Key Lime Cheesecake Bars with a Graham Cookie base.
If that doesn’t sound amazing to you, then you got somethin’ wrong wit’ ya!
Creamy Cheesecake meets Luscious Key Lime Pie meets Graham Cookies.
Trifecta.
These bars are so good you may not want to share!
Be sure not to tell anyone you are making them just in case they never make it out of the kitchen!
This recipe originated as a cake style way back when I owned my bakery and I couldn’t decide what to eat one day: Cheesecake or Key Lime Pie?
Why not both!?
This recipe converts easily into an 10″ Cake pan if that is how you prefer to roll.
The great thing about making the bars though is that the entire recipe is mixed and baked in just under an hour since the depth of the batter here is way thinner than a regular cheesecake would be.
That basically just means you are eating Key Lime Cheesecake bars way faster than Key Lime CheeseCAKE.
That is also why I am not using a water bath to bake these even though it is a cheesecake the bake time is far less so you don’t have as much risk of over baking as you would with a regular cheesecake.
- For the Graham Cookie Base:
- Unsalted Butter 12 Tablespoons (170g)
- Granulated Sugar ⅓ cup (70g)
- Light Brown Sugar ⅓ cup (80g)
- Honey 3 Tablespoons (70g)
- Molasses 3 tablespoons (55g)
- All Purpose Flour 1½ cup (188g)
- Graham Cracker Crumbs ¾ cup (86g)
- Salt ½ teaspoon (3g)
- For the Cheesecake Batter:
- Cream Cheese bars 3- 8ounce packages (677g)
- Granulated Sugar 1 cup (200g)
- Eggs large 4 (200g)
- Egg Yolks 4 (72g)
- Sweetened Condensed Milk ¾ cup (246g)
- Lime Juice ¾ cup (180ml)
- Lime Zest from 1 lime (approx 1½ teaspoons)
- First prepare the graham cookie dough.
- Cream the butter and both sugars together until light and fluffy, about 3- 5 minutes.
- Add the Honey and the Molasses all at once, and mix well to combine, scraping the sides of the bowl to incorporate
- Sift together the flour, graham cracker crumbs and salt and add to the creaming butter mixture all at once, mix on low speed to incorporate, mix well.
- Press the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 18-22 minutes of until golden browned and baked throughout.
- Meanwhile prepare the cheesecake batter by creaming the cream cheese smooth
- Add the granulated sugar & lime zest while mixing on medium speed to smooth.
- Combine the egg yolks & eggs together and then add to the cream cheese batter one at a time, be sure to stop the mixer to scrape the bottom & sides of the bowl for an even mix.
- Add the sweetened condensed mil all at once and mix smooth
- Add the lime juice slowly while mixing on low speed.
- Take out ½ cup of the batter and mix it with 2 drops of green food color.
- Pour the remaining u- colored batter into the cooled graham cookie base
- Swirl the green batter into the colorless batter
- Bake in preheated 350°F oven for 25 minutes.
- Turn oven off after 25 minutes (as long as the cheesecake seems set click here) and allow it to cool down with the oven for another 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven, cool to room temperature then refrigerate overnight
- Cut into desired portions
Store in an airtight container for up to 9 days
Love the dancing disco jello cube! Oh and the cheese cake looks yummy! Dancin with the jello..sorry got carried a way there.
Dear Gretchen, please share your coconut crunch cookies recipe . It’s my family’s favorite cookies.
Hi Ill be sharing coconut macaroons very soon! thanks!
Can we also use oreos instead of Graham?
SURE!
Hi Getchen,
My question has nothing to do with this recipe,but I’ d like to know if the heavy cream mentioned in recipes for cheesecake has 35% fat or more and should be o.k. with only 35% fat?
Thanks a lot,
Anna
yes 35% is great
Recipe looks awesome, got to do it next week. Q: Can vanilla or chocolate wafers be used instead of Graham?
yes absolutely!
Thank you!!!
Can these be made ahead of time of event and be frozen?
yes
thank you
Can you create a white chocolate blueberry cheesecake? I love you recipes so much!
Yumm sounds awesome! and thanks! Ill add it to the list!
Hello Gretchen to make the cheesecakes can i used the gramham crust instead of the gramham shorbread crust you used in the recipe .
Yeah sure!
Hello, could you use agave or maple syrup in crust instead of honey? Thank you
yes definitely
Hi Gretchen
Do i double the recipe for half a sheet pan quantity and can i use honey only for the cookie base.
Thank you
Daisy xx
Hi Daisy, yes you will double everything for a 12″ X 18″ pan and yes to only honey that would be fine
🙂
Hello Gretchen,
Can I just make this into a regular cheesecake instead of the bars?
yes sure
Hi gretchen. Can i omit molasses in the recipe? Thank you so much.
Yes sure, add maple or agave instead
Hi Gretchen!
How would the measurements change if I wanted to not make them key lime and just make them like a regular vanilla cheesecake bar.
Thank you!
Use this recipe CLICK HERE
Hello Gretchen! I have had rave reviews for your NY Style cheese cake and I have to say, it’s the best I’ve ever tasted! I have made 6 so far, and have been asked for more! Each one perfect thanks to your exceptional video tutorials! Thank you!! SSooo…When making this recipe in cake form, would I follow the bake time for the NY style cheese cake AND a water bath? I am so spoiled now by the rich, silky texture of the NY style, will this be a fair comparison? And yes, I will try it for myself and get my answer, but your professional opinion is very much appreciated! 😉
HI Great thanks, yes you can bake this in a cake pan, same rules apply as you do it for the other cheesecake recipe
Can I bake this in an aluminum pie pan??
yes
The best key lime pie I have EVER tasted or made!!!