Indulge in your new favorite dessert with these Light Raspberry Cheesecake Bars. Made with maple syrup, raspberries, cream cheese, Greek yogurt, and no added sugar!
Easy and delicious light cheesecake bars
This summer, treat barbecue and cookout guests to a dessert everyone will love: light raspberry cheesecake bars! Not only is this cheesecake recipe out of this world flavor-wise, it's also made with lighter ingredients. Thanks to maple syrup we're ditching any added sugar, making this a dessert that allows for an extra serving or two.
I love to have these on hand for enjoying throughout the week as a quick snack or dessert. Because they're made with Greek yogurt, they include extra protein as well!
Ingredients in light raspberry cheesecake bars
This recipe is divided into four parts: the graham cracker crust, raspberry swirl, cheesecake bars, and toppings. Each set of ingredients adds a delicious layer to the bars!
Crust
- Graham crackers: This recipe kicks off with 9 graham crackers. Any type is fine, so go with your favorite brand.
- Butter: ¼ cup of melted butter helps form the graham cracker crumbs. Skip the unsalted butter and make sure you use salted!
Raspberry swirl
- Raspberries: The raspberry sauce will require 1 cup of raspberries. You can use frozen, but allow them to reach room temperature before mixing with the syrup and water.
- Maple syrup: 2 tablespoon of maple syrup helps create a syrup-textured swirl.
- Water: Then, 2 tablespoon of water helps create a paste.
Cheesecake bars
- Neufchatel cheese: 2 blocks of Neufchatel cheese creates the base of this recipe. Feel free to use regular or light cream cheese if preferred.
- Greek yogurt: Then, ½ cup of plain Greek yogurt thickens up the bar mixture and also adds protein.
- Maple syrup: Add ½ cup of maple syrup for both texture and flavor.
- Eggs: Next, 2 eggs help the dry ingredients bind together properly. You can use regular or large eggs.
- Vanilla: Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract for flavor.
- Lemon juice: 1 tablespoon of lemon juice adds a nice bite to the bars!
- Salt: Finish off the bars with a pinch of salt.
Toppings
- Set aside some raspberries and powdered sugar for topping.
Tools used to make this recipe
To prepare this recipe, you will need a variety of kitchen tools. Below is a full list, along with the appropriate measuring cup sizes.
- 8 x 8-inch baking dish
- Parchment paper
- Nonstick spray
- Food processor
- Spatula
- Small sauce pot
- Whisk
- Potato masher or fork
- Sieve
- Bowl
- Blender (a high speeded, handheld, or stand mixer will all work)
- Toothpick or knife
For measuring ingredients, you will need 1 tsp, 1 tbsp, ½ cup, and 1 cup sized measuring cups.
How to make these light raspberry cheesecake bars
Ready to get started? This recipe comes together in around an hour and a half of prep time and baking time. Then, be sure to allot 45 minutes for cooling.
First, preheat the oven to 350°F and line an 8x8 baking dish with 2 rectangles of parchment paper (it should be hanging out on both sides to help lift the cheesecake out) and nonstick spray.
Then, use a food processor to blend together the graham crackers and melted butter until it becomes fine crumbles.
Press the crumbs into the bottom of the baking dish to create an even layer, and then bake for 10 minutes. Let cool.
While the crust is baking, add the raspberries, maple syrup, and water to a small sauce pot over medium-high heat. Let cook and bubble until the raspberries have been reduced, about 6-7 minutes. Press down the raspberries using a potato masher or the back of a fork to occasionally break it up.
Next, run the raspberries through a sieve to separate the juice from the seeds, pressing down to get all of the liquid out of the seeds. Save the juice and add 3 tablespoon of seeds back into the raspberry juice mixture. Discard the remaining seeds.
Refrigerate the raspberry juice for 15 minutes to allow a slight thickening.
While the juice is chilling, blend together the cream cheese, yogurt, maple syrup, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice, and salt until well combined, scraping down the sides as needed.
Then, pour the cheesecake batter into the baking dish with the crust. Gently add the raspberry mixture to the top of the cheesecake layer in drips and dollops all around the cheesecake. Use a toothpick or knife to run swirls throughout the raspberry mixture into the cheesecake. It should look like pinkish/red swirls.
Bake for 34-36 minutes or until the cheesecake is just slightly jiggly in the center. Let cool for 45 minutes on the counter and then at least one hour in the fridge before serving.
Slice into squares and top with raspberries. Dust with powdered sugar.
Can I use other berries in this?
Absolutely! The raspberries in this recipe can be substituted with strawberries, blueberries, or blackberries.
Recipe Tips
How much sugar is in raspberry cheesecake?
These raspberry cheesecake bars are made without added sugar! Instead, their sweet flavor comes from the raspberries, graham crackers, and maple syrup.
What is a serving size of cheesecake?
This cheesecake recipe yields 12 bars, and each bar is 1 serving.
What are the benefits of eating strawberry cheesecake?
Eating strawberry cheesecake makes the soul happy, and that's one great benefit! Because it's made with Greek yogurt and cream cheese, it's also high in protein.
If you liked this recipe, you'll want to try these!
Enjoy some more berry treats like these oat bars or a smoothie!
- Healthy Raspberry Oat Bars
- Lemon Blueberry Loaf
- Healthy Strawberry Pretzel Salad
- Blueberry Muffin Smoothie
Recipe by Erin Antoniak and Photos by Bake and Bacon
Light Raspberry Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line 8x8 baking dish with 2 rectangles of parchment paper (so it is hanging out on both sides and will help lift the cheesecake out) and nonstick spray.
- In a food processor, blend together graham crackers and melted butter until fine crumbles.
- Press into bottom of baking dish evenly and bake for 10 minutes. Let cool.
- While crust is baking, add raspberries, maple syrup, and water to a small sauce pot over medium-high heat. Let cook and bubble until raspberries have been reduced, about 6-7 minutes. Press down raspberries using a potato masher or back of a fork to break up occasionally.
- Run raspberries through a sieve to separate the juice from the seeds, pressing down to get all of the liquid out of the seeds. Save the juice and add 3 tablespoon of seeds back into the raspberry juice mixture. Discard the remaining seeds.
- Refrigerate raspberry juice for 15 minutes to allow a slight thickening.
- While juice is chilling, blend together cream cheese, yogurt, maple syrup, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice, and salt until well combined, scraping down sides as needed.
- Pour cheesecake batter into baking dish with crust. Gently add the raspberry mixture to the top of the cheesecake mixture in drips and dollops all around the cheesecake. Use a toothpick or knife to run swirls throughout the raspberry mixture into the cheesecake. It should look like pinkish/red swirls.
- Bake for 34-36 minutes or until cheesecake is just slightly jiggly in the center. Let cool for 45 minutes on counter and then at least one hour in the fridge before serving.
- Slice into squares and top with raspberries. Dust with powdered sugar.
Terry says
I made these delicious lite raspberry cheesecake bars for my book club last night and everybody gobbled them up. I put a dollop of whipped cream on top and topped it with fresh raspberries. My friends couldn't believe that there was no sugar in them and they went back for seconds. Thanks for the yummy recipe Erin!
Erin says
Hi Terry, so happy you all loved them!! 🙂
Stacey H says
THIS!! Sooo good, gone in my house after 1 day. I used frozen (thawed) cherries instead of raspberries. I ended up skipping the straining step ( step 5) and just chopped them up in the saucepan. Deff would make again!
Erin says
Hi Stacey, so happy you love the bars so much!! 🙂