Love cheesecake, but don’t want a whole cake? These lusciously creamy cheesecake bars are flavored with chai and vanilla bean for the perfect treat!
All the deliciousness of a rich and creamy cheesecake, in an easy bar form! If making a whole cheesecake intimidates you, try these easy cheesecake bars!
Cheesecake can be tricky to make, so this is my easy to make version… cheesecake bars!
You may have noticed that the bars don’t have the classic graham cracker crust… I swapped it out for a buttery shortbread base. It’s similar to the one I used for my Skinny Raspberry Shortbread Bars! Nothing against a good graham crust, but I’m just pretty obsessed with shortbread right now lol.
Baking these bars is super easy, and not very time consuming!
Five easy steps…
- Mix up the shortbread crust and press into pan.
- Bake the crust.
- Mix the filling while the crust is baking.
- Pour into pan on top of baked crust.
- Bake until fully cooked.
And you’ll end up with this!
Silky, creamy cheesecake, bursting with warm chai and vanilla bean flavors. Just begging you to take a bite!
Feel free to take the chai out of the recipe and use it as a good “base” recipe. I’ve made a few versions of these, including a chocolate swirl version. OMG so good. I have a feeling you’ll be seeing quite a few cheesecake bars on the blog!
If you’re worried about the chai being too intense, don’t be… it’s just the right amount of spice, warmth, and sweetness. My 6 year old ate 2 of these bars, and snuck another one while I was doing dishes!
I think you all need these cheesecake bars in your life… they look all fancy, yet are so easy to make!
Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- CRUST:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- CHEESECAKE BATTER:
- 16 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup sour cream or heavy cream can be substituted
- 3 large eggs
- 2 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1 - 1 1/2 tsp chai seasoning or same amount of an opened bag of UNbrewed chai tea
Instructions
- MAKE THE CRUST:
- Line a 9x9" pan (or 8x8) with parchment paper, spray lightly with cooking spray and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
- In a mixing bowl, stir together melted butter, brown sugar, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon. Stir in flour and stir until thoroughly combined.
- Bake for 15 minutes, and set aside to cool for 5-10 minutes.
- Change oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
- MAKE THE FILLING:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a mixing bowl and a handheld mixer), add cream cheese and sugar and beat until smooth.
- Add in remaining filling ingredients and beat until combined, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Pour filling onto the crust, using a rubber spatula to get all the filling out of the mixing bowl.
- Carefully jiggle the pan very slightly to get the filling in a nice even layer.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the filling is set, but soft in the center. The easiest way to tell if it's done is to insert an instant read thermometer into the filling about an inch from the sides. It will read about 180 when finished.
- Cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes, then cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Before serving, sprinkle tops of bars with a little ground cinnamon if desired.
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Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Wendy says
Can u sub gluten free flour for AGP Flour?
Amanda says
I don’t have any experience baking with gluten free ingredients, so I can’t say if that would work as a 1:1 substitution with no other changes needed.
Kellee says
I just made this today and the whole family of five approves. I really like the shortbread crust with the chai flavored cheesecake. This would be really good around Christmas time. Thanks for the recipe!
Bojana says
Bless you. Graham crackers aren’t sold here but so many of my favourite food bloggers use them for their crust. I’m so glad you didn’t because I need these chai bars. Very excited to try them!
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Bojana 🙂 I really love shortbread crusts, so I’m glad these will work for you!
Cookin Canuck says
I am partial to making cheesecake bars over a full cheesecake, too (probably a bit of that fear creeping in here, too). The vanilla chai flavors sounds wonderful!
The Chunky Chef says
Thank you so much!! 🙂
Renee - Kudos Kitchen says
Your vanilla chai cheesecake bars look pretty perfect to me. If I was you, I wouldn’t worry about a cracked cheesecake. As long as they taste good, that’s all that matters. Plus, when it cracks, then you get to add a delicious topping.
The Chunky Chef says
Thank you Renee! You’re so right… the recipe I’ll be trying soon has topping on it, so I can cover up any “issues” 🙂
eat good 4 life says
These bars look dreamy. Chai is one of my ultimate favorite flavors, and in a cheesecake? This is genius!!
The Chunky Chef says
Thank you so much Miryam!! 🙂
Michelle | A Dish of Daily Life says
These look absolutely incredible…I can never turn down cheesecake anything! Pinning to save these yummies for later!
The Chunky Chef says
Thanks so much Michelle!! I’m a cheesecake junkie lol
Carrie @Frugal Foodie Mama says
Oooooo…. I posted a DIY Chai Spice Mix on my blog last month, and I am always on the look out for new recipes to use it in. 🙂 Can’t wait to try these cheesecake bars! They look amazing!
The Chunky Chef says
Thank you Carrie!! Ohhhh I’ll have to check out your spice mix, that would be perfect in these 😀
Cathy Trochelman says
I want to reach through my screen and grab these! They look amazing!
The Chunky Chef says
Thank you Cathy!!
Kacey @ The Cookie Writer says
OMG, Amanda, I LOVE making a full cheesecake. It is so much fun! However, I do not like cheesecake… Haha, no judging! Personally, I like the idea of your cheesecake bars better. But you need to try again with a full cheesecake!
The Chunky Chef says
It’s totally on my “must make” list over the next few months… I even have some recipe ideas floating around, and I bought a springform pan 🙂 Lol my mother in law doesn’t like cheesecake either, so no judgements here… my pants WISH I didn’t like it lol