If you love white chocolate and raspberries, these white chocolate raspberry cheesecake bars are a no brainer. They are luxuriously creamy, have beautiful raspberry swirls and are nested on top of an Oreo cookie crust!
Creamy and sweet raspberry cheesecake bars are quicker and easier to make than a traditional cheesecake. They also pack more flavor, are more stable than an actual cheesecake and require shorter cooking time.
This recipe is made completely from scratch. I used real white chocolate, made raspberry sauce from scratch and just love how the bars have a really concentrated raspberry and chocolate flavor. And my crust? It's of course extra buttery, made with Oreos and baked in a 8-inch square pan.
Why make cheesecake bars vs. actual cheesecake
Shorter cooking time and more stable cheesecake: Converting a full cheesecake recipe into cheesecake bars is not only easy, it's a great idea if you want a shorter cooking time, more stable cheesecake slices and a great looking cheesecake bar.
No need for springform pan: You don't need to use any special pans since the cheesecake will be sliced into bars anyways: just a regular square glass baking dish will do.
Intense flavor in compact form: These raspberry white chocolate cheesecake bars are compact, light and airy, and packed with fresh raspberry flavor; the flavor is so intense and so delicious when paired with the real white chocolate and cream cheese in contrast with the dark Oreo cookie crust.
Ingredients for 3 main components
- Oreo Crust is a combination of crushed Oreo cookies and unsalted butter.
- Cheesecake filling is rich yet light. It has everything: cream cheese, white chocolate chips, vanilla, corn starch and of course eggs. Corn starch is an important ingredient as it absorbs liquid and coagulates while the cheesecake is cooking. It gives a little extra body to the cheesecake.
- Raspberry Sauce is a combination of fresh or frozen raspberries, sugar, water and cornstarch for thickening. Couldn't be easier to make!
Cheesecake bar crust
Only 2 ingredients: The crust for raspberry cheesecake bars is made with crushed Oreo cookies and melted butter. Crus the Oreos in the food processor and then mix all this together in a large bowl until the mixture resembles wet sand.
Press the crumb mixture into the bottom and halfway up the sides of a 8x8 inch baking pan. Bake it in a 350°F oven for 10 minutes then let it cool completely. If you use 9x13 baking dish, simply multiply all ingredients by 1.5.
Cheesecake Filling
The fun part! The ingredients in the cheesecake filling are simply white chocolate chips, cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice (this really gives it a special touch), vanilla extract, corn starch (*really* helps a cheesecake set up while baking) and eggs (for stability - keep the cheesecake filling together).
White chocolate has to be melted (in the microwave in 20 second bursts) and cooled before you mix it into the cheesecake filling.
Pour the white chocolate/cheesecake filling onto the crust, spreading it evenly with a spatula or spoon. And on to making the raspberry topping!
Raspberry Topping
4 simple ingredients - raspberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice (or water). All you have to do is simmer it for 10 minutes on medium low heat, stand over stove and inhale the incredible smells. Crush the raspberries with a large fork to soften them a bit.
The most annoying step is to strain the thickened raspberry sauce through a fine mesh wire sieve into a bowl, pressing the pulp with the back of a spoon.
Don't fret about getting the raspberry sauce consistency 100% right straight off the stove - the sauce will thicken more as it cools.
How to make raspberry swirls
Once your raspberry sauce is nice and cool, it's time to make raspberry swirls on top of the cheesecake!
Put a dollop (a generous tablespoon's worth) here and there on top of the cheesecake layer in the pan.
Take a butter knife and gently draw it through the dollops, lifting and inserting the knife to draw the dollop down. Just a few swirls will do the trick if you want nice prominent swirls when you cut the finished cheesecake into the bars.
How to tell when the cheesecake is done
Jiggle like jello! Whenever your baked cheesecake wonder starts jiggling slightly in a stable way like a jello does - that's the sure sign that the cheesecake is done.
Outer edges are browned. The edges of the cheesecake should be set and slightly darker in color.
Puffy in the center: The cheesecake will also be slightly puffed up and that's a clear indication that time has come to remove it from the oven!
Thermometer shows 150 F: Another fool proof way to know your cheesecake is fully baked is to use a thermometer. The center should register about 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
Removal and cooling process
Cool raspberry cheesecake uncovered at room temperature for 30 minutes. As the cheesecake cools, the residual heat will continue cooking the middle of the cheesecake setting it nice and firm. Once cooled at room temperature, transfer to the fridge and chill for 2 hours.
The alternative method is to let the cheesecake cool in the oven for about an hour and then remove it to the counter. When it's room temp, I'll put it in the fridge overnight.
Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
Raspberry Sauce
- 1½ cup raspberries (fresh or frozen) plus extra for decoration
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice or water
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
Oreo Crust
- 24 oreo cookies
- 5 tablespoon unsalted butter (melted)
Cheesecake Filling
- 8 oz white chocolate chips (or chopped white chocolate)
- 16 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs large (room temperature)
Instructions
Raspberry Sauce
- Combine raspberries, sugar, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice, in a saucepan.
- Bring to simmer on medium heat, and cook for 10 minutes on medium low heat, stirring often and crushing the berries with a large fork.
- Make a small slurry of cornstarch and 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and blend the slurry into the raspberry sauce as it cooks an extra few minutes, until it thickens.
- Strain the thickened Raspberry sauce through a fine mesh wire sieve into a bowl, pressing the pulp with the back of a spoon.
- Discard solids and set the sauce aside to cool.
Make Oreo crust
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the bottom and sides of a 8x8-inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving extra on the sides to lift the finished bars out. Set aside.
- In a food processor, pulse Oreo cookies to crumbs (or smash in a plastic bag).
- Place in a small bowl. Stir in the melted butter until mixed.
- Press an even amount of crust into the bottom of the lined pan.
- Press down the crust firmly, using the bottom of a measuring cup.
- Bake for 8 minutes.
- Remove from oven, and set aside to cool. Leave oven on.
Cheesecake filling
- Melt white chocolate chips in a heat-safe bowl in the microwave in 20 second bursts, stirring well each time. When most of the chocolate has melted, stir until smooth. It should only require a minute or two.
- In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and sugar on medium speed, until smooth and creamy.
- Add cornstarch, lemon juice, and vanilla. Beat on low speed, scraping the bowl, until combined.
- Add eggs and combine, just until blended.
- Pour the cooled liquid white chocolate into the cheesecake filling and blend on low speed just until combined.
- Pour the combined cheesecake filling onto the crust, spreading it evenly with a spatula or spoon.
Make Raspberry swirls
- Drizzle cooled raspberry sauce on top of cheesecake filling layer
- Use a toothpick or knife to gently swirl the sauce in a swirl pattern on the top.
Bake
- Place pan in the oven and bake for 34-38 minutes, until the cheesecake filling appears set, and the edges are slightly golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and let cool at room temperature for 30 minutes, then transfer to the fridge and chill for 2 hours.
- When chilled, remove from pan by lifting the parchment paper edges.
- Cut into squares, wiping the knife between cuts.
Variations and substitutions
Switch up the crust: For a different twist, leave out the Oreos and use graham cracker cookies, ginger snaps, vanilla wafers, or Biscoff cookies. You can also use white Oreos like I did in Blackberry Swirl White Chocolate Cheesecake Squares.
Add fruit toppings: Top the cheesecake bars with the fresh raspberries and blueberries.
Serve with other delicious toppings: There are so many options for serving cheesecake bars - drizzle them with chocolate syrup, add white chocolate chips on top, or sprinkle with shredded coconut.
Mika D says
The bars make such an easy dessert because there are not too many ingredients and I used different berries
Olya says
Yes it's easier than it looks