Cream Cheese Crumb Bars

Cream Cheese Crumb Bars have a walnut crumb bottom and top layer with sweet cream cheese in between. This easy dessert is fantastic!

Quick and Easy Cheesecake Bars

I’ve got a serious weakness when it comes to cheesecake – and these Cream Cheese Crumb Bars are an easy and very delicious way to get my fix!

We found this vintage recipe in my mother’s old recipe box, and it’s the perfect sweet treat when you have a craving for cheesecake – but don’t have the time to prepare the full dessert.

The same light and buttery walnut crumb mixture makes up the bottom crust as well as the top – and a light and creamy cream cheese filling sweetens up the middle. 

The filling also has a slightly lemony flavor (thanks to the addition of fresh lemon juice) and it adds a perfect amount of brightness so these bars are sweet – but not too sweet!

We cut our cream cheese crumb bars into 18 triangles for a bite-size treat – or you could serve this as larger squares for dessert. Either way – these are a delicious – and any cheesecake lover in your life will surely love these cream cheese crumb bars!

• The sweet and lemony cream cheese filling with the buttery walnut crumb topping is the perfect flavor combination.
• This recipe is quick and easy to make – and you can easily double the recipe to make a larger quantity if needed.

• Cream Cheese – Full-fat cream cheese is best for this recipe.
• Walnuts – Or other nuts such as pecans or almonds.
• Butter – Either salted or unsalted can be used.
• Sugar – You’ll use brown sugar in the base and topping, while granulated sugar is added to the cream cheese filling.
• All-Purpose Flour
• Oil – Canola or vegetable oil
• Egg
• Whole Milk or Light Cream
• Lemon Juice – We always suggest using fresh lemon juice.
• Vanilla Extract

While we’ve only made the recipe as written, we’ve had a number of readers swap out the nuts and replace them with oatmeal with good results.

1. Line an 8×8-inch baking pan with foil, allowing the ends to hang over the edges of the pan. This will help you easily lift the baked slab out of the pan for cutting.
2. Mix butter, brown sugar, flour, and half of the walnuts together to form small crumbs. Set one cup aside to be used later for the topping.
3. Press the remaining crumb mixture into the foil-lined pan. Bake for 12 minutes, then set aside to cool.
4. Add more brown sugar and walnuts to the reserved cup of the crumb mixture, along with some oil. Mix and set aside.
5. Cream sugar and cream cheese together until light and fluffy.
6. Add egg, milk, lemon juice, and vanilla and beat again until very light and creamy.
7. Pour the filling over the baked and cooled bottom crust.
8. Sprinkle the reserved walnut-crumb topping evenly over the cream cheese filling.
9. Bake for 25 minutes, then cool in the pan on a rack.
10. Carefully lift out of the pan, using the edges of the foil to lift. Place onto a cutting board and fold the foil edges down flat.
11. Cut into bars or triangles for serving.

• Can I make Cream Cheese Crumb Bars ahead of time? Yes. You can fully bake these bars ahead of time and refrigerate until ready to serve. We suggest bringing them to room temperature before serving for the creamiest texture and best flavor.
• Can I make these in a 9×13-inch pan? Yes, but you’ll need to double the recipe ingredients and the baking time may vary.
• Can I freeze these bars? We haven’t tried doing so ourselves, but it should work. Since the bars are delicate, we suggest freezing them in the baking pan, pressing parchment paper or plastic wrap directly on top of the crumb topping to avoid freezer burn. Then wrap well before freezing.

This Cream Cheese Crumb Bars recipe originally appeared on A Family Feast in February 2015. We’ve updated the photos and post, but the delicious recipe remains the same.

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