These delicious Strawberry Rhubarb Cheesecake Bars are made with an easy sugar cookie crust mix, a silky cream cheese mixture and a flavorful strawberry and rhubarb fruit compote for the best cheesecake squares. The are a rich dessert recipe that will soon be a new family favorite!
Rhubarb Cheesecake Squares
There is nothing quite like a classic New York Cheesecake, but isn’t the easiest dessert to share with a crowd. That’s why transforming them into bars with the help of an easy pouch of sugar cookie mix is a fantastic way to enjoy this delicious dessert at a pot luck, party or anytime you need an excuse to make a sweet treat!
Strawberry Rhubarb Cream Cheese Bars
I took these popular Lemon Cheesecake Bars and transformed them into a spring dessert with seasonal rhubarb and strawberries. The balance of tart rhubarb with sweet strawberries paired with the rich cheesecake bars is absolutely wonderful!
Strawberry Rhubarb is a classic flavor combination or a reason. They balance each other out so well. From Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp to Strawberry Rhubarb Custard Dessert, you truly can’t go wrong!
How to make Strawberry Rhubarb Cheesecake Bars
To get started, you will need the following ingredients to make the sugar cookie crust for these decadent Strawberry Cheesecake Squares.
- 1 (21 ounce) pouch Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix
- 1/2 cup Butter
- 2 Tablespoons Flour
- 1 Large Egg
Mix all of the ingredients in a medium bowl with a hand mixer until the mixture is a moist crumble. Press the cookie mixture into a greased 9X13 pan.
Strawberry Rhubarb Cheesecake
For some reason, most people view cheesecake as an intimidating dessert, but it really is so simple. For these Strawberry Cheesecake Bars, it only requires 4 simple ingredients to create a silky smooth cream cheese mixture.
- 2 Large Eggs
- 2 (8 ounce) packages Cream cheese
- 3/4 cup Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
Beat the cream cheese until smooth and there are no lumps. Add the remaining ingredients and mix just until combined. Be sure not to overbeat the mixture with the eggs.
Strawberry Rhubarb Compote
These Cheesecake Squares require a compote sauce to swirl through the cheesecake layer. This process is easy, but does take 15-20 minutes to cook down the rhubarb and strawberries. This is cooked down while your sugar cookie crust is baking, so it doesn’t actually add any time to the overall cooking time.
- 3 Tablespoons Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Water
- 2 cups rhubarb stalks
- 2 cups halved strawberries
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Add all of the ingredients to a large saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Cook until all of the rhubarb fibers and strawberries have broken down into a smooth sauce.
Can I use Frozen Rhubarb
If you don’t have access to rhubarb or it is out of season, you can absolutely use frozen rhubarb in this cheesecake recipe. You can actually use frozen strawberries as well. You will just need to add a few minutes to the cooking time, but you can enjoy this sweet treat any time of year!
Easy Store Bought Shortcut
If you are looking for a quick and easy dessert recipe, you can skip the homemade compote and buy a jar of Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce. Homemade is always my preference though, because its fresh and you can control how sweet it is.
If you love this recipe as much as we do, feel free to cook a double or triple batch of the sauce and freeze the extra sauce until you make the cheesecake bars again. Just pop the container in the microwave to thaw it at that time.
Make a double batch fruit sauce
It’s also a great idea to double the strawberry rhubarb sauce so you can enjoy it much likes this Rhubarb Honey sauce, over ice cream, on waffles or any other way you can dream up.
It won’t take much extra time at all to make a larger batch, so if you are doing the work, you may as well use up as much of the spring goodness that is rhubarb as you can!
More amazing Rhubarb Dessert Recipes
If you love Rhubarb Recipes as much as we do, be sure to try a few of our most popular rhubarb desserts.
- Rhubarb Custard Pie – This is the OG dessert that our family can never get enough of!
- Rhubarb Streusel Coffee Cake – A family member pass down this recipe to me and it was absolutely heaven. This is truly the best coffee cake I have ever eaten.
- Rhubarb Honey Cupcakes – Another great rhubarb recipe for sharing at potlucks or parties, these cupcakes filled with a sweet rhubarb sauce are divine!
Strawberry Rhubarb Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 21 ounce pouch Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix
- 1/2 cup Butter softened
- 2 Tablespoons Flour
- 1 Large Egg
Cheesecake
- 2 Eggs
- 2 8 ounce packages Cream cheese, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce
- 3 Tablespoons Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Water
- 2 cups rhubarb stalks chopped
- 2 cups halved strawberries destemmed
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F. Spray the bottom of a 9×13 in pan with pan spray.
- Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce
- To a large saucepan add all of the strawberry rhubarb sauce ingredients. Cook over medium for about 15 minutes, or until all of the strawberries and rhubarb are broken down and and you have a nice thickened sauce. Stir occasionally to prevent burning on the bottom of the pan.
- Cookie Crust
- In a medium bowl, add the softened butter and egg. Beat just until smooth. Add the cookie mix and flour and beat until crumbly dough forms. Press firmly into the sprayed pan.
- Bake 15–18 minutes at 350°F or until light golden brown (Watch this closely as the bottom of the cookies get really done if you over bake!). Cool 15 minutes.
- Cheesecake Bars
- Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar until smooth. Add the vanilla and 2 eggs and mix just until combined. Spread evenly over the cookie crust in the pan.
- Dollop the strawberry rhubarb sauce over the cheesecake mixture. Use a butter knife to pull sauce from side to side through cream cheese mixture to create the swirl.
- Bake 25–30 minutes at 350°F or until cheesecake is set.
- Refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours, before serving.
Denise says
Making them now! Hope they are as good as they sound! Will let you know how it goes!
Malinda says
Loved how easy these were to make and everyone loved them! The whole pan was gone!
Alison LaFortune says
Sugar cookie crust balances out the rhubarb deliciously. My whole family loved this simple dessert.
Julie says
This just might be my new favorite rhubarb treat! Great with coffee!
Coleen says
I had extra rhubarb and wanted to try something else with it. These were perfectly sweet and tangy. My husband can’t stay out of the pan!
Julie says
Rhubarb and strawberry and two of my favorite flavors. These were DELICIOUS. Brought them to a potluck and they were GONE!