These lemon blueberry cream cheese bars are a super easy, delicious treat! Quick blueberry cheesecake bars made with store-bought sugar cookie dough will be your new go-to dessert. You’ll love these blueberry cream cheese crumb bars!
1-3tablespoon(15ml)fresh lemon juice - or as needed for desired consistency
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9x9 baking pan with baking spray and line with parchment paper, hanging parchment over sides of pan for easy removal.
baking spray
In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth.
8 oz full-fat cream cheese
Add vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and sugar (if using). Beat until smooth.
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 1 large egg, 1 tablespoon lemon zest, ¼ cup granulated sugar
Press half of sugar cookie dough evenly into the bottom of the pan.
1 container sugar cookie dough
Spread cream cheese mixture over dough, and sprinkle evenly with blueberries.
1 cup 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.
1 cup powdered sugar, 1-3 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Video
Notes
Softening Cream Cheese Quickly: 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!How to Keep Bars from Sticking to Pan: 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 9x9 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!Storage and Freezing: To store your 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.