Name: Valentine's Day Cheesecake Bars
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 65 min
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cup Graham cracker crumbs; 1 /3 cup butter melted; 2 tablespoons sugar; 24 ounces cream cheese softened; 3/4 cup sugar; 3 large eggs; 3/4 cup sour cream; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1/2 teaspoon salt; Large squeeze of fresh lemon; Pink Food Gel Coloring

Jump to Recipe

Valentine’s Day Cheesecake Bars are pink swirled cheesecake bars making them the perfect Valentine’s Day dessert. Easy to make and always a favorite at potlucks, parties and bake sales, these pink cheesecake bars are a sweet way to steal someone’s heart.

Love is in the air come February, one way or another, so why not spread a little happiness and serve up a plate of these Valentine’s Day Cheesecake Bars?

Talk about the best way to steal your sweetheart’s heart, these easy cheesecake bars are simple to make, always delicious and super festive to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

The last thing you want to do on Valentine’s Day is break a sweat baking up some elaborate Valentine’s Day dessert. Make life easy on yourself and whip up a batch of these tasty pink cheesecakes and just wait for the magic to happen!

Swinging single? Even better .. you don’t have to share them 🙂

WHY THESE VALENTINE’S DAY BARS ARE THE BEST

Cheesecake is not everyone’s favorite dessert for no reason.
This is a classic cheesecake recipe, creamy and perfect!
Pink cheesecake squares? Um.. yes please!
Super easy cheesecake recipe so anyone can make this, regardless of their experience in the kitchen.
These cheesecake bars are super stack-able and super portable. No stress bringing these to Valentine’s Day parties and potlucks.

To make these pink Valentine’s Day cheesecake bars, you will need:

Graham crackers
Butter
Sugar
Cream cheese
Eggs
Sour cream
Vanilla extract
Salt
Fresh lemon
Pink Food coloring

HOW DO YOU MAKE VALENTINE’S DAY CHEESECAKE BARS?

Easy! To make these Valentine’s Day Cheesecake Bars, preheat your oven to 325 degrees and place a baking pan filled with water on the bottom rack of your oven.

Next, start by combining graham crackers, melted butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and then transferring the mixture to a 9 x 13 baking pan lined with parchment paper.

Using your hands or the bottom of a cup, press the crumbs down in an even layer to form the crust. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat softened cream cheese until creamy and then add in sugar and salt and mix well. One by one, add in eggs and beat until each is incorporated before adding in the next one.

Add in sour cream, squeeze of lemon and vanilla and continue mixing until you have a creamy filling.

Transfer 1/2 cup of cheesecake filling into a separate bowl and add pink food coloring. Mix the food coloring into the batter to combine.

Pour the white cheesecake filling on top of graham cracker crust and smooth until even. Using a spoon, pour lines of pink cheesecake filling down length of cheesecake.

Swirl the pink into cheesecake filing using the back of knife (or a chopstick!) to create a beautiful swirl pattern. The more swirls, the better..

Bake in oven for 50-55 minutes or until center is no longer super wobbly. When baking time is done, turn off oven, open oven door and let your cheesecake bars sit for one hour in the open oven.

Remove your pink cheesecake bars from oven and refrigerate overnight before pulling up on parchment paper and removing from baking pan. Cut into squares and serve!

PRO TIPS FOR MAKING VALENTINE’S CHEESECAKE BARS

Be sure to beat your cream cheese until they are creamy and fluffy. If you skip the creaming step, you will end up with large lumps of cream cheese in your cheesecake bars.
Use room temperature ingredients like cream cheese, eggs and sour cream. They mix and emulsify better at room temperature.
Don’t skip adding a squeeze of lemon to your cheesecake batter. Your cheesecake won’t taste like lemon but it does cut through and add acidity against the heavy richness of three blocks of cream cheese.
You can make the pink cheesecake filling by simply using just a bit of red food coloring in the filling. Mix well and see if it is pink enough for you .. if not, add a bit more red food coloring. A little goes a long way so work bit by bit.
Don’t care for a graham cracker crust? Graham cracker crumbs can easily be replaced with 20 cookie sandwich cookies pulverized or pulsed to crumbs in a food processor. Then add the melted butter as called for and mix to combine. Follow the remaining instructions to make your Valentine’s Day Cheesecake Bars.
If your pink lines are uneven or messy, don’t sweat it .. it’s all getting swirled together anyways 🙂
Give clear vanilla extract a try in light colored batters. Your batter will not tint due to brown vanilla extract. You can find it in your spice/extract section of most grocery stores.

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOUR CHEESECAKE IS DONE?

When you make cheesecake and cheesecake bars, the hardest thing to know is when it is done.

To check if your cheesecake bars are done, gently shake the cheesecake and only a small circle in the center jiggles slightly, it is done.

The center will firm up as it cools and I find turning your oven off when the cooking time has completed, opening the door and letting the cheesecake sit in the open oven for about an hour creates a perfectly cooked cheesecake and cheesecake bars.

WHY DO CHEESECAKES NEED A WATER BATH?

Cheesecakes and cheesecake bars are often baked in water baths or with a pan of water placed in the oven while the cheesecake cooks.

This method is used because the hot water steam from the water will ensure even baking and lessen the likelihood of of the cheesecake cracking on top. It’s a must-do in my book!

MORE VALENTINE’S DAY RECIPES

Enjoy!!

If you’ve tried these Valentine’s Day Cheesecake Bars or any other recipe on this website, please don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you it came out in the comments below.

Share a photo of your creation on my Facebook page, Instagram or save it to Pinterest and tag #AWICKEDWHISK. I can’t wait to see your work!