Strawberry Crumble Cheesecake Bars

Strawberry crumble cheesecake bars are the perfect sweet treat for summer! A homemade graham cracker crust holds a creamy strawberry cheesecake filling and the whole thing gets topped off with a sweet crumb topping.

**These bars are gluten-free, but can easily be made with regular graham crackers and flour!

One of the best parts of summer are juicy, fresh-picked strawberries. Have you ever gone strawberry picking? I say every year I want to go, but then never do. My fresh-picked strawberries come from my CSA. So, they are totally fresh-picked, just not by me. 

Perhaps I should make it a point to get strawberry picking this summer. I’m definitely going to need an abundance of strawberries because these strawberry crumble cheesecake bars are to-die-for. My original intention was for these to be a dessert, but I’ve also been eating them for breakfast. ?

Excuse me while I go grab one. ?

Ok that’s better! It’s really hard to talk about strawberry crumble cheesecake bars and stare at photos without eating one. 

These sweet and tasty bars start out with a typical graham cracker crust. Simply mix together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, a pinch of salt, and melted butter. Press it into a square baking pan and give it a quick pre bake. 

While the crust is cooling, you’ll make the filling. At first, I was going to do a cheesecake layer and then a strawberry layer, but then decided to just mix them together. It gives such a pretty pink hue to the filling and makes the whole process a bit quicker and easier. 

To finish them off, we add a sweet crumb topping.. as if we didn’t have enough deliciousness going on! The crumb topping is the same one that I use for topping crumb pies – it’s my grandmother’s recipe. The only change I made was to use half granulated sugar and half light brown sugar. I really love the flavor of brown sugar and everything is just a little better with brown sugar!

To make these gluten-free I used gluten-free graham crackers and a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend. You can very easily swap those out for regular graham crackers and flour if you aren’t gluten-free. You can also use any berry that you like – I definitely plan on using blueberries!

These bars would also make a fantastic 4th of July dessert – you could swirl in strawberries and blueberries to give them that red, white, and blue look. How cute would that be?! 

I know, I know, I’m getting ahead of myself here. But, the 4th of July will be here before you know it!

In the meantime, enjoy these as a nice sweet treat after dinner, or have ’em for breakfast. No judgement here! 

Strawberry Crumble Cheesecake Bars

2016-06-16 12:30:57

Yields 12

Strawberry crumble cheesecake bars are the perfect sweet treat for summer! A homemade graham cracker crust holds a creamy strawberry cheesecake filling and the whole thing gets topped off with a sweet crumb topping. **These bars can easily be made with regular graham crackers and flour if you aren’t gluten-free!

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Prep Time

20 min

Cook Time

45 min

Total Time

3 hr 5 min

Prep Time

20 min

Cook Time

45 min

Total Time

3 hr 5 min

For the Crust

1. 1 ½ Cups Gluten-Free Graham Cracker Crumbs*
2. 2 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
3. ¼ Teaspoon Salt
4. 6 Tablespoons Melted Butter

For the Filling

1. 1 ½ Cups Fresh Strawberries, hulled and cut in half
2. ½ Lemon, zested and juiced
3. 1 (8 oz.) Block Cream Cheese, at room temperature
4. 4 oz. Mascarpone Cheese, at room temperature
5. ¼ Cup Granulated Sugar
6. 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
7. 1 Large Egg, at room temperature
8. ¼ Teaspoon Salt

For the Crumb Topping

1. 1 Cup All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour*, I used Cup4Cup
2. ¼ Cup Granulated Sugar
3. ¼ Cup Light Brown Sugar
4. ¼ Teaspoon Salt
5. 4 Tablespoons Butter, cut into cubes and kept very cold

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350º.
2. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, salt, and melted butter in and bowl. One all mixed together, pour the mixture into an 8x8 pan. Press the crust into an even layer on the bottom of the pan. Place the pan into the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool while you make the filling.
3. Combine the strawberries, lemon zest, lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon granulated sugar in a small saucepot. Bring to a low simmer and using a masher gently mash the strawberries. You want there to still be small chunks. Remove from the heat and let cool.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese, mascarpone, sugar, vanilla extract, egg, and salt. Turn the mixer to low speed and let the filling mix until just combined, scraping the sides if necessary. Pour in the cooled strawberry mixture and mix until it’s just combined.
5. Pour the filling overtop of the graham cracker crust.
6. In a medium bowl, combine the gluten-free flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, and butter. Using your hands or a pastry blender, combine the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the crumb mixture over the cheesecake filling in an even layer.
7. Bake the bars at 350º for 35-45 minutes, or until they are no longer jiggly in the center. If the top isn’t brown enough, just use the broiler for a minute or two to get it lightly golden.
8. Cool the cheesecake to room temperature and then place into the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours before cutting into bars.
9. The bars will keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Notes

1. *I used 1 box of Schar Honeygrams, which yielded the 1 ½ cups needed for the recipe. You can simply use the same measurement of regular graham crackers and all-purpose flour if you don't need these bars to be gluten-free.
2. *The total time for the recipe includes chilling.

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