No bake blueberry cheesecake bars
No bake blueberry cheesecake bars have a chocolate crust with a thin layer of melted chocolate in between for that something extra. Super creamy, silky smooth filling swirled with fresh blueberry sauce make these bars as pretty as they are delicious.
I’ll give you variations and substitutions where I can, plus helpful tips and tricks for success. Read on for this info as well as the recipe. If you’d like to skip straight to the recipe, use the jump to recipe button at the top of the post.
You may also be interested in my no bake chocolate cheesecake and my no bake lemon cheesecake parfaits recipes. For ease of browsing, you can find all of my no bake dessert recipes in one place.
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Why you should make this recipe
- Quick & Easy – The actual “hands on” time is roughly 30 minutes.
- Versatile – You can swap out blueberries for strawberries or blackberries.
- Great for gatherings – You can easily double this no bake blueberry cheesecake recipe to serve a big crowd.
No bake blueberry cheesecake bars
Bars are the go-to dessert when you are feeding a crowd. If I can get away with not turning on the oven, that’s even better. They are great for backyard gatherings and bringing to parties. Cool and creamy, these easy no bake blueberry cheesecake squares are always a hit.
I love a good cheesecake, but sometimes I don’t feel like making a baked version. No bake bars are faster, easier and during the warmer months, a perfect option.
The fresh blueberry sauce can be used for topping ice cream, waffles, pancakes, etc. You can use it to swirl into batters or blend into frosting. There are no limitations to its use.
Make a big batch and freeze it in small portions. You can use it whenever you are craving blueberries, even if they aren’t in season.
Ingredients
- Chocolate graham crackers – You can substitute regular graham crackers if preferred.
- Granulated sugar – A little sugar sweetens the crust and the blueberry purée.
- Unsalted butter – Melted butter is mixed with sugar and grahams to make the crust.
- Melted chocolate – I recommend 60% – 72%, higher percentage is less sweet.
- Cream cheese – We can’t have cheesecake without cream cheese. Use full fat for best results.
- Powdered sugar – Used to sweeten the filling.
- Heavy cream – Heavy cream (or double cream) is whipped up to lighten the filling.
- Vanilla – Provides great flavor to cheesecake filling.
- Sour cream – Gives the filling a delicious tang.
- Blueberries – The blueberries get cooked down into a purée that will be swirled into the filling.
- Lemon juice – It brightens the blueberry sauce and balances the sweetness.
How to make
If you’ve ever made a no bake cheesecake before, this will be very familiar, but with a blueberry swirl. Generally, a recipe like this would use regular graham crackers for the crust or even a shortbread crust. I wanted something different here, so I chose chocolate graham crackers.
The combination of the chocolate, cheesecake filling and blueberry is spectacular and I highly recommend it. However, if you prefer plain grahams, feel free to swap them.
- The graham crackers get blitzed up in the food processor with the butter and sugar, then patted down into the baking dish. You can use the bottom of a glass or a measuring cup, I just use my hand. Using my hand allows me to feel the crust, and any uneven spots, so I can fix them before adding the filling.
- Melt chocolate and spread over the chocolate graham cracker crust using a small offset spatula. The layer of melted chocolate gives it a little something extra and adds an additional texture, which I really like. Make sure to use a thin layer of chocolate, though. I made the chocolate too thick the first time I made this and it was difficult to cut through. Learn from my trial and error, don’t get greedy with the chocolate.
- Simmer blueberries, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan on the stove until the berries begin to burst. Let it cook down until some of the liquid has reduced. Let it cool before puréeing it, then set it aside. I usually make this the day before so the sauce is really cold when it is added. You can do this the night before, if needed.
- Whip up the cream for the filling, then pile it on top on the crust. Swirl your blueberry sauce through the filling and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or until firmly set.
How to make swirls in cheesecake
After you have filled the crust with the no bake cheesecake filling, dollop the blueberry purée on top with a spoon or, as I prefer, a squeeze bottle.
I like 9 big circles of blueberry sauce for even distribution throughout the pan. Next, swirl it through in a figure 8 design with a butter knife or your small offset spatula.
You can be as gentle or as aggressive as you like with your design, as long as you don’t disturb the crust. I like to leave small pools of sauce in a few places so it doesn’t look perfect.
As you can see, I leave spots of cheesecake and pools of sauce mixed with perfectly swirled places. These no bake bars are so delicious and easy, plus they feed the whole family.
No bake blueberry cheesecake FAQ’s
Yep! You can make them a day or two ahead of time.
The key to keeping a no-bake cheesecake firm and set up properly is chill time. Ideally, you’d like it to chill 8 – 12 hours, or overnight.
If properly stored in an airtight container (or wrapped well with plastic wrap) in the fridge, they will last up to 5 days.
This is the scale that I own and use daily. It is easy to use, plus it measures in pounds, ounces and grams.
Measuring ingredients by weight, ESPECIALLY in baking, is much more accurate than cup measurement.
Variations and substitutions
These no bake blueberry cheesecake bars could be changed into just about any fruit flavor that you like. During summer months when so much fruit is in season, I like to make these bars with raspberries or cherries.
If you are craving these bars when you can’t get fresh fruit, use frozen. You are making a purée from the fruit, so cook it down and blend it up! You could use frozen peaches, strawberries or a combination of a few favorites.
More blueberry recipes we love
- Blueberry buttermilk Bundt cake
- Blueberry bourbon BBQ sauce
- New York-style blueberry crumb cake
- Blueberry pound cake
- Easy blueberry muffins
Serving suggestions
This warm weather dessert is a perfect ending to nearly any meal. A few of our summertime favorites are grilled lemon herb shrimp skewers, glazed grilled chicken and peaches, and bacon goat cheese burgers.
Helpful tools and equipment
- 8 x8 baking pan – A classic glass baking dish is what I used to make the bars.
- Hand mixer – No need to get out the stand mixer. A hand-held electric mixer works well here.
- Immersion Blender – Perfect for blending blueberries into a smooth purée.
- Offset spatula – Used for spreading melted chocolate and smoothing the top of the cheesecake filling.
- Small saucepan – You’ll need a small pan to cook the blueberry purée.
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No Bake Blueberry Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Crust
- 9 chocolate graham cracker sheets broken into small pieces
- 1 stick unsalted butter melted // 113g
- 1/4 cup sugar // 50g
- 1/4 cup melted semi sweet chocolate // 50g
For the Filling
- 2 blocks of cream cheese 8 oz. each // 454g
- 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream // 180mL
- 1/4 cup sour cream // 61g
- 3/4 – 1 cup powdered sugar // 75 – 120g
- 1 tbsp. vanilla bean paste can sub regular vanilla, see notes
For the Blueberry Sauce
- 2 cups fresh blueberries // 300g
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup sugar depending on sweetness of blueberries // 50 – 100g
- 1 TB fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Place chocolate graham crackers, melted butter and sugar in bowl of food processor and blend until combined. Pour into 8×8 pan and press down firmly, making sure it is even.
- Melt semi sweet chocolate in microwave. Place in small, microwave-safe bowl, 30 seconds at a time until there are no large pieces. Small pieces are ok, stir until completely melted and smooth. Pour on top of crust, spreading evenly.
- Place in refrigerator for 15 – 20 minutes to set.
- In a small pot, combine blueberries, sugar and lemon juice. Bring to a boil and cook until blueberries begin to burst and some of the liquid has evaporated, about 20 minutes. Stir occasionally. Remove from heat and cool.
- Purée using an immersion blender or regular blender.
- Using a hand mixer, beat cream cheese, sour cream and powdered sugar until smooth. Add COLD heavy cream and vanilla, beat until smooth and fluffy (3 – 4 minutes). Pour into pan and smooth top.
- Dollop fresh blueberry sauce on top and using a butter knife, swirl sauce into cheesecake filling. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Thanks for stopping by! Have a delicious day 🙂
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Originally published 7/27/18.
These cheesecake bars were CRAZY easy to make…and sinfully delicious! Another thing I loved about this recipe is that it can EASILY be changed up to use whatever berries or fruits that are in season. Raspberry, strawberry, blackberry, mango, etc. Add this recipe to your repertoire — your family will thank you!
Thank you so much, Kelley! I’m thrilled that you made them and loved them 🙂 Also, yes to changing it up with different fruits! <3
I wonder if a light ganache would be better than just a thin layer of hard chocolate??
Maybe? If you try it, let me know how it worked out.
Made these for the July 4th holiday, and they were a hit. Very easy to make and super delicious!!
I’m so happy that these were a hit, Laura! Thank you so much for the feedback! I appreciate it!
I just made this today. I followed directions exactly. Although it tasted good. It did NOT set. There was wayyy too much heavy whipping cream in there. I’ll make it again, but only use 1/2 a pint of the WC. It was runny. (I had it in fridge for 4 hours too) Otherwise it was delicious. Just too liquid-y.
I’m sorry your bars didn’t set properly. I’m not sure what could’ve happened. I am glad to know you thought it was delicious and are going to make it again.
I made it but thought the cream would be too much so I just used 1 cup light cream, to save calories and also substituted the cream cheese for Neufandel cheese. Might not have spelled it correctly, but I wanted to cut calories. It came out great and might even reduce the liquid to 3/4 for our Thanksgiving dinner.
That’s great, Frances! I’m so happy the recipe stood up to the changes you made! And you saved a few calories 🙂 Hooray for that!
So so good but didn’t set at all! Not sure what I did wrong but I plan on attempting this again!
I’m glad you like the recipe, but I’m sorry it didn’t set for you 🙁
Make sure the heavy cream is REALLY cold before adding. I usually stick it in the freezer for 5 minutes to get it super cold.
Can I freeze these
Hi Aleisha, I’ve never put these in the freezer, so I can’t say for sure how they would do.
I would be afraid that they would get soggy and watery when they thawed out. You could try putting a small piece in the freezer for a day or two and then thaw it, just to test it out, before you freeze the whole batch.
I have a question can you sub the vanilla paste for extract?
Absolutely!
If you use frozen berries, do you thaw them first?
Hi Tina, I would thaw them. Frozen fruit can sometimes be a bit watery. If you don’t have time to thaw, just make sure you let it cook a bit longer to evaporate the extra liquid. You do not want it to be watery when you add it to the cream cheese.
My bars were absolutely heavenly, but despite my best efforts, the crust was hard to cut. No one seemed to mind except me, but next time I’ll skip the chocolate chips.
Hi Meridith,I had the same thing happen the first time I made them. I even put a note in the post about it – “Make sure to use a thin layer of chocolate, though. I made the chocolate too thick the first time I made this and it was difficult to cut through. Learn from my trial and error”. When I made a very thing layer, it was fine. You could also try adding a splash of heavy cream to the chocolate to make more of a ganache and then it won’t set.
Everything turned out great except for the blueberries. It mad a ton of sauce. I used an emulsion blender, was this wrong? There was so much sauce that after I swirled, there was a ton of runny sauce on top. I swirled all the way to the crust. It’s in the fridge now. Hope it sets. The cream cheese mixture was divine!
Hi Trish, I’m sorry it didn’t turn out exactly as you’d hoped. I used an immersion blender too, so I don’t think that is the problem. I’m not sure what could have happened. I hope it tasted good, in spite of the sauce issue. I haven’t heard this before, so I’m a little stumped 🙁
I’ll have to remake this soon and see if I can figure it out for you.