Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars
A no-water-bath cheesecake baked thin in a 9x13 pan, marbled with a seedless raspberry sauce, and cut into bars.
- Serves
- 16 bars
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 40 min
- Written
Method
-
Heat the oven to 325°F and line a 9x13-inch pan with parchment, leaving an overhang on two sides.
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Simmer the raspberries, sauce sugar, and lemon juice in a small saucepan until the berries break down and the mixture coats the back of a spoon, about 8 minutes. Press through a fine-mesh sieve to strain out the seeds and set aside to cool.
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Stir the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and crust sugar together, press firmly into the bottom of the pan, and bake until fragrant, about 10 minutes. Cool while you make the filling.
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Beat the cream cheese and filling sugar together until completely smooth, scraping the bowl down until no lumps remain.
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Add the eggs one at a time, beating just until each disappears before adding the next.
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Beat in the sour cream, flour, vanilla, and salt until smooth, then pour over the cooled crust.
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Drop spoonfuls of the raspberry sauce over the top and drag a knife through in wide loops to marble it, stopping before the colors fully blend.
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Bake until the edges are set and the center still jiggles slightly, 35 to 40 minutes.
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Cool completely on a rack, then chill at least 4 hours before lifting out by the parchment and cutting into bars.
Notes
Skipping the water bath works here because a bar is a fraction of a full cheesecake’s depth — it sets through before the top has any real chance to crack, which is the whole reason a springform needs the gentler heat in the first place. Room-temperature cream cheese still matters: cold lumps never fully beat out, and they’re what show up as pale streaks once the bars are sliced.
Frozen raspberries work as well as fresh for the sauce, or swap in strawberries. Wipe the knife between cuts for clean bars instead of dragged color.