Christmas Cheesecake Bars Recipe

Cut Christmas cheesecake bars with white chocolate shavings on a wood surface.

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These Christmas cheesecake bars have a buttery graham cracker crust, a bright homemade cranberry jam layer, silky smooth vanilla cheesecake, and a light white chocolate mousse frosting made with real whipped cream. All the flavors of my original Christmas Cheesecake, baked in a 9×13 pan and cut into shareable bars.

Prep Time30

Cook Time40

Cool and chill time6

Total Time7 10

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 807kcal

Author: Lyuba Brooke

Equipment

9x13 metal baking pan preferably one comes with fitted lid for easy storage
standing or hand mixer flat and whisk attachment
Mixing bowls

Ingredients

Cranberry Jam:

16 oz cranberries fresh or frozen will work
1 cup white granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cheesecake Crust:

2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
9 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup light brown sugar

Cheesecake Filling:

24 oz full fat cream cheese softened
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
2 eggs room temperature
2 Tbsp sour cream
1 vanilla bean beans scraped out
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp cornstarch

White Chocolate Frosting:

8 oz full fat cream cheese softened
6 oz white chocolate melting chips or baking bar
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream cold
3 Tbsp white granulated sugar

Decorate:

White chocolate bar

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Cranberry Jam:

In a sauce pot, over medium heat, combine cranberries, sugar and vanilla extract. Mix well, cover, and let cranberries cook until they release liquid. Stir from time to time. Take the lid off, lower the heat to medium-low and gently simmer for 10-15 minutes. Take off heat and let it cool somewhat.
Preheat the oven to 325℉ and line a 9x13 metal baking pan with parchment paper, enough to go up the sides.

Cheesecake Crust:

Mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, melted butter, and vanilla. Stir very well, until all incorporated. Press graham cracker mixture into the pan, evenly, all over the bottom.
Spread all of the cranberry jam over the crust. Be gentle as you spread it, so you don't break the crust.

Cheesecake Batter:

Cut vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds out. Add the to the cream cheese in the mixer.
Start beating softened cream cheese on medium-high speed until smooth and fluffing, about 2 minutes. Pour in sugar while it's still beating.
Add sour cream and add in eggs, one at the time, beating after each addition. Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl and beat until all incorporated.
Lower speed and add corn starch. While on medium-low speed, pour in heavy cream and vanilla extract. Mix until all combined, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix again until smooth.
Spoon dollops of cheesecake batter all over the cranberry jam in the baking pan. Use a spatula to spread the cheesecake batter evenly.
Bake the cheesecake bars in the oven for 30-35 minutes. The edges should be set but you will notice it is soft at the center to the touch (but not liquidy or too jiggly.) Turn off the oven and leave the oven doors half way open for 10 minutes.
Take the cheesecake out of the oven and let it cool on the counter for about 1 hour, until room temperature. Cover air-tight and refrigerate for 4-6 hours. (Can refrigerate overnight.)

White Chocolate Mousse Frosting:

Expert note: Make sure to frost COLD, chilled cheesecake so frosting doesn't begin to melt.
Whipped cream: always start with cold heavy whipping cream, straight from the refrigerator. Pour the heavy whipping cream into a bowl and start beating with a whisk attachment on the mixer.
Expert tip: you can use a whisk attachment on a hand mixer, standing mixer, or immersion blender. P.S. immersion blender and a tall mixing cup is my favorite for minimal clean up and to minimize the amount of space heavy cream has to spread.
Pour in the sugar gently as you keep mixing on medium-high speed. Keep mixing until stiff peaks form. Note, for the frosting to be set well, you need to beat the whipped cream until stiff peaks (not soft peaks). Set it aside in the refrigerator!
Melt white chocolate melting chips in a double boiler (or in the microwave in 30-40 second increments stirring in between).
Start beating the cream cheese with an electric mixer for a couple of minutes. When light and fluffed, drizzle in melted white chocolate and beat it in well.
Fold in whipped cream, be gentle and patient!

Frost the Cheesecake:

Take the cheesecake out of the refrigerator and carefully take it out of the pan using the parchment paper. Be careful not to break the cheesecake. Gently peel the parchment paper off the sides of the cheesecake.
Transfer the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a decorating tip (I use 1M). Frost the top as you wish.
To add chocolate shavings, use a large grater to shave room temperature white chocolate bar over the top. Or, use a peeler, to carefully shave off longer curls from the room temperature white chocolate bar.
Use a sharp knife to cut the cheesecake as you wish.

Notes

Make the most out of it: feel free to cut the slices into even smaller slices. You can get anywhere from 12-24 slices from this 9x13 cheesecake.

More cranberry? This is a very nicely balanced amount of cranberry but if you want more, you can do a layer on top and on the bottom. Increase the cranberry jam recipe either by 2x or 1.5x and spread half on the bottom and half over the cooled cheesecake.

Graham crackers: if you need to make your own graham cracker crumbs, you will need to pulse about 20 full graham crackers sheets to make the 2.5 cups needed.

Nutrition