White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Bars

Raspberry Sauce

Raspberries – I use one small container of fresh raspberries here, usually sold in 6-ounces. You could also use frozen raspberries if needed. If you like, you could also use the larger packages of fresh or frozen raspberries typically sold in 12-ounce packages if you want to double up the sauce or save some fresh, whole raspberries to decorate with.

Sugar – Cook down the raspberries with just a bit of white sugar to help turn them into a syrup and lightly sweeten their tartness.

Lemon – Optional, but I like to add a bit of fresh lemon juice to the sauce as the acid helps balance the flavor.

Slurry – Make a small slurry with some water and cornstarch to help thicken the sauce.

Chocolate Crust

Oreos – I use regular Oreos here to make a chocolate crust for the cheesecake bars. Be sure to use normal Oreos and not the thins or double-stuffed (or mega). This gives you the right amount of cream filling so that you don’t need to add sugar to the crust or more butter.

Butter – Melt some butter and add it the crushed Oreos so that they have a bit of structure and moisture instead of just dry crumbs that fall apart. I prefer unsalted here, but either one is fine.

Cheesecake Filling

White Chocolate – For the best flavor and smooth melting, I suggest white chocolate baking bars here. I use one 4-ounce bar, but you can increase this to 6-8-ounces if you wish.

Cream Cheese – This recipe uses 16-ounces of cream cheese, so get two of the 8-ounce blocks of full-fat cream cheese. You want it softened, but not fully room temperature, so don’t let it sit out as long as the eggs.

Sour Cream – I like to add this for a bit more added tang and creaminess as a balance to the sweetness of white chocolate and the tartness of the raspberry sauce.

Sugar – A bit of sugar helps to sweeten the cream cheese mix as well as provide structure when cooked.

Vanilla – Some vanilla extract helps to balance the flavors here.

Lemon – Again, optional, but if you bought a lemon to use in the sauce, you may as well add some to the cheesecake as well. The added acid also helps to balance the sweet, tart, and tangy flavors.

Eggs – Use two large eggs at room temperature. This is what provides the rest of the structure for baked cheesecakes.

Make Raspberry Sauce

In a small saucepan, add the raspberries, sugar, and lemon juice and set over medium heat. Stir occasionally until the raspberries start to break down, then stir more frequently and smash the raspberries down until it turns into a chunky sauce. Lower the temperature and let it simmer for about 3 more minutes.

While simmering, combine the water and corn starch and stir until no dry spots or lumps remain. Keep stirring the sauce until the raspberries are completely broken down and then add the slurry. Stir until fully combined and let it simmer for another minute or two.

Remove from the heat and push through a fine mesh strainer into a heatproof bowl or measuring glass to remove most of the seeds. If the seeds don’t bother you, you can skip the straining. Allow the sauce to cool while you make the crust.

Make Oreo Crust

Preheat your oven to 350°F / 180°C. Line a 9x9 square pan with a parchment sling and set aside.

Slice the butter into roughly 1 tablespoon pieces and place them in a heat-proof bowl. Cover the bowl loosely and microwave in 20 second increments until melted. Set aside to cool a bit.

In a food processor, add the Oreo cookies and pulse until reduced to small crumbs. Add the melted and slightly cooled butter a bit at a time and pulse again until the crumbs are moistened and can hold their shape when squeezed.

If you don’t have a food processor, add the cookies to a zipper lock plastic bag without sealing it. Use something like a rolling pin or meat mallet to crush them and then mix with butter.

Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Using your hands or a nylon spatula, spread the crumb crust into an even layer and press down gently to form a lightly packed, even crust.

Place the pan in the center of the oven and bake for 8 minutes. Set the pan aside to cool slightly.

Make White Chocolate Cheesecake Filling

While the crust is baking, you can start on the cheesecake filling.

Start with the white chocolate so it has time to cool. Chop the chocolate into small pieces, then melt in a double boiler or in a heat-proof bowl in the microwave. If using the microwave, heat for 30 seconds, then in 15-20 second increments until fully melted, stirring between heating until smooth. Set aside to cool.

In the bowl of a stand mixer or mixing bowl with a hand mixer, add cream cheese and sour cream. Mix at medium-low speed for 1-2 minutes until smooth. Add the sugar and cream together at medium speed, for about 2-3 minutes until fully combined and smooth again.

Add the vanilla extract and lemon juice and mix again at medium-low speed for 30 seconds to a minute. Now add the eggs and mix on medium-low, one at a time, until just combined and there’s no clear eggy streaks.

Finally, pour in the melted and cooled white chocolate. Give it one more mix for about a minute until fully incorporated.

Build & Bake the Cheesecake Bars

Now that everything is ready, start combing it all. Pour half of the cheesecake mixture over the par baked chocolate crust and smooth it out evenly. Now spoon half the raspberry sauce by drizzling it in a back-and-forth pattern across the top of the cheesecake mixture. Repeat by topping with the rest of the cheesecake and then the rest of the raspberry sauce. Use a toothpick, knife, or offset spatula to swirl the raspberry sauce by running it back-and-forth.

Place the 9x9 baking dish into the middle of the oven and bake for 28-34 minutes. The top should jiggle slightly but not appear wet or runny in the center. Once done, remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature.

Once cooled completely, cover and refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours or overnight. After the cheesecake bars have chilled and firmed you can remove from the fridge and portion.

Use the parchment paper sling to remove from the pan. Use a sharp knife to slice into squares or rectangles. You can make 9 large 3”x3” pieces, or progressively smaller portions of 12 or 16 bars total. If you wish, you can top with whipped cream and extra raspberries and serve cold.

Graham Crust – If you would like to use a graham cracker crust instead (honey or chocolate), it’s an easy swap. You’ll use about 12-15 full sheets of graham crackers to get around 2 cups of crushed crackers. Add ¼ - ⅓ cup of sugar and use 6-8 tablespoons of melted butter. Since graham crackers aren’t as sweet as cookies, the added sugar adds more flavor. Bake for around 10 minutes or so instead of 8 minutes.

Shortbread Crust – Another crust option is making a shortbread crust for a rich, buttery option that is crispy and crumbly. I used this crust in my limoncello lemon bars as well.  To replace the crust here use ¼ cup sugar, ½ cup unsalted butter (melted), 1 ¼ cups flour, a pinch of salt, and ½ - 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Just mix it altogether in a bowl, add it to the baking dish and press down a bit more firmly. Increase par bake time to 15-20 minutes until lightly browned.

Gluten-Free Crust – Finally, you can also make a GF crust by using gluten-free chocolate or golden Oreos or make a shortbread crust with gluten-free 1:1 flour. Make and cook as normal.

Different Fruits – Raspberries are great, but other tart fruits and berries are good substitutes. Feel free to replace the raspberries with blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, cranberries, or even cherries.

Strainer – While you can leave the seeds in the raspberry sauce if you wish, I like to strain most of them out. A set of fine mesh strainers works well for this, and they have plenty of other uses if you don’t have a few in your kitchen already.

Food Processor – A little more of an investment, but not overly expensive, is a decent food processor. This makes it easy work for breaking down the Oreos for the crust, and has a ton of other uses like crushing graham crackers, breaking down vegetables, cutting butter into dough, etc. Most also come with slicing and shredding blades as well.

Bowl Scraper – A cheap plastic bowl scraper is amazingly useful. They’re soft enough to bend slightly, making it much easier to get batter and dough out of a mixing bowl. The edge also makes it easy to clean up your surface after kneading dough.

❄️ Storing Cheesecake Bars

Once the white chocolate raspberry cheesecake bars have been sliced, you can store any leftovers back in the refrigerator. Place them in an airtight container with wax paper between layers and they’ll be good for about a week in the fridge.

If you need to make these ahead of time, the raspberry sauce can be made almost a week ahead if needed. You could also put everything together up to the point of baking it and refrigerate it for 2-3 days. When ready to make, leave the pan sitting out at room temperature for 30-40 minutes while the oven preheats, or just add a few minutes to the baking time.

These also freeze decently if you make it well in advance or have leftovers you wish to store longer. As above, place sliced portions into an airtight container and separate layers with wax paper. Thaw in the fridge overnight before serving.