Ingredients
CRUST:
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 8 tablespoons butter (melted)
FILLING:
- 3 8 ounce bars full fat cream cheese (room temperature)
- 3 eggs (room temperature)
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice (about one large lemon)
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest (about the zest of one lemon)
- 1 12.7 ounce jar lemon curd
Instructions
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Line 9x13 pan with foil or parchment paper.
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
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In a medium bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar. Press into the prepared 9x13 pan.
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Bake for 10 minutes. Remove and set aside.
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Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.
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In a large mixing bowl add the cream cheese, eggs, sour cream, sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest. Beat until smooth and no lumps remain.
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Pour filling onto graham cracker base.
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Drop spoonfuls of lemon curd randomly over the top of the cheesecake base. Using a knife gently swirl the lemon curd into the dough (not going all the way to the crust but just on top).
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Bake for 40 minutes at 325 degrees. Center will be slightly jiggly in the center and will firm up as they cool.
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Allow them to cool at least 3 hours and once cooled down preferably continued cooling overnight in the fridge to make for easier slicing.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Tips for Making Lemon Cheesecake Bars
Tip 1: Use one large lemon for all of the lemon ingredients. If you do it right, you can zest the lemon first and leave it in a bowl to use when needed. Then, cut the lemon in half and juice it to get your fresh lemon juice. That way, you are using the entire lemon and there is no waste! If you juice it first, it makes it more difficult to get the zest!
Tip 2: If you don’t have a juicer at home for your lemons, that’s no problem! You can use the backside of a spoon to make sure that you get all the juice possible out of your lemon.
Tip 3: These are much better if they have the chance to cool completely overnight in the fridge. That way they can stiffen up and will be much easier to cut. I recommend making them one day before you actually plan to serve them.
Tip 4: Use the back of a knife when swirling the lemon curd into the cheesecake mixture, but do so carefully! When you’re swirling the two together, you do not want to over swirl, or your risk losing the beautiful pattern it creates.