No-bake lemon cheesecake bars. This is a proper, old-school, retro recipe, made with cream cheese, evaporated milk and lemon jelly (or jello, for my US readers). See, I told you it was properly retro!
But, you know what, it still tastes good. And it’s quick and easy to make. So it’s perfect for a simple summer dessert.
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!
You may spot that there aren’t any ‘before’ or ‘during’ photographs in the recipe this time, but, to be honest, they weren’t that exciting, so I left them out. Digestive biscuit crumbs and lemon cheesecake mix don’t make the most interesting pictures! Finished lemon cheesecake bars…well, that’s a little more useful!
These 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!
Ingredients
8oz/225g/2 cups digestive biscuits/graham crackers, crushed
4oz/110g/1 stick butter
1 packet lemon jelly/jello (I used a 3oz/85g packet)
1 pack cream cheese (8oz/225g)
1 small tin evaporated milk (I used a 5oz can)
1 tbsp juice + zest of 1 lemon
3oz/85g/⅓ cup sugar
Method
1. Before you start, make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature as this will make it a lot easier to work with.
2. Melt the butter. Add to the crushed digestives and mix well. Press firmly into a traybake tin and place in the fridge for an hour or two to set.
3. Dissolve the jelly in ½ cup (4 fl oz/120ml) hot water and set aside to cool a little.
4. Beat the cream cheese until smooth then add the sugar, lemon juice + zest and evaporated milk and mix well. Next, slowly add the lemon jelly mixture and beat until it’s all incorporated.
5. Spread over the biscuit base and leave to set in the fridge.
6. Slice and enjoy!
