Blueberry Rhubarb Cream Cheese Bars

Blueberry Rhubarb Cream Cheese Bars…creamy cheesecake, seasonal rhubarb, sweet blueberries and tart lemon flavor. This rhubarb dessert makes the perfect spring or summer treat!

The lemon and fruit flavor in contrast with the cream cheese filling and buttery crust makes these Blueberry Cream Cheese Bars fresh tasting and decadent!

There’s nothing like fresh, indulgent summer desserts. This Lime Slice also falls into the category of fresh and rich as its made with a tangy lime filling and buttery shortbread crust! These Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake Bars are also a must make cheesecake bar recipe!

While this is my first recipe with rhubarb, it’s not my first blueberry recipe! If you love blueberry desserts, these Blueberry Blondies are a must try treat!

These Blueberry Rhubarb Bars Are:

• Seasonal: I bake with fruit year round, but it’s definitely the best feeling to bake with it when it’s in season! Whether you have a rhubarb patch in your yard or pick it up at the store or local market, the seasonality of rhubarb makes it an extra special ingredient.
• Light and Creamy: The cream cheese filling is mixed before it bakes and gives it a light and creamy texture.
• Fruity: I use a combination of rhubarb and blueberries. You can certainly make them all rhubarb or all blueberry (or even raspberrry).
• Easy: These bars are super simple to whip up!
• All Homemade: No shortcuts needed and all homemade!

The Three Parts of these Bars

• Walnut Graham Cracker Crust: This graham cracker crust is as easy to make as the classic graham cracker crust in my Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake Bars. The only difference is we’re adding ground walnuts to the mixture. The ingredients are simply mixed together in the food processor then pressed into a pan. It’s slightly nutty, buttery, and thick and is the perfect base for the cream cheese filling. If you have a nut allergy or wish to leave out walnuts, you can follow the crust recipe from Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake Bars.
• Fruity Cream Cheese Filling: This filling is made with whipped cream cheese flavored with vanilla extract and lemon and studded with both rhubarb and blueberries!
• Crumble Topping: The crumble topping takes only mintues to mix together and is effortlessly tossed on top of the cream cheese layer. It’s sweet and buttery and makes these bars a definite comfort food! This crumble is optional and these bars are delicious with or without it!

About this Blueberry and Rhubarb Combination

My mom always made my great grandmother’s Strawberry Rhubarb Pie when we were kids. If you’ve never baked with rhubarb before, I recommend reading this interesting article on how to choose rhubarb by Taste of Home.

I still think of strawberry as the ultimate baking companion for rhubarb. For these bars, I wanted to try something different and decided to go with blueberries.

Like strawberries, blueberries add a bright, juicy taste! I just love them together. If you prefer, you can definitely use all rhubarb or substitute raspberries or strawberries depending on what you have or prefer.

Ingredients for Rhubarb Cream Cheese Bars

Ingredients for the Graham Cracker Walnut Crust:

• Unsalted Butter: I almost always use unsalted butter when I since the amount of salt can vary depending on the brand of butter. Using unsalted butter helps prevent us from adding to much salt.
• Graham Crackers: It’s best to use a food processor to process these since we’ll need them finely crushed.
• Walnuts: Walnuts add a bit of nutty flavor. They can be used as is or you can toast them ahead of time to bring out even more flavor.
• Granulated Sugar. We’ll use a small amount of sugar to sweeten up the crust.
• Salt. Salt helps to balance out the sweetness and improves on the flavor overall.

Ingredients for Cheesecake Filling:

• Cream Cheese: The most important thing about the cream cheese is to make sure it’s fully come to room temperature before using it. I like to take my cream cheese out of the refrigerator four hours before I need it. Room temerature cream cheese will help prevent lumps in the cheesecake. Make sure to use blocks of cream cheese as opposed to the whipped tubs.
• Honey: I like to substitute some of the granulated sugar for honey for the filling. It adds a slight honey taste and it’s a healthier natural sweetener.
• Granulated Sugar: This will add flavor and sweetness to the cheesecake bars.
• Eggs: It will be easier to incorporate the eggs into the batter if they are at room temperature. Take the eggs out of the fridge before you make this recipe. If you forget to do this, set the cold eggs in a bowl of warm water to bring them to room temperature just before baking. 
• Vanilla Extract: The filling has more of a lemon flavor, but vanilla is a must in desserts.
• Rhubarb: I made these bars several times. I tried roasting the rhubarb to soften it slightly before cooking, but the roasting made it mushy. Instead, I settled on chopping the rhubarb a bit smaller than normal. The rhubarb still has a slightly crunchy bite and zingy flavor. A baker friend of mine suggested sauteeing the rhubarb for a few minutes with a pinch of sugar. I haven’t tried this yet, but if you’d like your rhubarb a little softer, it sounds like a great option.
• Blueberries: I prefer using fresh berries here, but frozen works too. Don’t thaw the berries before using them.

Ingredients for the Crumble Topping:

• Flour
• Brown Sugar
• Melted Butter

How to Make Blueberry Rhubarb Cream Cheese Bars

Making the Easy Walnut Graham Cracker Crust

1. Pulse the graham crackers, walnuts, sugar and pinch of salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse until they’re the consistency of bread crumbs. With the food processor running, slowly pour in melted butter and pulse til combined.
2. Press the crust evenly in the bottom of an 8 by 8 inch square pan lined with parchment paper.
3. Bake the crust at 325 F for 12 minutes then remove to let cool.

Toasting the Walnuts

If you like, you can toast the walnuts before making the crust. Toasting the nuts brings out more of a nutty, deep flavor and only takes a few minutes. Check out this article on How to Toast Almonds and Other Nuts in the Oven by The Kitchn.

How to Make the Cream Cheese Filling

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar together on low until fully combined and smooth. Avoid beating the mixture at a high speed since that would add too much air into it. Mix in the eggs one at a time followed by the lemon zest and juice, honey and sugar until smooth. Gently stir in the chopped rhubarb and blueberries.
2. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the cooled prepared crust then top the fruit. Sprinkle the crumble evenly overtop.
3. Bake the bars in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until the edges are set. Remove them from the oven while the middle is still pretty jiggly. The middle will firm up as it cools.
4. Let the bars cool in the pan at room temperature for at least an hour then put them in the fridge to finish cooling. Leave them to cool in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

Frequently Asked Questions about Rhubarb Cream Cheese Bars

These Blueberry Rhubarb Cream Cheese Bars makes the perfect spring or summer dessert! The thick, nutty crust, creamy fruit filling and buttery crumble makes for the most delicious combination of flavors and textures.

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