Triple Lemon Cheesecake Swirl Bars

By peridot728

It all starts with a lemon cookie crust. Then we add smooth and creamy cheesecake, a swirl of pucker-worthy lemon curd and a layer of lemon cookie crumbles to bring it all home.

Ingredients

• 1 box (15.25 oz) Betty Crocker™ Cake Mix Lemon
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
• 3 eggs
• 12 ounces (1 1/2 blocks) cream cheese
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 jar (10 oz) lemon curd, divided

Details

Servings 16
Preparation time 20mins
Cooking time 270mins
Adapted from tablespoon.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a 9x13-inch baking pan with non-stick foil or spray pan with cooking spray. Stir together the cake mix, melted butter and 1 egg just until combined. This mixture will be thick like cookie dough. Reserve 1/3 cup of the dough to top the bars.

Break remaining cake batter mixture into pieces and scatter them across the bottom of the pan. Press dough pieces down and together into an even layer to form the base of the bars.

To make the cheesecake filling, start by beating the cream cheese and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add 2 eggs and beat until well combined. Stir in 2 tablespoons of lemon curd to add just a touch of lemon flavor to the cheesecake filling.

Spread cheesecake filling over the layer of cake batter in the pan. Dollop spoonfuls of remaining lemon curd over the top.

Use a knife to swirl the lemon curd and the cheesecake filling, creating streaks of white and yellow. Break off small pieces of the reserved cake batter mixture and sprinkle them over top of the filling.

Bake for 34-38 minutes. The cheesecake will have puffed a little bit but will sink as it cools. The edges will look set but the center of the bars should still jiggle.

Remove from oven and set on a cooling rack. Allow cheesecake bars to cool for 30 minutes at room temperature then refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours more. If you lined the pan with foil, lift the bars out of the pan and cut into squares. Otherwise, cut in the pan.