These easy No Bake Lemon Cheesecake Bars with graham cracker crust and lemon curd topping are light, refreshing, and the perfect addition to your Easter table.
No Bake Lemon Cheesecake Bars
No Bake Lemon Cheesecake Bars are delicious, light and lemony dessert, perfect for warmer weather. This easy recipe is completely no bake and requires only 20 minutes of active time from start to finish. But you must make it in advance since it needs to sit at least a few hours or preferably overnight in the fridge to set completely before serving.
Depending on the occasion for which you’re making this dessert, you can easily double the recipe or make it as a classic, round cake.
You can make it in a large pan if you need to feed the crowd. These No Bake Lemon Cheesecake Bars are perfect for picnic, potlucks or family gathering like Easter dinner or brunch.
Also, you can use a springform pan instead a square pan and make lemon cheesecake instead of bars. Especially if you want to serve a slice of cake for a special occasion, like Easter.
Making the Lemon Cheesecake Filling
No Bake Lemon Cheesecake filling is light, creamy and smooth. It bursts with lemon flavor so it’s very refreshing and perfect for warmer weather.
No bake cheesecake needs only few simple ingredients: cream cheese, sugar, sweetened condensed milk, fresh lemon juice and zest and lemon Jell-o or other lemon-flavored gelatin.
Making the No Bake Graham Cracker Crust
To make the No Bake Graham Cracker Crust, crush graham crackers in a food processor. Then, stir in melted butter until it’s evenly moistened and press the mixture in the pan. If you don’t have a food processor, you can place graham crackers in a zip-lock bag and crush them with a rolling pin to make the crumbs.
How to make Lemon Curd
Homemade Lemon curd recipe is simple and easy. It takes only 5 simple ingredients and 5 minutes to make. You’ll need: butter, sugar, eggs, freshly squeezed lemon juice and lemon zest.
To make the lemon curd, in a sauce pan melt the butter and remove from the heat. Then stir in sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest. Finally, whisk in eggs and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, or until it starts thickening and coats the back of a spoon.
Craving More lemon Desserts!?
Lemon Coffee Cake is delicious, moist, sweet and tangy breakfast or snack cake, but also very satisfying dessert.
Strawberry Lemonade Lasagna is quick and easy NO BAKE dessert recipe with only few ingredients for light and refreshing spring or summer treat!!!
No Bake Lemon Cheesecake Bars
Prep Time: 30 minutes- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
Yield: 16 1x
Category: Dessert
Method: Stove
Cuisine: American
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
These easy No Bake Lemon Cheesecake Bars with graham cracker crust and lemon curd topping are light, refreshing, and the perfect addition to your Easter table.
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Crust:
- 1 1/2 cups finely crushed graham crackers
- 1/3 cup melted butter
Lemon Cheesecake Filling:
- 1 (3 oz.) lemon flavored gelatin (like Jell-o)
- 1/2 cup boiling water
- 1/2 cup iced water
- 8 oz. cream cheese-softened
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 1/2 cup whipped cream (Cool Whip)
Lemon Curd:
- 3 Tablespoons butter
- 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 egg and 1 egg yolk-slightly whisked with a fork
For Serving:
- whipped cream
- mint leaves-for garnish
Instructions
- Line 9 x 9 x 2 inches pan with aluminum foil or plastic wrap leaving an overhang the sides for easy removal. Lightly grease with cooking spray and set aside.
- To make the graham cracker crust stir graham cracker crumbs and melted butter until evenly moistened, then press the mixture firmly in the bottom of the pan and place in the fridge to firm.
Lemon Cheesecake Filling:
- Pour boiling water over lemon Jell-o and stir for about 2 minutes, or until It’s completely dissolved. Add iced water and stir well, then set aside to cool while making the filling.
- Beat softened cream cheese and sugar until smooth and creamy. Gradually add sweetened condensed milk and mix well. Then, slowly pour in lemon juice and mix until smooth.
- Next, pour in dissolved gelatin and mix until combined.
- Finally, whisk in whipped cream and spread the filling over crust. Smooth the top and gently tap the pan onto work surface to settle well. Place in the fridge for a few hours (preferably overnight) to firm completely.
Lemon Curd:
- In a small sauce pan place the butter and melt over medium heat. Remove from the heat and whisk in sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice. Add eggs and whisk well. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon (about 5 minutes). Transfer in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to prevent forming the film on top. Cool to room temperature.
- When the cheesecake is completely set, pull the overhang of the foil to lift the cake from the pan and transfer onto cutting board. Spread lemon curd on top. Slice and serve with whipped cream o top. Garnish with mint leaves if desired.
- Store leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge.
36 comments
Hi, I would love to make your delicious no bake lemon cheesecake bars but there’s no recipe listed Can you post it please? Thank you
Can I use evaporated milk in stead of the sweetened condensed milk ?
Hello. This lemon dessert sounds delicious. I am using a mo Ike device so perhaps that is what’s causing the issue I’m having but I can not find the actual recipe any place. Am I missing a link or do I need to use a regular computer? Thanks for your help.
Where is the actual recipe and instructions?
Hi, it is absolutely not clear whether I should take 1 ½ cup of whipped cream that has already been whipped or 1,5 cup of the cream before I whip it… The first is very non-typical to write. Thank you for specifying this matter.
Hi Kateryna, it’s 1 and 1/2 cups of whipped cream that’s already whipped.
In this recipe can I use cool whip or whip my own?
You can do what ever you prefer!
The best because, simple, easy
Just made this a second time. I used cool whip and it turns out perfect! My family loves it! Thank you!
Thanks Jenet!
I tried making this but the cheesecake filling never firmed up – now I have lemon pudding. I followed the recipe, except I folded the whipped cream into the mix, instead of whisking it, so I’m not sure where I went wrong – would not mixing enough/mixing too much cause this?
Hi Andrea, I’m sorry to hear that. I don’t know what went wrong. It should set, because it has Jello (gelatn) and lemon juice. Just to make sure, you folded in whipped cream, not whipping cream(liquid)?
Yup, I used TruWhip, which should work the same as CoolWhip. It’s a mystery, but thanks for replying!
I just made this the other evening. I put the dessert into the fridge for the night to make sure it was completely set before putting the lemon curd on top. In the morning, I put the lemon curd on and took it to work to share. (( made this in a 9″ spring form pan) when I gave the pan a little shake, the filling still jiggled a bit…more than I thought it should have. So when I got to work, I put it into the freezer. Pulled it out after an hour and a half and transferred it to the fridge. Little while later, I went to cut into it and I knew there was no way, it was going to hold it’s shape. When I put the ring from the spring form pan around the dessert again, it all OOZED out the bottom. So,, back into the freezer it went!! After 3 hours, I was able to cut into it. If not for freezing it….I would have had pudding!
I wondered about the recipe as I was making it.
The jello mix/liquid ….the lemon juice. being added…the sweetened condensed milk (1 1/2 cans = 14 oz) …all seemed like too much liquid and I wondered even then, if it would set. My intuitions were right. And yes…..when I added the whipping cream….I pre-whipped it and stirred it in gently with a whisk.
Sadly, I won’t be making this one again….although it did taste good, it wasn’t my preference to make pudding.
Hii……I can not find lemon flavoured gelatine here, what should I replace instead of it? If i use gelatine powder…..how much i should use to mix with water? Hope get your reply soon. Tq
Hi Melly, you’ll need about 10 grams gelatin powder, but lemon flavored gelatin also gives sweetness, lemon flavor and pale yellow color, so you’ll have to add some sugar (about 60-70 grams) and lemon extract or grated lemon zest for lemon flavor.
[…] No bake lemon cheesecake bars (OMG Chocolate Desserts) […]
How about using 9×13 pan with same recipe; thinner bars and more servings
HI Judy, I think it would be too thin.
[…] Source: OMG Chocolate Desserts […]
Followed the recipe but it didn’t set! Very disappointing after spending so much money and timee
Not saying you did this, but: Make sure not to lick the spoon or spatula at any time while making the recipe, as the enzymes from a person’s saliva will keep the gelatin from setting. I made this mistake unwittingly as a teenager and ruined 2 desserts in a row as a result! I didn’t learn until much later why it happened. The same also with whipping egg whites or whipped cream.
I would love to have all these recipes I look good are they low in sugar?
how do I get the recipes?
The recipe should really specify if the whipped cream needs to be whipped prior to adding it to the filling. I understand that more experienced bakers probably would know that, however I’m a newbie when it comes to making desserts and this very important piece that was missing ruined the filling and didnt set well as I put the liquid whipped cream in the cream cheese mixture and whipped it well with the hand mixer. Long story short, recipe needs to be more detailed in instructions.
Anis, I see how this can be confusing. Hopefully this helps…’whipped’ is an adjective, mean that this is cream that has been whipped. If you are supposed to use it in liquid form, it would be listed as ‘whipping’ cream, as in ‘cream that is made to be whipped’.
I am a fairly experienced baker and I had to think twice about that, too, so I’m sure you’re not alone!
Again, I hope this is helpful. 🙂
Five stars! My family loved this and it didn’t last 24 hours in the house. The only thing I would change is to ditch the foil/plastic wrap, as it just made it difficult to take pieces out of the dish. There was no need to take the whole cake out, and I put the curd on top of it once it was set in the pan. It’s more of a ‘tort’ compared to cheesecake, as baked cheesecake is much thicker and heartier. This was nice and fluffy with a great flavor. A definite keeper of a recipe! Thank you!
How long do you leave the crust in the fridge for?
Can this recipe be doubled for a 9 x 13 pan I am making it for the grooms table for a wedding
I guess this recipe will not hold together without gelatin. Oh well, I don’t do Jello.
Hello, I’d really like to make these but am curious. You call for whipped cream but don’t specify whether that is heavy whipped cream or something like coolwhip. They are very different products since coolwhip is generally already sweetened and if it’s just heavy whipping cream what type of peaks are we looking for when whipped? The recipe sounds and looks lovely but you should be more specific about what products you are using so those who want to re-create your dishes don’t run into issues.
Hello I forgot to add the whipped cream before I put it in the pan to set would my bars still be fine or should I trash it and start over? Thanks.
So to confirm from other posts…we use cool whip and not liquid whipping cream?
So you actually use heavy cream to make the whipped cream or is it cool whip because everyone is confused as well as me, I’m thinking the cool whip from the frozen container would hold much better. Just for clarification because it’s not specified for people to decide which whipped cream your talking about in the recipe. I’m making this for this weekend and I need to know exactly which cream to use. Looks so good. Thanks
Hi Olga, you can use Cool Whip.