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Last Updated on March 30, 2021 by Chenée Lewis
These amazing little sugar cookie blueberry cream cheese bars are bursting with blueberries and brightened by lemon zest and juice, and they all come together with just 8 ingredients? You better believe it!
I made these quick little dessert bars on my Instagram stories this weekend, and it just took a few minutes to get them ready for the oven! The secret? Store-bought cookie dough. Much like my Funfetti Cookie Cheesecake Bars, these blueberry cream cheese bars are semi-homemade, made up of a quick cheesecake filling sandwiched between a sugar cookie crust and a sugar cookie crumb topping. If you can use a hand mixer and get your hands on some sugar cookie dough, you can make these 8-ingredient blueberry cream cheese bars!
Ingredients
- softened cream cheese – make sure your cream cheese is room temperature! If it’s too cold, your filling might end up lumpy.
- lemon zest – this gives the cheesecake filling its lemony flavor! You can add a little extra to boost the lemon flavor if you like.
- pure vanilla extract – vanilla is great in everything, and goes so well with the blueberry and lemon flavors in these blueberry cream cheese bars.
- an egg – helps to thicken and bind together the cheesecake filling.
- granulated sugar (optional) – If you’d like to sweeten up your cheesecake layer a bit more, or if your blueberries are out of season and not that sweet, you can add a little white sugar. But trust me — I have a major sweet tooth and with the sweetness of the blueberries, the sugar cookie dough, and the lemon icing, I didn’t feel like it needed any!
- sugar cookie dough – I used a 16.5 oz container of Pillsbury cookie dough (the kind that is cut into cookie squares. You’ll need half of the dough for the crust and the other half for the topping.
- blueberries – they can be fresh or frozen, but if you use frozen blueberries be sure to thaw them and drain any excess liquid first.
Equipment
This blueberry cream cheese bars recipe is very simple, so you won’t need too many complicated tools. What I used for this recipe is a 9×9 baking pan, parchment paper, a whisk, a rubber spatula, and a hand mixer. Click below to grab some of the tools you might need:
Step by Step
- Preheat your oven and prep your pan.
- Beat together your cheesecake filling ingredients: cream cheese, vanilla, egg, and lemon zest, and sugar if you’re using it.
- Press half of the sugar cookie dough into your pan and spread the cream cheese mixture on top.
- Sprinkle on your blueberries and top with small chunks of the remaining dough.
- Bake until golden brown, cool completely, then chill for 2 hours.
- For your icing, whip together your lemon juice and powdered sugar and drizzle over your cooled bars. Let it set, and enjoy your blueberry cream cheese bars!
Tips and F.A.Q.
This is a trick that I share in my Kitchen & Baking Cheat Sheet — if you’re short on time, you can just remove the foil and place your cream cheese on a microwave-safe plate, and heat it in the microwave on high for 15-20 seconds. It’s that easy!
I love making dessert bars — they’re so easy! But they became even easier once I started lining my pan with parchment paper. This quick step works on brownies, these blueberry cream cheese bars, snack cakes, and anything else that you make in a square or rectangular pan. Just cut a long strip of parchment paper that covers the whole bottom but hangs over the sides and place it in your 9×9 pan before filling it. The parchment will keep the bars from sticking to the bottom of the pan, and the pieces hanging over the side help you to remove the cooled bars all at once! This helps you to cut and serve your dessert bars easily and neatly! It’s truly a game-changer!
To store these blueberry cream cheese bars, place them in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days. These bars also freeze very well! Just allow the cut bars to freeze uncovered until solid, and then wrap in foil and place in a freezer bag for up to 3 months.
Related Recipes
If you like how easy these blueberry cream cheese bars are, you will definitely want to try my Funfetti sugar cookie cheesecake bars! They’re made with the same method, but even easier! Plus, they’re festive and full of sprinkles!
You should also definitely try my cast-iron skillet blueberry cobbler — it’s made right in the skillet with fresh or frozen blueberries, topped with an easy biscuit topping, and sprinkled with whiskey barrel smoked sugar! It’s full of amazing flavors and you’ll definitely love it!
Blueberry Cream Cheese Bars – So Easy with just 8 Ingredients!
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Ingredients
- baking spray
- 8 oz full-fat cream cheese - room temperature
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg - room temperature
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- ¼ granulated sugar - (optional)*
- 1 container sugar cookie dough - 16 oz to 18 oz
- 1 cup blueberries - thawed and drained if frozen
- 1 cup powdered sugar - (113g)
- 1-3 tbsp fresh lemon juice - or as needed for desired consistency
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×9 baking pan with baking spray and line with parchment paper, hanging parchment over sides of pan for easy removal.
- In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth.
- Add vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and sugar (if using). Beat until smooth.
- Press half of sugar cookie dough evenly into the bottom of the pan.
- Spread cream cheese mixture over dough, and sprinkle evenly with blueberries.
- Drop chunks of remaining dough evenly over blueberries.
- Bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes, or until cookie topping is golden brown.
- Remove from oven and cool completely at room temperature, then chill in refrigerator for 2 hours.
- To make icing, whisk together lemon juice and powdered sugar in a bowl, adding more or less lemon juice for desired consistency. Drizzle over chilled bars and allow to set before slicing.
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Made it for a family gathering. It was absolutely delicious everyone needed seconds!! We will be making this recipe all the time.
Fantastic! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them!
These bars are the perfect mix of lemon, blueberry, cheesecake, and sugar cookies. You have to try them to believe it!
Thank you!! That definitely sums these bars up 🙂
These bars are so delicious and so easy to make! I love the burst of blueberry in every bite! Great recipe!
Thank you! The blueberries make it so delicious!
Oh lord!!!! I almost licked my screen!! These bites look immaculate and it is a huge plus that they are so simple to make! Thank you for sharing!
I hope you enjoy!! 🙂
These cheesecake bars are so moist and delicious, I was tempted to eat them all by myself. The blueberries and cream cheese made them even more decadent.
I totally get that temptation! They’re so good!
I made these bars to serve for last night’s dessert and they did NOT disappoint. The lemon added just the right amount of pucker.
Glad you liked them! I love the lemon in there to brighten them up just a bit.
These were some of the best cheescake bars I’ve ever had! I can’t wait to make them again for a brunch we’re hosting.
Thank you!! They’re totally a go-to recipe!
This is one of those recipes I didn’t know I needed until I tried it! I love blueberry everything and this recipe was no different! SO BOMB!!!!
If you love blueberries this bars are perfect for you! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
I love baking and this was the perfect recipe for me to try something different!! This recipe is a winner!!
Glad you liked it 🙂
Any dessert recipe with cream cheese – I am 100% ALL in! I was able to score all of the ingredients (glad it’s only 8) yesterday during my once-a-month grocery trip and made these earlier. These were so freaking good!
Thank you!! I’m so glad you liked them!
Thanks for the parchment tip. They popped out the pan easily! Delicious.
No problem!! That’s one of my favorite baking tips 🙂
Everyone in my household LOVED this recipe! These blueberry cheesecake bars were so moist and delicious. I cannot wait to make these again!
I’m glad you all enjoyed it! It’s totally worth repeat bakings.
I love the idea of using cookie dough as a base. I couldn’t wait to try it and I was not disappointed. Thank you for such a delicious and easy recipe.
You’re welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed.
You can never go wrong with sugar cookie dough, blueberries and cream cheese! Great recipe! Yum!
I agree! They’re meant for each other 🙂
Substituted with gf cup for cup and plant based dairy. The family literally ate the entire batch of bars, so simple to make and so tasty. Loved the blueberries and lemon flavors together
I’m so glad you all liked it and you were able to make the right adjustments!
These look amazing! And they would be great to serve at a party. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome! Definitely a perfect party treat.
not only are these beautiful, the ingredients are easy to get. I have everything right in my cupboards already! I can’t wait tk surprise the family with these!
Awesome! Let me know how they like them! 🙂
Wow, Chenee this one looks amazing! Would love to try a “clean” version of this sans conventional cookie dough or sugar and see how it matches up 🙂
Nathalia | NathaliaFit – Fitness & Wellness Blog
http://www.nathaliafit.com
I’m sure you’d love it! Thanks!