The Best, Easy Blueberry Cheesecake Bars with Cinnamon Graham Cracker Crust
Creamy blueberry cheesecake bars with a cinnamon graham cracker crust is the dessert you need this month. Delicious fresh blueberries mixed with cheesecake goodness make the perfectly smooth and velvety topping to a fabulous cinnamon graham cracker crunch underneath!
Inspiration and recipe notes
Last week was such a busy one, and so of course I needed a sweet and fabulous dessert to end the week! I perfected these delicious blueberry cheesecake bars with cinnamon graham cracker crust after a few trials, so I promise they wont disappoint! And it’s less then 10 ingredients…so easy.
Back in December around Christmas time, one of my best friends and I had a little video chat and made Christmas “gingerbread” houses. We actually made them from graham crackers to make it easier, and because we wanted to make small ones so we could still chat for most of the time without stopping to focus on the cute little houses.
Anyway, I decided to get cinnamon graham crackers and only ended up using three out of the entire container. So what’s a girl to do with extra cinnamon graham crackers? Smash them up and use them as a crunchy cinnamony base for cheesecake bars of course! And that’s just what this girl did.
A few notes on this recipe. The key to making sure you have an easy batter to mix for the cheesecake is to ensure your cream cheese is at room temperature. Make sure it is out of the fridge warming up for enough time so when you are ready to bake, the cream cheese is nice and smooth to mix. This will also make the mixing time go down, and ensures that there aren’t chunks of cream cheese that aren’t completely mixed into the batter. This wont taste bad, but trust me that it will be much better with everything combined!
This recipe is also great because you can use other berries if you don’t prefer blueberries. I actually made this recipe another time with raspberries for Eli, because I know he loves them, and it came out absolutely delicious. You can also use this cheesecake as a “base” recipe, omit the berries, and add in some caramel or chocolate for a sweeter twist. The blueberry is my personal favorite, but as a baking enthusiast, the sky’s the limit! I purposely made this recipe so that most other additions would be easy to add in and wouldn’t ruin or alter the texture of the cheesecake.
Definitely get the cinnamon graham crackers instead of the plain ones. Those aren’t bad, but the extra cinnamon flavor already on the crackers give it an extra delicious flavor, and it’s easier with the cinnamon already there.
Lastly, don’t forgot to refrigerate your cheesecake bars for an hour before serving. I love any dessert right out of the oven, but trust me here that the best cheesecake bars are right out of the fridge!
Enjoy!
The Best, Easy Blueberry Cheesecake Bars with Cinnamon Graham Cracker Crust
Equipment
- 8x8 inch square baking pan
Ingredients
Cinnamon Graham Cracker Crust
- 1 sleeve cinnamon graham crackers 1 sleeve = 9 cinnamon graham crackers
- 6 tablespoons butter melted (see notes!)
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
Blueberry Cheesecake Filling
- 12 oz cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar + 1/2 tablespoon for the top
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup buttermilk see notes!
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 + 1/4 cup fresh blueberries
- 2 tablespoons flour
Instructions
Make the cinnamon graham cracker crust
- Preheat the oven to 325 F and prepare an 8x8 inch square baking pan. Use a food processor to crush the graham crackers or put them in a bag and smash them until they are small crumbs. Add these to a bowl and pour in the melted butter. Mix well, until the crackers are all coated, then pour this mix into the baking pan. Press the crust down and all around the bottom of the pan firmly and make sure it completely covers the bottom. Sprinkle the 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar all over the crust. Bake for 12 minutes.
Make the blueberry cheesecake filling and bake
- To a stand mixer or by hand, mix the cream cheese and sugar until well combined. Add in the egg, vanilla, buttermilk and flour and continue to mix until it becomes nice and smooth. Add the blueberries and mix for another minute.
- When the crust is done baking, pour this mix on top and spread it evenly over the pan. Sprinkle the 1/2 teaspoon of granulated sugar over the top of the cheesecake filling. Bake for about 50 minutes (you might need 5 minutes more or less depending on your oven!).
Let it cool and set
- After the cheesecake is done baking, let it cool for 10-15 minutes then pop it in the fridge for at least one hour. Cut into 9 large squares and enjoy!