Swirls of colors make these Red White and Blue Cheesecake Bars a fun dessert to share at holiday BBQ's. This super simple red, white, and blue dessert is sure to brighten your Memorial Day and 4th of July picnics. So, let's get this party started.
Add a batch of these 4th of July Cookies and your picnics will be perfect.
Cheesecake Bars
One of our favorite desserts is this Rainbow Cheesecake. I love that it is so easy to make and to customize for any party. You can change the swirls of color match any party theme.
All the stores have red, white, and blue decorations out right now for Memorial Day and 4th of July, so I picked a few things up for our summer picnics. One of my favorite things to do for holidays is to make a dessert that is fun and colorful, so I grabbed some star sprinkles too.
Cheesecake bars are a great way to add some color and fun to any party. I was looking through the 4th of July treats I have made over the years, and there was nothing red, white, and blue in the cheesecake section, so I had to make a red white and blue dessert right away.
What You'll Need
The swirls in this 4th of July cheesecake are easy to do, and they make this red white and blue dessert the perfect holiday treat for picnics or parties.
Tools:
- Food Processor - to crush the cookies
- 9x13 pan - line with foil for easy removal
Oreo Cookie Crust:
- Oreo cookies - leave the filling in the cookies
- Butter - unsalted and melted
Vanilla Cheesecake:
- Cream Cheese - set out ahead of time to soften
- Sugar - granulated sugar sweetens and smooths the filling
- Vanilla Extract - adds flavor
- Sour Cream - gives the bars a slight tang
- Flour - adds a little structure so the cheesecake bars do not crack
- Eggs - gives the cheesecake a smooth and rich texture
- Gel Food Coloring - red and blue for patriotic desserts
How to make Red White and Blue Cheesecake Bars:
The longest part of making cheesecake bars is the wait time after. Cheesecake has to chill for 4-6 hours, so that it has time to set up before you cut into it.
I suggest making this patriotic cheesecake the night before, so it can chill overnight.
- Set the cream cheese out at least 30 minutes ahead of time. It's much easier to beat it into the sugar if it is softened first.
- Crush the cookies and mix with melted butter. Press the mixture evenly into a pan.
- Bake and cool the crust.
- Beat the cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Add the flour, vanilla, and sour cream and beat again.
- Add the eggs and mix until just mixed in. Do not over beat once the eggs are added.
- Divide the cheesecake batter evenly into three bowls. Tint two of the bowls red and blue. Gel food colors will give you more vibrant colors.
- Drop the batter by spoonfuls over the top of the cooled cookie crust in a grid pattern
- Use a butter knife and gently drag it through the colors. Go up and down and then back and forth. Make sure you do not pull the knife through the crust!
- Bake over a steam bath.
- Cool completely before cutting into squares.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I customize the colors of the cheesecake bars?
You sure can. Choose any colors that you like and tint the cheesecake batter with those choices.
How do you prevent cheesecake from cracking?
- Set out your ingredients ahead of time, so they come to room temperature.
- Do not over beat the cheesecake batter. Beating too much and too long will add air bubbles to the batter which will result in cracks in the cheesecake as it bakes.
- Bake cheesecake with a steam bath. My favorite way to bake cheesecake is with a pan of water on the bottom rack of the oven. The pan of cheesecake goes on the oven rack right above it.
- Do not over bake the cheesecake. The center of the cheesecake should still be a little jiggly like Jello when you pull it out. It will set up as it cools. If the whole dessert moves, go ahead and continue to bake it a little bit longer.
- Loosen the cheesecake from the edges of the pan about 5 minutes after you pull it out of the oven. As cheesecake cools, it will shrink and pull on the sides of the pan. If it is still attached, it will cause cracks in the center.
What should I do if my cheesecake cracks?
Cover it with a fun topping like pie filling, chocolate ganache, or this Whipped Cream recipe, and no one will ever know.
How do you cut cheesecake bars cleanly?
The best way to cut slices of cheesecake cleanly is to use a hot knife for each cut. Dip the knife in hot water and wipe with a clean towel before making each cut.
Can you freeze cheesecake?
You certainly can. Cheesecake will keep for1-2 months in the freezer. Cheesecake can be frozen whole or cut up into slices. If you are making it ahead of time for a party, wrap and freeze it whole. If you have leftovers, freeze individual squares for future snacking enjoyment. Thaw overnight in the fridge before serving.
How to Freeze Cheesecake
- After baking, let the cheesecake cool for 1-2 hours on the counter, then refrigerate until completely chilled.
- If you are freezing the cheesecake whole, place it on a board or pan and wrap tightly with plastic wrap and foil. If you are freezing individual slices or squares, wrap each one tightly in plastic wrap and then again in foil.
- Place in the freezer for 1-2 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight or at least a few hours before serving. Once thawed, add Homemade Whipped Cream and sprinkle decorations.
Other Red White and Blue Desserts:
- Firecracker Cupcakes
- 4th of July Donuts
- 4th of July Rice Krispie Treats
- White Chocolate Parfait recipe
- Red White and Blue Swirl Bundt Cake
- 4th of July Marshmallow Pops
- Fruit Parfait
- Homemade Fruit Dip
- Cherry Filled Cupcakes
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
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Red White and Blue Cheesecake Bars Recipe
Swirls of colors make these Red White and Blue Cheesecake Bars a fun dessert to share at holiday BBW's. This super simple red, white, and blue dessert is sure to brighten your Memorial Day and 4th of July picnics.
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 30 Oreo cookies
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the Cheesecake
- 3 - 8 ounce packages cream cheese, softened
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 3 large eggs
- red & blue gel food colors
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9x13 pan with foil.
- Place the cookies (cream included) in a food processor. Pulse until the cookies become crumbs.
- Stir in the butter until mixed in. Press the mixture evenly in the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove and cool.
- Place a large baking sheet on the bottom rack of the oven. Fill it halfway with water. Let the oven preheat again.
- Beat the cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Add the sour cream, vanilla, and flour and beat again.
- Add the eggs and beat gently just until they are mixed in.
- Divide the batter evenly into 3 bowls. Use the food coloring to tint two of the bowls red and blue.
- Spoon the mixture evenly over the crust, alternating the colors. Drag a butter knife through the batter going up and down and back and forth until you get a good swirl pattern. Do not over mix.
- Place the pan on the oven rack above the pan of water. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Remove from the oven immediately and place on a wire rack.
- Let the cheesecake cool on the counter for 1 hour, then refrigerate for 4-6 hours.
- Cut into squares and serve with whipped cream and sprinkles, if desired.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 251Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 58mgSodium: 155mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 0gSugar: 20gProtein: 3g
Nutrition facts are an estimate and are not guaranteed to be accurate. If you need special diet advice, please see a registered dietician.
*The post for Red White and Blue Cheesecake Bars was first published May 25, 2017. The post was updated and republished May 26, 2021
Sean Sullivan
Thanks Jocelyn for the great dessert idea. My cheesecake bars didn't turn out quite as nice looking as yours but were still very tasty and colourful!
Judy Schneider
This sounds incredible. How long do you bake the crust and how long does it have to cool before you add the filling? Would you put it in the refrigerator to speed up cooling time?
Jocelyn
If you scroll down to the bottom of the post there is a recipe card with full instructions. You will bake the crust 10 minutes. Usually I just let it cool about 10-15 minutes, before adding the filling and baking again. I hope you enjoy the bars. Happy 4th of July!
Jen
So I used a 9x13 pan and my cheesecake layer is not very thick😆 also blue and red were very runny. Think it turned out ok but they were very thin bars.
Jocelyn
These are just cheesecake bars, so they are only a little over 1 inch thick after baking. What kind of food coloring did you use? Liquid or gel? You need to use quite a bit more liquid to get a good color, so that would make the batter runny and probably affected how they baked. I'm sorry to hear they didn't turn out as well for you. I hope they still tasted good and you enjoyed them.
Kisha
Do you cover the cheesecake once it's cooled? Or can you just put it in refrigerator uncovered?
Jocelyn
I usually loosely cover it before putting it in the fridge.
Kim
How did you make your red and blue so deep in color? My pan looks like a Easter egg haha
Jocelyn
Did you use gel food coloring or liquid food coloring? The gel food coloring will always give you a much darker color if you use enough of it. I hope you still enjoy the cheesecake bars! Just add lots of Cool Whip and red and blue sprinkles and no one will realize they look like an Easter egg. LOL!
Kristin
Mine looks like a gender reveal cheesecake lol. It's ok im going to top it with cool whip and sprinkles. The taste is what's important
jenniifer
do you need to spray the foil with noncooking spary? will the bars stick to the foil?
Jocelyn
Yes, I usually spray the foil lightly to keep them from sticking. The foil is optional though. I tend to do it so I can lift the bars out and make clean cuts for pictures. You can totally just spray your pan with nonstick cooking spray and you will be fine.
jennifer
going to be making these delicious looking cheesecake bars for the first time our 4th of july picnic with my family. What do mean by preheat oven again after putting the cookie sheet in for the steam bath? thank you
Jocelyn
You will put a sheet pan on the very bottom oven rack and fill it halfway with water. Turn your oven on to preheat while you make the rest of the recipe. When it is time to bake, place the cheesecake on the oven rack directly over the steaming pan of water. I hope that helps. If you have any other questions, feel free to message me. I hope you enjoy the bars!
Martha
Hey! That's super delicious, I have a sweet tooth and I can't stop drooling over this.
Jenna Sayman
Do you think that it would be possible to make these ahead of time and freeze them for 2-3 days?
Jocelyn
They should be fine to freeze. Make sure they are completely cool before freezing them though. If you are only making them a few days ahead, they should be ok in your refrigerator too. I hope you enjoy the cheesecake.
Nina Newton
Hello Jocelyn! I found your blog while searching for recipes for a July roundup and would like to feature this recipe in the month of July on our blog as well as in our online publication, RUBY magazine. I will, of course, only include one image and link back here to the original post. We will encourage our readers and followers to visit you here for the complete recipe as well as for some of your other great recipes. Thanks for sharing your beautiful photography and recipes with everyone in the blogosphere! We'll be sure to send our readers your way. Thanks so much, Nina @ RUBY magazine and community
Jocelyn
Hi, Nina. Thank you so much for the sweet words. I'm so glad you loved this treat enough to want to share it. You can definitely share an image with a link back to the post for the recipe. I appreciate the support and that you asked! I also have a bunch of other fun 4th of July treats here if you need others. https://insidebrucrewlife.com/category/recipes/seasonal/4th-of-july/
april
Why in some recipes do you call for the cheesecake to be in the water bath and the red white and blue you say on the center rack above the water?
Jocelyn
I don't have any recipes that call for a water bath. I only use the steam method where you put the cheesecake on the rack above the water.
Swimmer Jacob
These are amazing, typical that I found this post on July 12, a week after independence day!!! Still, I think I might give it a try...might even do it in the Irish colours on St Patrick's Day!
Sylvia Esqueda
Made the Red, White, and Blue Cheesecake Bars for work for the 4th of July. They turned out so pretty; my coworkers loved them! ????
Kristi
When I cool on wire rack for an hour, is it directly in the pan or lift out in foil?
Jocelyn
Leave it in the pan while it's cooling on the wire rack, then place the whole thing (pan included) in the fridge to chill. You do not want to lift it out until it has chilled all the way through. I hope you enjoy it!
Stephanie
How can I tell it's done? I've only made cheesecake once, 8 years ago haha
Jocelyn
This cheesecake will be done at 45-47 minutes. It should still jiggle in the center, but it should be the whole thing jiggling as a whole. Not like how the center of an under baked cake looks when you wiggle it. It also should start to brown ever so slightly on the edges. At this point, get it out because it's in danger of being over baked. Cheesecake sets up as it cools and chills. I hope that helps!
Jlyn
What does the water help with?
Jocelyn
The pan of water under the cheesecake creates a steam effect in your oven. The steam helps the cheesecake to bake evenly and stay moist and creamy without cracks. I wrote an entire book on cheesecake and have a lot of tips and tricks on the subject 🙂 https://insidebrucrewlife.com/cookbook/
Emily Boyd
Can I use double Stuf?
Jocelyn
Yes, you can. You may need to cut the amount of butter back slightly because of the extra cream though. I hope you enjoy the cheesecake bars.
Chelsea
Hi there could I use Graham cracker crust instead? Does this have a regular cheesecake flavor? TIA
Jocelyn
Yes, you can totally use a regular graham cracker crust and yes, it is just a basic vanilla cheesecake jazzed up with food coloring. Here is a link to a cake that I did with a graham cracker crust. Just use the ingredients for that crust and the cheesecake from this recipe. https://insidebrucrewlife.com/chocolate-smores-pudding-cake/
Andrea Laino
Large baking sheet with water? Like a pyrex?
Jocelyn
No, you want to use a large baking sheet with a lip on it, like one you would bake cookies on. Does that make sense?
Caroline
What do temp do you bake it?
Jocelyn
You bake the crust and the cheesecake at 325 degrees. The temperature is located in step 1. I hope you enjoy the cheesecake bars!
Barbara
Can I make them in a 8by8 glass pan so they will be thick
Jocelyn
No, the recipe is written for a 9x13 pan. These are a decent thickness when made that way. If you want to do it in the 8x8 pan I would recommend cutting all your ingredients in half because it will not fit in the pan.