An easy dessert recipe for lightened up cheesecake bars using light cream cheese, yogurt, egg whites, and a swirl of raspberry jam.
Those gorgeous swirls between the creamy cheesecake are brought to you by raspberry jam. I used a natural raspberry jam I picked up at the farmer’s market, but feel free to use any kind of jam and any flavor. I have a feeling peach or apricot jam would be fabulous. You’ll need a scant 1/4 cup of jam total.
To swirl, drizzle 4 parallel and horizontal lines of jam on top of the cheesecake batter. Then, drag a toothpick down vertically, making 4 lines perpendicular to the jam lines.
If you love this lightened up cheesecake bliss, be sure to try my recipe for light chocolate chip cheesecake bars as well.
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Light Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 32 minutes
- Total Time: 5 hours
- Yield: 12-16 bars
- Category: Bars
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
An easy and delicious recipe for lightened up cheesecake bars using light cream cheese, yogurt, egg whites, and a swirl of raspberry jam.
Ingredients
Crust
- 3/4 cup (85g) graham cracker crumbs (about 5–6 full sheets graham crackers)
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, melted (or melted coconut oil)
Filling
- 8 ounces (226g) light brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature (do not use fat free)
- 3/4 cup (185g) Greek yogurt (or regular yogurt, plain or flavored, low fat or fat free)
- 2 large egg whites
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (16g) all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (80g) raspberry jam
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment, leaving an overhang on all sides to easily lift the bars out of the pan before cutting. Set aside.
- Make the crust: Mix the graham cracker crumbs and melted butter together in a medium bowl until combined. Evenly press crust into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- Make the filling: In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese on high speed until completely smooth, about 1 minute. On medium-high speed, beat in yogurt until completely combined. Then beat in the egg whites until combined. Finally, beat in the sugar, flour, lemon juice, and vanilla until everything is combined and no lumps remain.
- Pour filling onto the crust. Swirl the raspberry jam on top of the batter (see the text in the post for how I swirl).
- Bake for 25 minutes, covering the cheesecake bars at the 20 minute mark with aluminum foil to prevent over-browning. Allow the bars to cool at room temperature set on a wire rack for 30 minutes, then transfer to the refrigerator to chill for 3-4 hours or even overnight.
- Once chilled, lift the foil out of the pan using the overhang on the sides and cut into squares. For neat squares, I use a very sharp knife and wipe it clean with a paper towel after each cut. Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Prepare the bars 1-3 days in advance and store covered tightly in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Bars can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 8-inch Square Baking Pan | Glass Mixing Bowl | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Cooling Rack
The flavor of these is so good! I was looking for a lower sugar option as I am pregnant and watching sugar intake. Am so excited to have found a dessert with minimal sugar I can enjoy! I had difficulty getting the jam to spread/drizzle. Any tips?
Hi Bekah, so glad you like this recipe! You can try warming up the jam slightly to make it more spreadable. Enjoy!
When do you add vanilla?
Hi Noreen, add it with the lemon juice.
Can I use your raspberry sauce from the white chocolate raspberry cheesecake bars instead of using store bought jam for this recipe?
Hi Shae, we can’t see why not — let us know how it goes!
Hi can I use Greek yogurt cream cheese instead of low fat cream cheese?
Hi Charisse, We haven’t tried Greek yogurt cream cheese in this recipe, but let us know how they turn out if you do. If the consistency of Greek yogurt cream cheese is different, the bars might not set up as well.
Hi! Where I live the cream cheese is sold in packages of 200 grams, so I am coming 25 grams short. Could I just replace that amount with 25 grams more greek yogurt? Look forward to making these!
Hi Flora! You can certainly try it, though the bars may be a bit softer. Let us know how it goes!
Delicious recipe. I did it with 50% fat soft cheese as I didn’t realised it needed to be full fat. And normal (full fat) Greek yogurt. It was perfect. This is the second recipe I did it from your website and I can wait to do many more. Love from the UK
Hi Sally, this is my first time baking cheesecake and i just want to ensure that this cheesecake version doesn’t need a water bath to bake it, right? I had mine baked as per your instruction and only realized that most recipes calls for water bath. My cheesecake looks OK, though. Can’t hardly wait to try it tomorrow! Love your site and recipes!!!
Hi MaryJane, One great thing that makes bars easier than a full classic cheesecake is that you don’t need a water bath for these. Enjoy!
This recipe was very easy to follow and everyone at work loved them (esp with the New Year diets). Not too sweet and nice and creamy. I doubled the recipe and baked in a 4 quart pyrex. Only gave 4 stars because even with baking the crust, it was still soft and crumbly and not as crisp as I would like.
So these seriously rock. I just made them and they came out perfectly — even though I used reg yogurt instead of greek yogurt because I was shopping too fast! Thanks for posting
I made double batch in 9×13 pan and it turned out great.
Sally has a recipe for skinny choc chip cheesecake bars, very similar to this one (https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/skinny-chocolate-chip-cheesecake-bars/) . I guess you could make it with white chocolate chips instead.
I’ve made your cheesecake’s many time’s and they are always a hit. I wanted to try this. I have everthing but yogurt. Can I substitute with sour cream? Thank you for a nice place to go when recipe looking.
Yes! Same amount of sour cream works just as well.
These are amazing. I didn’t have any raspberry jam, so i used a bit of solo raspberry cake and pastry filling. No one will ever be able to tell they are skinny. Thanks so much for a delicious recipe. I can’t wait to check out some other skinny recipes. You have a fabulous collection of recipes and I have made several. Thank you for doing what you do.
Hi Sally,
First time commenter, love your blog!
If I substitute the jam with your recipe for delicious lemon curd, can I exclude the lemon juice? Can’t wait to try it!
I’d keep the lemon juice in the cheesecake batter. 🙂 Thanks for saying hi!
I added orange zest into the batter-Oh my! It takes like a creamsicle!!! Mine’s still in the oven and taking twice as long as stated.. Hmmm, not sure why! Thanks for the recipe I think it’s going to turn out great! (Fingers crossed!)
I made these bars and they were delicious! Unfortunately, the first time I made the graham cracker crust (baked for 8 minutes as per the recipe) it came out completely burnt. I had to make the crust over again, and this time only baked for 5 minutes, which turned out much better. I don’ think my oven runs hot, so I’d recommend checking on the crust after 5 minutes to see if it really needs the full 8 minutes directed by the recipe. Other than that minor snafu, these were scrumptious, healthy, and not too sweet. I am excited to make them again with other kinds of jam!
Omg!!!!!
These were sooooooooo good! Whenever I’m looking for something to bake, I always checks the comments and reviews. This sure had a load of good ones!
I made these, but used black currant jam instead. I also forgot to add the flour and lemon and I only realised that after everything was mixed and in the oven.
Anyways, they still turned out amazing. (Me and my two sisters ate the whole thing in one day!)
I also applied sliced strawberries and they were fab. Thanks again!
Yum! Made with equal instead of sugar and it turned out fine. The only problem is that I could easily eat them all myself! Thanks for the recipe
Hi Sally! I just love all your recipes and these look like the perfect dessert to make for my Girls Bunco night in a few weeks:)
Since I have limited time with 2 kids, do you think I can make a couple weeks ahead of time and freeze? Thank you for your advice!
Absolutely– thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Do you think I could substitute full fat cream cheese in this recipe no problem? I accidentally bought it instead of the light stuff when I went grocery shopping, and I need to use the stick up.
That would be just fine! Enjoy.
I’ve made these 3 times in the last few weeks and I’ve played around with the recipe a bit. I used chocolate graham crackers for the crust and it was awesome!
Sally we all loved these…including my boyfriend who loves cheesecake and is always skeptical of “light” desserts. I used Splenda to lighten it even more and replaced the flour with two tablespoons of vanilla pudding mix and a teaspoon of cornstarch. Then set beautifully and I’ve never made cheesecake anything before! I made them about three weeks ago and am making them again for Easter dinner upon request. My dad is diabetic so I like the idea of a lower calorie dessert he enjoys. Thanks!!
What a great idea!! I am trying to find ways to make a more healthy version of the enjoyable food that everyone likes. We all could stand to lighten up a bit….. especially after a year in quarantine. Thanks for posting this substitution. I am going to make these for my family tomorrow on Easter Sunday.
I made these on Friday morning (with my MIL’s blackberry jam). 1) They are SO good. So. Good! You’re right, you don’t taste the “healthy choice.” 2) So. Easy! I made them before 9am, before the baby got tired of being in his bouncy chair-thing and wanted to do something more exciting (and he has a short attention span for that bouncy chair-thing). Superb recipe! (Seriously. You are my go-to for baking. I think of A Something that I would like to bake and it’s always “What Would Sally Bake?” and I browse your collection. THANK YOU!)
Made these bars for a neighbor’s 50th bday and everyone was talking about them and asking for the recipe!!! Thank you so much they are amazing!
I made these today! They were amazing so creamy and not too sweet. Thanks sally for such a great recipe going to make them again soon!