Key Lime Cheesecake Bars

Close up of a creamy key lime cheesecake bar.

5 from 2 votes

Key limes are sometimes hard to find and tricky to work with, but their unique flavor makes these hand-held cheesecake bars well worth it.

Prep Time20

Total Bake Time40

Chill8

Total Time9

Course: Cookies, Gluten-Free, Nuts

Cuisine: American

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: bites

Calories: 121kcal

Ingredients

CHEESECAKE FILLING

¼ cup (50 g) Sugar white
½ cup (153 g) Condensed milk
½ cup (121 g) Key lime juice
½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) Key lime zest
¼ cup (57.5 g) Sour cream
2 (2) Eggs
16 ounces (16 oz) Cream Cheese

CRUST

1 Tablespoon (1 Tablespoon) Sugar white
7.6 ounces (7.6 oz) Graham crackers Pamelas Honey Grahams
¼ cup (33.5 g) Macadamia nuts
⅓ cup (75.67 g) Melted butter unsalted

Instructions

CRUST

In a food processor (I use the S blade), pour the ¼ cup of macadamia nuts and process them into tiny pieces. Next, add the squares of the Graham crackers until you have added the whole box. Pour this mixture into a bowl. Add the butter to a safe microwave bowl and melt the butter (mine was about 30 seconds). Add the melted butter to the graham cracker mixture along with the sugar. Stir until all the graham crackers are moist and clinging together.
Take a 9 X 9 baking dish and line it with tin foil. Have enough tinfoil hanging over two opposite sides since these will be used as handles to lift the cheesecake out of the pan. Have the tin foil come up the sides at least ⅔ of the way.
Pour the graham cracker mixture onto the tinfoil-lined pan and evenly spread it around the bottom of the pan. Press down to have a solid base to pour your cheesecake filling onto. Set the pan aside and start the filling.

CHEESECAKE FILLING

Preheat oven to 325°F(165°C or 170°C) (165°C or 170°C). Juice and zest the key limes into two separate bowls. Measure the sugar and set it aside.
Add cream cheese and sugar in a stand or hand-held mixer bowl. Blend until creamy and whipped-looking. I usually have small little peaks around the mixer bowl. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides down. Add eggs one at a time and blend into the cream cheese mixture. Next, mix the key lime zest, sour cream, key lime juice, and condensed milk until all is incorporated.
Pour the cream cheese mixture over the graham cracker crust; the filling will be thin but don't worry, it will thicken up when it bakes. I pick up the dish a little and let it come back down onto the counter so the air bubbles will come to the top. Just smooth out the filling so it is even in the baking dish. Put into the preheated 325°F(165°C or 170°C) oven for 40-45 min.
Pull the pan out of the oven when the cheesecake jiggles slightly when gently shaking the pan. Place the pan on a cooling rack for about half an hour before covering and placing it into the refrigerator overnight. About 2 hours after the cheesecake is in the refrigerator, I add a little key lime zest on the top of the cheesecake and add new plastic wrap to cover the pan.
The next day remove the cheesecake from the refrigerator and lift the tinfoil with the cheesecake out of the pan. The tin foil will easily come off the crust by having your hand under the cheesecake and peeling the tin foil off from one end to the other. On a cutting board, take a sharp knife and cut the cheesecake into whatever size squares you would like. I cut four rows across and four rows down to get 16 bars.

Nutrition