These Easy Lemon Cream Cheese Bars are so rich, buttery and easy to make! Packed with the perfect citrus flavor, these lemon bars are next level.
Easy Lemon Cream Cheese Bars Recipe
Lemon sweets are some of my favorite. And I know I have told you before, but unfortunately no one else in my house has jumped on the citrus train. It’s a double edged sword…I get the entire dessert to myself, AND I get the entire dessert to myself. Let that sink in for a minute.
But luckily for you, today I am throwing calories around like confetti. Get on board.
These bars are actually a twist on my super popular Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars. If you’ve never made those, you need to try those next!
How to Make The Best Lemon Bars
You’re going to need a few lemons. Or limes. You could totally use limes.
I know some of you will want to skip using fresh lemons in this recipe, but trust me, you need fresh. The flavor is so much brighter and zest is not optional!
The filling is simple…it’s just cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice and zest.
And I use a major shortcut in this recipe with crescent roll dough! They make it in full sheets, which is easier, but if you can only find the rolls, just pinch the seams together!
Just place a layer of dough in the bottom of the pan, top it with the cream cheese filling and then place another layer of dough on top!
Then you’re going to need to pour a little butter on top. It’s necessary.
You’ll have a little zest and a little granulated sugar leftover. Make some lemon sugar by mixing them together…
And sprinkle that on top of the melted butter!
Oh YES!
Bake them until they are golden brown and then things get tough. You will have to cool the bars completely and then chill them. AHHH I KNOW! IT’S SO HARD!
But worth it. Totally worth it.
The cool, citrus-y cream cheese filling and the buttery, sweet crescent roll dough is an amazing combination!
Share these with your favorite lemon lover!
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Easy Lemon Cream Cheese Bars
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 24 bars 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Easy Lemon Cream Cheese Bars are so rich, buttery and easy to make! Packed with the perfect citrus flavor, these lemon bars are next level.
Ingredients
- 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
- zest of 2 lemons (about 2 tablespoons), divided
- juice of 2 lemons (about 3 ounces)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
- 2 (8 ounces) containers crescent rolls
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat a 9×13 baking pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the cream cheese until smooth. Reserve 1 teaspoon of the lemon zest for later and add the remaining zest into the cream cheese along with the lemon juice and 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar. Mix on medium speed for 1-2 minutes until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Unroll one can of the crescent roll dough and lay flat in the prepared baking pan. Spread the cream cheese mixture on top and smooth. Unroll the remaining dough and lay on top of the cream cheese mixture.
- Pour the melted butter on top of the dough evenly, spreading to coat the dough.
- Finally mix the remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar with the remaining 1 teaspoon lemon zest and sprinkle evenly on top of the butter.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.
- Allow to cool and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Notes
store airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Recipe adapted from my Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars
Made this for an ‘after-golf-tournament’. Well accepted. *I* loved the cream cheese filling. I’d do a crispy topping next time. The second crescent roll topping was just to ‘bready’ for me.
I made these and they were so good. I used only one roll of the crescent sheet. I rolled it out a little bigger and cut it in half to use in an 8×8 pan. It is just my husband and I so I did not want to make the bigger size. I used limes and lime zest – thought I had lemons, it was very good. Loved the tanginess of it. Thanks for the recipe.
Testing this out for My upcoming Crystals For A Cause Sweet Tea and Sparkles Soiree’!! Couldn’t have stumbled on a more PERFECT compliment to Sweet Tea if I’d have tried!!! Hope these Lemony Gems increase the Donations!!! *Big Smile*