Blackberry Cheesecake Bars
These Blackberry Cheesecake Bars are a new summer favorite dessert in our house!
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Of course, they don’t make the same one anymore, so our simple trip turned into stopping at 5 stores until we found a new one. And, sure enough, Laura picked out the most expensive one we saw all day! Same thing happened when we needed to pick up a couple new drawer pulls for our kitchen drawers. (Long story there…) We looked at a bunch, and ended up picking the most expensive option. I’m not talking anything insane here. I think the bathroom rug was $4 more than the others, and the drawer pulls were $1 more. Thus the running joke that Laura has champagne tastes.
Well guess what? Robbie has champagne tastes, too. Like mother, like son! You see, Robbie loves berries and fruit. We have to put his other dinner items down first, or he’ll ignore those and only eat fruit. No big deal. But I had some leftover blackberries after making these Blackberry Cheesecake Bars, so we decided to let him try blackberries for the first time. And of course he loved them. Like he gobbled ’em down and asked for more…about 6 times. Laura just laughed and said, “Of course you like the most expensive berry.” Fitting, right?
I can’t blame the little guy, though. Blackberries have always been my favorite berry, too. In fact, I have this dream that one day I’ll discover a secret wild blackberry patch where I can pick buckets full of blackberries. I’ve yet to find this patch, but one day…one day. Actually, that patch exists. It’s on the dirt road alongside the property where my grandparents lived in upstate South Carolina. That house was sold years ago, though. I just hope the new owners found the gold mine on that dirt road! As a kid, I’d pick blackberries every summer, and my grandmother would turn them into a blackberry cobbler for dessert. Add in some fried fish that I’d catch with my grandpa, and that’s a good country meal right there!
But I digress. Let’s talk Blackberry Cheesecake Bars. As in, let’s talk about how flippin’ delicious these bars are! I used a standard graham cracker base and then poured an easy cheesecake filling on top. But the magic came when I added the blackberry layer and then the crumbles on top. (I used the same crumble from my go-to coffee cake recipe.) Let that bad boy bake in the oven for about an hour, and you’ve got yourself one heck of a dessert! And no need for a water bath with these one since the crumbles cover up the cheesecake layer. The hardest part is just making sure the cheesecake is fully baked, but a toothpick inserted after 60 minutes should come out clean. Oh, and don’t forget to leave yourself enough time to let these bars chill for a couple of hours in the refrigerator. The waiting is worth it, my friends. Trust me!
These Blackberry Cheesecake Bars are a new summer favorite around here. I bet they’d work with other berries, too. In fact, don’t be surprised if you see these pop up again as Raspberry Cheesecake Bars or Strawberry Cheesecake Bars or maybe even Peach Cheesecake Bars. Enjoy!
Blackberry Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
For the Graham Cracker Crust
- 7 full-sized graham crackers
- 3 Tbsp light brown sugar
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
For the Cheesecake Layer
- 12 oz. cream cheese room temperature
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
For the Blackberry Layer
- 1 cup blackberries
- 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp light brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
For the Crumble
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 1½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- 1¾ cup all-purpose flour
Instructions
For the Graham Cracker Crust
- Using a food processor or mini-chopper, pulse the graham crackers until finely ground.
- Using a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and melted butter; stir until fully combined.
- Lightly butter or grease an 8”x8” baking pan. Line the pan with parchment paper, letting the paper overhang on 2 sides. Press the crust mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan. (Tip: A flat-bottomed glass helps pack the crust mixture down evenly.)
- Bake crust at 350°F for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
For the Bars
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Using a countertop mixer, add cream cheese, sour cream and sugar; beat until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla; beat on low speed until well combined.
- Pour batter over the baked graham cracker crust.
- Using a medium bowl, combine all ingredients for Blackberry Layer (blackberries, flour, sugar and lemon juice); toss until well combined. Spread this mixture evenly on top of the cheesecake batter.
- Next, make the Crumble by combining sugars, cinnamon and salt; stir until well combined. Add the melted butter; stir until well combined. Add the flour; stir until well combined. Sprinkle crumble evenly on top of the blackberries
- Bake at 325°F for 55-60 minutes, or until cheesecake is set and crumble is light golden brown. Let cool at room temperature for 45 minutes and then refrigerate for several hours before slicing.
David, I voted for you. Good luck! I can see why Robbie loves blackberries, they are so yummy. These blackberry cheesecake bars would be a favorite in our house too. They look delicious!!
Thank you SO much for the vote, Dawn…I really do appreciate it! 🙂 Blackberries are one of my all-time favorites in the summer, so combining them with cheesecake really takes them to the level of summer perfection. Haha!
Robbie has great tastes! These bars look amazing. I love that creamy cheesecake part mixed with the fresh berries! I have no willpower when it comes to desserts like this! Heading over to vote now! Good luck!
Haha! Robbie does indeed have great tastes. As long as we’re talking about berries and nothing else. 🙂 So I have no willpower either when it comes to summer berries and cheesecake…so you can imagine how fast this combo disappeared in our house! Thanks so much for the vote, Kathy. I really appreciate it!
Although I’m not related to your family (haha), I’ve got the champagne tastes (Never heard this expression indeed) too. Mostly, it happens when I look for some clothes and accessories (I love shopping at one Canadian store chain where you can find good deals with a price range from 5 to 500$). For instance, last fall I was looking for a new pair of gloves, and I didn’t want to spend more than 25$ for them. Could you imagine that the very first pair I loved turned out to be over 70$? All right, I decided to check few options more (there were only few pairs which caught my attention). Do you think the second ones was cheaper? Ha! 125$ Having checked the last option (which was much cheaper but still), I gave up and left. Next fall I’ll attempt this once again:) The same thing happens with bags. You can buy relatively cheap blackberries here in Ontario once in a while (like 2-3$ for a pound) that’s why I use fresh ones in cooking once in a while. But you know what? Few our neighbors have cherry, blackberry, and mulberry trees which produce a lot of berries which the owners never pick up! If you hurry up, you can pick up a few boxes of beautiful local berries. You don’t have much time though – the birds are enjoying them a lot:)
What? We aren’t related? Haha! I thought you were just my long lost Canadian/Russian brother. I mean your love of Irish Cream and Whiskey had me fooled! (Of course, your love of lavender is another story…) $2-3 a pound for blackberries? Now that is indeed a good price! But there’s something fun about scrambling to get the berries before the birds get there. It adds a level of intrigue to the recipe! 🙂 Thanks, Ben!
Haha! I often joke that Lil Shashi thinks she is living on a doctor’s salary while having a college students budget – tho, not sure who she got her “champagne tastes” from! I gotta give it to Robbie tho, blackberries are so delicious- when I was young, I too had the joy of picking and eating wild blackberries back in Sri Lanka when I used to visit my uncle then. And being on the topic of blackberries, David these bars look fantastic! I’m sitting here at Lil Shashi’s college orientation and wishing I’d blink and find these bars in the seat next to me!
Ps – voted for those bars of yours – congrats on being a finalist tho am not surprised- they look amazing- here’s hoping you win, my friend! Happy Weekend to all of y’all!
Haha! Little Shashi definitely has champagne tastes…and that’s a good thing! 🙂 Oh man, picking wild blackberries seriously is one of my favorite memories from spending summers up at my grandparent’s place in South Carolina. If only we could go back to those times! So orientation, huh? Are you bored out of your mind yet?? It’s an exciting time for sure, though, so enjoy it! And then wonder over and get a cookie from Jittery Joes! Oh, and thank you so much for voting for me, Shashi. You rock!!
…all of which leaves me thinking that, of all the possible suitors, you must’ve been the most expensive one! Thanks for the blackberry recipe. I usually run into wild ones in the summer, and now I have something new to do with them!
….hahaha. I’ve never thought about it that way, Jeff! Of course, I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Either way, grab those wild blackberries and turn ’em into cheesecake bars. They won’t last long around your kitchen. I promise!
Those bars look so good!!Love anything with the buttery cinnamony crumble on top 🙂 We don’t find blackberries in India.. And I have never tasted them before..But I think, I need to acquire this champagne taste soon 😀 Until then, I would love to try these with peaches!!
Thank you so much, Deepika! I didn’t realize that blackberries were rare in India. You’ll have to try them someday! But in the meantime, you could totally use any fruit that you’d like in these bars. It’s an easy recipe, and perfect for summer (or fall) fruit! 🙂
Hi David. These look delicious! Blackberries are indeed expensive, but these days what isn’t. However, sometimes things are just worth the splurge. We had wild blackberries on our property in MI and we made the best blackberry preserves. I have a good friend who has champagne taste on a beer budget, she thinks if it costs more it must be better.
You know, that’s a good point, Dorothy. Everything seems to be getting more and more expensive these days. And we really noticed the price of fruit and veggies jumped when we moved up here from Atlanta. I think it’s probably because they have to transport it so much further? Either way, these bars are worth it…and they could easily be adapted to whatever fruit happens to be on sale at the store this week. 🙂 Thanks so much, my friend!
Robbie’s a smart kid–blackberries are easily one of my favorites too! I was lucky enough to grow up down the street from a huge patch of wild blackberries. It’s still there, so your patch exists in Oregon too :). These bars sound soooo divine, and totally the perfect way to use one of the best fruits around. Happy weekend, David!
See! You and Robbie are just meant to be friends, Kelsie! 🙂 Wait. There’s a secret patch of wild blackberries in Oregon? I’m on the way! Meet you there? I’ll just set my GPS to “Blackberry Patch, Oregon.” Hah! Thanks so much, Kelsie, and I hope you have a great Monday ahead!
I would eat the entire tray, no sharing.
Robbie might have something to say about that, Kevin. You wouldn’t want to make a toddler cry, would you?
I love it that Laura and Robbie both have champagne taste! Me too…when Keith heads to the grocery store with a list he says that he just picks the most expensive choice of whatever is on the list, assuming that’s what I would do. lol!
And these cheesecake bars! They really are the perfect summer dessert – I can see why Robbie was gobbling them up!
Haha! It sounds like you’ve got Keith trained quite well in the grocery shopping department! 🙂 So I highly recommend these cheesecake bars. They’re perfect for hot summer days. Thanks so much, Marissa!
Maybe Laura and I are related, lol. I totally know what you mean. How does that even happen, though?? So awesome that Robbie loves blackberries. They may be a bit more expensive, but so good! And if you can get a big tub at Costco, all the better 🙂 These bars look scrumptious, David! I would seriously be eating them up too! Plus, there’s fruit in there so it’s practically a healthy food, lol 😀 Have a great week!
Hah! How cool would that be if you and Laura are related? That would make us some sort of in-laws…which would mean you’d have to come to family gatherings…and of course you’d have to bring some of your yummy treats! See where I’m going with this one, Dawn? Haha! So these bars really are amazing. And I agree. They’re almost healthy. Almost. 🙂 Hope you guys had a great weekend, my friend!
I love eating blueberries but raspberries and blackberries tend to go back too fast for my liking. If only I saw this recipe last week when I was cursing myself for not eating my berries fast enough. I also love that you used full blackberries, not jelly or puree, but I know that’s not your style. This dessert has summer time written all over it.Laura and I are very alike, I know I have champagne taste, thank goodness the guy I’m dating doesn’t mind, he actually gets a kick out of it.
Yeah, I hear ya on berries, Mary. We sometimes get a little too excited and overbuy when it comes to berries. And then we end up having to rush to eat them all before they go bad. Raspberries are the worst there! They only seem to make it a couple of days before turning bad. But that’s ok…it just means I get to eat more raspberries sooner. And I do think you and Laura would get along quite well! Let me know next time you’re in upstate NY, ok? 🙂
We used to pick wild blackberries with my grandparents near their house. It was so much fun and I think probably the best berries I’ve ever had. These cheesecake bars look like a perfect way to showcase some blackberries. I bet they are amazingly delicious!
Oh, I totally agree with you about wild blackberries, Rachelle! And you aren’t too far from upstate SC where I used to go as a kid. Those were the days! 🙂 So these cheesecake bars are super tasty, and I’m guessing they’d be great with any fresh summer berry! Hope you’re doing well, my friend!
i don’t blame your son! i may or may not have had a bunch of watermelon tonight for dinner (and then decided to be moderately more adult-ish and actually fix a more balanced dinner). these sound so good, especially with all of those textures (:
Hey, I’ve been there. Watermelon for lunch is totally acceptable. When Laura was pregnant with Robbie, I swear we ate a watermelon a week during that summer. It was the only real pregnancy craving she had. And maybe that explains Robbie’s love for fruit now…haha! Thanks, Heather!
These look beyond incredible! Creamy cheesecake, juicy blackberries, that crumb layer – who could say no to that?! I’ve never heard the term “champagne tastes” before, but I’m definitely familiar with the concept. Whenever I look at a magazine that displays an array of products (whether it’s kitchen tools or clothes or whatever), I seem to have a knack for zeroing in on the most expensive!
Haha…you and Laura both have champagne tastes then! And apparently Robbie is well on the way in that department, too…he can put down some blackberries like you wouldn’t believe! Fortunately I saved enough to make these bars. 🙂 Thanks so much, Mara!
These cheesecake bars seems delightful, David! The perfect summer treat!
Thanks, Agness! I totally agree with you here…plus, blackberries are one of my favorite summer berries! 🙂
My husband always jokes about my ability to always pick the most expensive things, too, but I think Laura and I just have great taste 😉
I love cheesecake in all shape and forms, and these blackberry bars look amazing! Love the crumble on top.
Haha! I think you and Laura would be great friends, Bianca. Meanwhile, your husband and I can sit back and commiserate together. 🙂 And maybe we’ll eat some cheesecake bars, too! Thanks so much for swinging by, and I hope you are doing well!