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Key Lime Cheesecake Bars

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Key Lime Cheesecake Bars – A rich and indulgent cheesecake centre with a tart key lime topping, and a crunchy cracker crust.

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Key Lime Cheesecake Bars

Key Lime Cheesecake Bars Recipe

I refuse to accept that summer is over. How can it be when we’re still technically having summery weather?

Albeit that the mornings are now cold, and we even had frost a couple of mornings ago? I’m going to stomp my feet and throw a tantrum!

I’m not a winter person at all and autumn might as well be winter, in the UK. In fact, I’m one of those people that finds myself a bit ‘chilly’ even when it’s 25°C/77°F and wearing a light jacket when everyone else is wearing summer tanks. 😆

So, I’m so not ready to bid farewell to all the summer berries and ice creams I’ve been perving at the last few months.

Key Lime Cheesecake Bars

Therefore today I’m rebelling with Key Lime Cheesecake Bars.

Not that cheesecake bars are all *that* rebellious! 😆

The modern world brings us imported limes, even during the winter months, but hey, it’s the thought that counts!

It’s your choice.

I’ve adapted this recipe to make it easier and less time consuming to make thanks to ready-made lime curd. But the recipe for lime curd is included below if you fancy making this recipe completely from scratch.

I did make the lime curd to go with this cheesecake but my thermometer decided to die on me just before the part where I needed it. It was working up until that point… then BAM!

So I had to guess but I’ll be using that lime curd for something else. 😉

Key Lime Cheesecake Bars Recipe by Sweet2EatBaking.com

Dudes and dudettes, you have to make some of these bad boys.

They’re the yummiest cheesecake bars or cheesecake I have ever tasted.

I could not stop eating the raw batter whilst making these key lime cheesecake bars. I’m surprised there was even enough filling to go into them!

The giant man-baby made the following official statement too… “You’re good at making cheesecakes now, aren’t you?”

I’m not quite sure whether to take that as a compliment or an offending statement. What do you think? A ban on him eating any future goodies? Muahahaha!

Print Recipe

Key Lime Cheesecake Bars

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Yield: 10 inch cheesecake

Deliciously awesome Key Lime Cheesecake Bars recipe using fresh homemade lime curd or store bought lime curd.

Ingredients:

Crust

  1. 2 cups graham crackers or digestive biscuits, crushed
  2. 1 stick (113g) butter, melted

Lime Curd

  1. 1 stick (113g) butter, softened
  2. 1 cup granulated sugar
  3. 2 large eggs
  4. 2 large egg yolks
  5. ⅓ cup + 4 tbsp fresh lime juice

Cheesecake Filling

  1. 2 8oz packs cream cheese, softened
  2. ½ cup granulated sugar
  3. 2 large eggs
  4. 1 large egg white
  5. 2 tbsp plain/all purpose flour
  6. ½ cup sour cream
  7. 1 tsp vanilla extract
  8. green and yellow food colouring (liquid or gel)

Directions:

  1. To make the Lime Curd – Beat butter and sugar into a large bowl. Slowly add the eggs and the yolks one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Pour in the lime juice and mix again. Expect the mixture to look curdled, this is normal.
  2. Cook the mixture over medium heat in a medium-sized saucepan until it looks smooth and no longer curdled. Increase the heat slightly and cook, whisking constantly until the mixture thickens. Using a thermometer, cook until the mixture reaches 170°F/77°C.
  3. Remove the curd from the heat and transfer into a bowl. Press plastic wrap in the surface of the lime curd to keep a skin from forming. Chill the lime curd in a refrigerator, the curd will thicken more as it cools. It will keep in the fridge for approx. 2 weeks.
  4. To make the crust – Preheat the oven to 325°F/175°C, line a 10×10 inch square pan with parchment that overhangs the edges.
  5. Mix the butter and graham crackers (digestive biscuits) together and press into the bottom of the pan evenly.
  6. Bake the crust for 5 minutes and allow to cool completely.
  7. To make the filling – Tint ¾ of a cup of the premade lime curd with the green and yellow food colouring until a lime-rind green and set aside.
  8. Beat cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl with mixer on medium-high speed until smooth. Beat in eggs on low speed until blended then beat in the sour cream, vanilla and plain/all purpose flour until just blended. Remove 1 cup of batter and reserve.
  9. Pour the remaining batter over the crust.
  10. Mix a ½ cup of the tinted lime curd with 1 cup of the reserved batter. Place spoonfuls or dollops of this mixture, in no particular fashion, on top of the plain cheesecake batter. Repeat with the remaining ¼ cup lime curd onto the previous mixture. Using a skewer or toothpick, swirl the mixture together to create a marbled effect.
  11. Bake for 35 minutes at 325°F/170°C. Allow to cool completely in the pan then refrigerate.
  12. Once chilled, lift the cheesecake out of the pan with the parchment overhang and cut into bars before serving.

Tips:

  1. Don't have time to make the lime curd from scratch? Use my quick microwave lemon curd recipe and substitute the lemons for key limes or regular limes. Or you can purchase store bought, if necessary.
  2. After I pressed the graham crackers/digestive biscuits into the bottom of the pan and allowed to cool, I put the pan in the refrigerator to cool and harden further as it seemed a little too brittle not to do this.

Adapted from Sprinkle Bakes.

Did you make your cheesecake bars from scratch, or did you use store-bought curd?

Key Lime Cheesecake Bars Recipe by Sweet2EatBaking.com | A rich and indulgent cheesecake centre with a tart key lime topping, and a crunchy cracker crust.
Lisa {Sweet 2 Eat Baking} - Decorated Cakes, Cupcakes, Cookies, Desserts & more!

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Comments

  3. I’m totally the same way–pop me into a climate where the average temp is less than 80 degrees F and I will bust out the gloves and thermal socks. I love your defiance of autumn’s arrival, although I am a bit wary about bringing green dessert to my circle of friends! The last time I did that, my they asked me if I was trying to feed them moldy dessert. Um. No. And these look gorgeous imo (so if they don’t want to eat them, I sure will).

    Reply

    • Haha below 80℉? That’s 26℃ here and anything above 18℃/64℉ the weirdos in this country bust out the strappy tank tops and shorts, but not me! I’m so with you on that. You ought to have seen me 2 yrs back when I came back from 35℃/95℉ weather in Greece back to our ‘English’ summer weather, I had the heating on almost full blast with sweatshirts on!!

      The green colour is from the food colouring. I used gel as I didn’t want to water down the curd with liquid food colouring (even if it is a few drops). I only put 1 drop in but as we know, gel is uber concentrated. Perhaps leave out the food colouring and/or mix the lime curd into the batter so it won’t be green but still has the same taste? That would work and no ‘mouldy’ desserts (the cheek!) If anyone such a comment to me, I’d be like ‘ah well more for me then!’ 🙂

      Reply

  11. I’m actually a winter-girl, but looking at these gorgeous bars I’m willing to change it….. 🙂
    It’s quite difficult to get lime here and I’m sure gonna try!:)

    Reply

    • Each to their own lol. There are a few things I like about winter, when it’s below freezing and walking the kids to school in the snow definitely wakes me up. But then again, I’m not that fond of the cold. English summers tend to be mild (understatement of the century!) so quite comfortable. I just hate all that rain inbetween.

      Reply

  18. Been looking for a cheesecake recipe for my birthday on the 27th of this month. I always make a cheesecake for my birthday. I love anything lime, lemon or both. This would be REALLY good with a shortbread crust. I saved it to my home screen and I will let you know how it goes when I make it.

    I signed up for recipes and notifications. Thanks for the recipe Lisa!

    Reply

    • Hi Susan! I always use unsalted butter for desserts. Sorry this wasn’t specified in the recipe – I’ll update the recipe.

      Use can use salted butter for any recipe that doesn’t have salt added as a separate ingredient, but the added salt cuts down on the overall sweetness. So, if you have a sweet tooth as I do, use unsalted, or salted if you prefer desserts to be less sweet.

      Hope that helps? Have a wonderful weekend.

      Reply

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