.
When in doubt, make a sling! Use parchment paper that fits the bottom of the pan (fold under the two long edges), crease to sit in the corners and let the extra hang out of the top of the pan. You can fold the extra down and secure with clips on the outside or top edge of the pan. Once the brownies or bars are cooked and cooled, you can lift the product right up out of the pan! Happy Baking! Irene @ KAF
- 06/21/2011
- Recently I made this delicious dessert and we all loved it. I made it again but wanted to double the recipe-I called KAF and spoke with Frank, your baker. He assisted me with determining how to double the recipe. Go ahead and double all of the ingredients with the exception of the lemon juice and zest. Triple the lemon juice and zest for full lemon flavor. Bake an additional 10 minutes or so. Yummy!
- 03/30/2011
- Delicious and simple! I never made cheesecake before and these turned out perfect. They required a bit more time on the baking, but using the tip for measuring the temperature was very helpful for me. I refrigerated the bars overnight for guests. The flavor improved even on the third day.
- 03/19/2011
- These bars are amazing! The flavor and consistency is superb. I added one additional tsp. of vanilla bean crush as some other posters recommended. After cooling the bars and refrigerating them, I melted some Ghiradelli chocolate chips in the microwave, draped a sandwich bag inside a coffee cup, poured the chocolate into the bag and snipped a very small corner off...then piped chocolate onto the bars and refrigerated again until the chocolate sat up. They look as nice as they did on the front of the King Arthur catalog!
- 03/07/2011
- My husband found this in the catalog. I made it for him (and the son, a huge cheesecake fan) and it's excellent. As another reviewer mentioned, I used 8 oz. regular cream cheese and 8 oz. Neufchatel, and I baked the bars about 12 minutes longer than the recipe suggested. The texture was perfect after chilling. The only change I would make would be to increase the vanilla extract by another teaspoon.
- 03/06/2011
- Wow - these are amazing! Very creamy and vanilla-y.
- 03/02/2011
- People raved about these. I decorated them with a little splooch of whipped cream and a raspberry right before serving. I think next time I'm cutting off the sides so they all look more uniform. The filling pulls away a bit from the edge when it cools and isn't quite as tasty looking.
- 03/01/2011
- I served this recipe at a family party recently, and it was a complete smash hit. My brother-in-law said it was the best cheesecake he has ever had. I cut back the sugar a little and used pure vanilla extract (not vanilla crush), but put in an extra teaspoon. I also omitted the lemon peel, since I prefer a completely smooth filling. It was delicious!!
02/28/2011- Very nice texture and flavor. I used a "natural" cream cheese without thickening agents and found success using a small, square, straight-sided container to even out the graham crust before baking. Colorful petit four papers were perfect for smallish, one inch servings. I think the recipe would also taste great using tangy tangelo zest and juice.
- 02/27/2011
- Followed the recipe exactly... but used one of those pre-made cheesecake crust. Too much cheese for one crust, so baked the rest in 2 souffle cups =) Felt that the cake was a tad too sweet. Perhaps 3/4 cup of sugar would be ideal for those who prefer cheesecakes that are less sweet. =) Texture is great! Great cheesecake for any occasion!
