Cranberry Orange Cheesecake Bars
These perfectly sweet Cranberry Orange Cheesecake Bars are the best ending to any Holiday meal. The tang of the cream cheese, the bright orange flavor, and the sweet, tart flavors of fresh cranberries are simply delicious! This recipe is a spin-off of my Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Bars, and I think you will love them!
Cheesecake bars and why we love them
This Cranberry Orange Cheesecake Bars recipe is a super shareable, hit-of-the-party dessert. Who doesn’t love cheesecake in a cute size? I was on the fence about using fresh cranberries, but these came together beautifully with the fresh orange juice and zest. They take a little time to cool, and if you choose sugared cranberry garnish to make them extra special, I promise it’s worth it!
Sugared Cranberries
Sugared cranberries are beautiful, festive, and perfect for this recipe! We adapted the recipe from Boston Girl Bakes for an easy execution. This is an optional garnish, but well worth it! The sugared cranberries are tart and sweet, adding extra elevation to this dessert or cocktail.
Ingredients for the cheesecake bars
- 1 cup graham cracker crumbs or 5 graham crackers
- 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp sugar
- 4 tbsp butter melted
- 1 1/2 cup fresh cranberries
- 1/2 whole orange, fresh juice of, fresh
- 1 tbsp orange zest
- 2 8oz cream cheese, regular block style
- 2 eggs
Ingredients for sugared cranberries
- 1/8 cup water
- 1/2 cup granulated white sugar divided (1/4 cup for syrup and 1/4 cup for dusting)
- 1/2 cup cranberries fresh
Step-by-step directions
- Preheat oven to 325ºF.
- Start by crushing enough graham crackers to make 1 cup of crumbs. It’s about 4-5 crackers. I place them in a zip-type bag and crush them with a rolling pin.
- Place the crumbs and 1 tablespoon of sugar in a small bowl and set aside.
- Now, line a small 8×8-inch casserole dish( I used a 6×9″) with foil paper. Ensure there is excess foil paper over the rim of the baking dish. The dish is now ready to bake the breadcrumb crust.
- Melt 4 tbsp of butter and add it to a bowl with graham cracker crumbs and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Mix well with a spoon until the crumbs are covered in butter.
- Now add the cracker/butter mixture to the foil-covered casserole and press it onto the bottom of the casserole dish. The crust should cover the bottom of the baking dish evenly.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Beat the cream cheese, orange juice, remaining sugar, and zest with a hand mixer or stand mixer until well blended. Now, it’s time to add the eggs.
- Add 1 egg at a time, and mix on low just until blended. Repeat for second egg. Now gently fold in cranberries and pour the mixture into a graham cracker crust. Spread evenly onto the crust and even out with a small spatula.
- Bake about 35-40 minutes. When you remove it from the oven, the middle maybe a little jiggly, that is okay as long the rest of the cheesecake is set. Remove from oven and allow to completely cool. Once cooled, refrigerate, covered for minimum of 4 hours.
Instructions for sugared cranberries
- Use a small, nonstick skillet. Add 1/8 cup water and 1/4 cup sugar and allow the sugar to dissolve.
- Once the sugar is dissolved, stir in the fresh cranberries and remove from the heat. Allow the cranberries to steep in the sugar and water mixture for 10 minutes.
- Remove the cranberries with a slotted spoon and place them on a cookie rack to dry, ensuring they are separated. (If you don’t have a cookie rack, use parchment paper or a silicon mat.)
- Allow the cranberries to cool and harden for about 1 hour.
- Once cooled, roll the cranberries in the remaining sugar and allow to rest for an additional hour.
- Garnish each cheesecake bar with the sugared cranberries.
How to serve
- TIP FOR CUTTING THE BARS CLEANLY: You will quickly notice on the first cut, that there will be cream cheese filling on the knife and crumbs. This quick tip will provide for cleaner edges. Run cutting knife under hot water for a few seconds. Wipe the knife dry and make the first cut. With a paper towel, wipe excess cream cheese and crumbs off and make the second cut. Repeat until all the bars are cut.
- After the Cranberry Orange Cheesecake has been refrigerated and set, it’s time to cut it into bars. Gently remove the cheesecake with the excess foil, like handles. Place on a cutting surface and carefully peel the foil down from the sides. Cut into 8 large bars or 12 smaller ones.
- Garnish each bar with sugared cranberries and enjoy!
How to store and freeze
How to Store, Freeze and thaw my Cranberry Orange Cheesecake Bars
So now you have baked these scrumptious cheesecake bars, and you want to save some for the rest of the week or for a rainy day. The can be refrigerated for up to 4 days, if they last that long! I like to freeze them in individual portions in the freezer and thaw them as needed. However, be sure to freeze them without any garnishes. There are two ways of freezing them: one is wrap them individually with waxed paper and placing them in a container or a large zip-type bag. The second method is to freeze the precut bars on a small rimmed baking sheet and once frozen placing them in a container or zip type bag. Both work well. These bars can be frozen up to 4 months.The thaw time is about 30 minutes on the counter or about 2 hours in the fridge.
More seasonal favorites…
I love seasonal baking. My favorite seasonal desserts are Apple Cranberry Crumble, Easy Apple Pie Puffs, and Cherry Galette.
If you tried this recipe, please help other readers by commenting below and sharing some stars! We 🫶🏼 appreciate you!
All content and photographs ©Claudia’s Table and claudiastable.com
Cranberry Orange Cheesecake Bars
December 22, 2024
Equipment
- 1 small casserole or baking dish 8×8 inch or 6×9 inch
- foil paper
- microplane for zest
- hand or stand mixer
Ingredients
Cranberry Orange Cheesecake Bars
- 1 cup graham cracker crumbs or 5 graham crackers
- 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp sugar
- 4 tbsp butter melted
- 1 1/2 cup cranberries fresh
- 1/2 whole orange, fresh juice of, fresh
- 1 tbsp orange zest
- 2 8oz cream cheese, regular block style
- 2 eggs
Sugared cranberries (optional)
- 1/8 cup water
- 1/2 cup granulated white sugar divided (1/4 cup for syrup and 1/4 cup for dusting)
- 1/2 cup cranberries fresh
Instructions
Cranberry Orange Cheesecake Bars
- Preheat oven to 325ºF.
- Start by crushing enough graham crackers to make 1 cup of crumbs. It's about 4-5 crackers. I place them in a zip type bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Place crumbs and 1 tbsp of sugar in a small bowl, set aside.
- Now line a small, 8×8 inch casserole dish ( I used a 6×9") with foil paper. Ensure there is excess foil paper over the rim of the baking dish. The dish is now ready for baking the breadcrumb crust.
- Melt 4 tbsp of butter and add to bowl with graham cracker crumbs and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Mix well with a spoon until all of the crumbs are covered in butter.
- Now add cracker/butter mixture to the foil covered casserole and press mixture onto the bottom of the casserole dish. The crust should cover the bottom of the baking dish evenly.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Beat cream cheese, orange juice, remaining sugar and zest with a hand mixer or stand type mixer. Beat until everything is blended. Now it's time to add the eggs.
- Add 1 egg at a time, and mix on low just until blended. Repeat for second egg. Now gently fold in cranberries and pour the mixture into the graham cracker crust. Spread evenly onto the crust and even out with a small spatula.
- Bake about 35-40 minutes. When you remove it from the oven, the middle maybe a little jiggly, that is okay as long the rest of the cheesecake is set. Remove from oven and allow to completely cool. Once cooled, refrigerate for minimum of 4 hours.
- TIP FOR CUTTING THE BARS CLEANLY: You will quickly notice on the first cut, that there will be cream cheese filling and crumbs on the knife. This quick tip will provide for cleaner edges. Run cutting knife under hot water for a few seconds. Wipe the knife dry and make the first cut. With a paper towel, wipe excess cream cheese and crumbs off and make the second cut. Repeat until all the bars are cut.
- After the Cranberry Orange Cheesecake bars have been refrigerated and set, it's time to cut into bars. Gently remove the cake with the excess foil, like handles. Place on cutting surface and carefully peel foil down from sides. Cut into 8 large bars or 12 smaller ones.
- Optional: Garnish with the sugared cranberries on top.
Sugared Cranberries*
- Use a small, nonstick skillet. Add 1/8 cup water and 1/4 cup sugar and allow the sugar to dissolve.
- Once the sugar is dissolved, stir in the fresh cranberries and remove from the heat. Allow the cranberries to steep in the sugar and water mixture for 10 minutes.
- Remove the cranberries with a slotted spoon and place them on a cookie rack to dry, ensuring they are separated. (If you don't have a cookie rack, use parchment paper or a silicon mat.)
- Allow the cranberries to cool and harden for about 1 hour.
- Once cooled, roll the cranberries in the remaining sugar and allow to rest for an additional hour.
- Garnish each cheesecake bar with the sugared cranberries.
Notes
How to Store, Freeze, and thaw my Cranberry Orange Cheesecake Bars
So now you have baked these scrumptious cheesecake bars, and you want to save some for the rest of the week or a rainy day. They can be refrigerated for up to 4 days if they last that long! I like to freeze them in individual portions in the freezer and thaw them as needed. However, be sure to freeze them without any garnishes. There are two ways of freezing them: wrap them individually with waxed paper and place them in a container or a large zip-type bag. The second method is to freeze the precut bars on a small rimmed baking sheet and, once frozen, place them in a container or zip-type bag. Both work well. These bars can be frozen for up to 4 months. The thaw time is about 30 minutes on the counter or about 2 hours in the fridge. The thaw time is about 30 minutes on the counter or about 2 hours in the fridge.Nutrition
Nutritional information is calculated online and should be used as a guide.
All content and photographs ©Claudia’s Table and claudiastable.com
These bars are perfection with the right amount of sweetness! Will add these to my holiday dessert lineup!
So glad you enjoyed them! 🙂