Lemon Cheesecake Bar on a plate
Dessert,  No-Bake Traybakes

No-Bake Lemon Cheesecake Bars

No-Bake Lemon Cheesecake Bars. This is a proper, old-school, retro recipe. It’s made with cream cheese, evaporated milk and lemon jelly (or jello, for my US readers). With some fresh lemon zest and juice for an additional citrus zing.

But, you know what, it still tastes good. And it’s quick and easy to make (although it does need a few hours in the fridge to set). So it’s perfect for a simple summer dessert, whether you slice it into bars, or squares or any other shape you prefer.

When I was younger, (back through the mists of time), this was what I considered to be cheesecake. I’m not even sure at what stage I discovered baked cheesecake. Nevertheless, even if this is not the most modern recipe, sometimes a classic can still be a winner.

No-Bake Lemon Cheesecake Bars

These No-Bake Lemon Cheesecake Bars are tangy and smooth and set nicely to enable you to cut them into neat slices. And they get the all-important seal of approval from Little Miss Traybakes!

Before you start, make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature as that makes it a lot easier to work with. And you won’t end up with lumps in your cheesecake mixture. The cheesecake mix will still be quite liquid when you pour it over the biscuit base, but it does set up nicely in the fridge. These are best kept in the fridge too, as they can go a little squishy if they’re left out too long (like on the hot summer day when I was trying to take these photographs).

Lemon Cheesecake Bar on a plate

No-Bake Lemon Cheesecake Bars

Smooth and tangy no-bake lemon cheesecake bars. A retro cheesecake recipe with cream cheese, jelly, and evaporated milk over a Digestive biscuit base.
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Course Dessert, Snack
Servings 12 small slices

Ingredients
  

  • 8 oz or 225g Digestive biscuits or Graham Crackers
  • 4 oz or 110g butter
  • 3 oz or 85g lemon jelly (lemon jello)
  • 4 fl oz or 120ml hot water
  • 8 oz or 225g cream cheese
  • 5 fl oz or 147ml evaporated milk
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 3 oz or 85g caster sugar (superfine sugar)

Instructions
 

  • Line an 8"/20cm tin with baking parchment.
  • Crush the Digestives/Graham Crackers to make fine crumbs. Melt the butter and add to the crushed biscuits and mix well. Press firmly into a traybake tin and place in the fridge for an hour or two to set.
  • Dissolve the jelly in the hot water and set aside to cool a little.
  • Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Then add the sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and evaporated milk and mix well.  Next, slowly add the lemon jelly mixture and beat until incorporated
  • Pour over the biscuit base and leave to set in the fridge, ideally overnight.

Video

SaveSave

SaveSaveSaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave

SaveSave

27 Comments