By Melissa Clark
- Total Time
- 1 ½ hours, plus 2 hours’ chilling
- Rating
- 4(883)
- Notes
- Read community notes
With a crisp graham cracker crust, lemony cream cheese filling and a sweet peach topping, these bar cookies are like a cross between cheesecake and juicy peach pie. You can make them a few days ahead of time and store them in the fridge; they’re at their best when served slightly chilled.
Featured in: 3 Party Pies You Can Eat With Your Hands
or to save this recipe.
Print Options
Include recipe photo
Advertisement
Ingredients
Yield:24 bars
- 6tablespoons/85 grams unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for greasing the pan
- 1½ cups/210 grams graham cracker crumbs (cinnamon flavor or regular)
- ⅓cup/48 grams pecans
- Pinch of salt
- 2(8-ounce) packages cream cheese (1 pound/454 grams), softened
- ¾cup/180 grams heavy cream, at room temperature
- ½cup/100 grams granulated sugar, plus more as needed
- 3large eggs, at room temperature
- 1teaspoon finely grated lemon or lime zest
- 1teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 3cups/20 ounces sliced peaches, peeled or unpeeled as desired (3 to 4 peaches)
- 2teaspoons fresh lemon or lime juice
For the Crust
For the Filling
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (24 servings)
209 calories; 17 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 13 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 8 grams sugars; 3 grams protein; 157 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
Step
1
Prepare the crust: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, and line with parchment paper so that there is a 2-inch overhang on the two long sides.
Step
2
In a food processor, pulse graham crackers, pecans, butter and salt until the mixture feels damp and sandy. Pour into the prepared pan and press down into an even layer.
Step
3
Bake until firm and slightly darker in color, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a rack and reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees. You can bake the crust up to 6 hours ahead, or use it while it’s still hot.
Step
4
Make the filling: Wipe out the food processor, then add cream cheese, cream and ½ cup sugar, and process until very smooth. Add eggs, lemon zest, vanilla and salt, and process until well combined. Pour the cream cheese mixture onto the crust.
Step
5
Put the peaches into a medium pot and taste one. If it’s very sweet, add 1 tablespoon sugar. If it’s on the tart side, add 2 tablespoons sugar. Add lemon juice and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring once or twice, until the sugar dissolves, 2 to 3 minutes. Spoon peaches and their liquid gently over the cream filling.
Step
6
Bake until set and firm, 40 to 50 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, then chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before cutting and serving. Bars can be made up to 1 day in advance, and will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a few days. Serve directly from the fridge.
Ratings
4
out of 5
883
user ratings
Your rating
or to rate this recipe.
Have you cooked this?
or to mark this recipe as cooked.
Private Notes
Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.
Cooking Notes
Sam
I made this today and it’s a knockout. Fantastic base recipe. I made a few changes - almond flour by weight instead of pecans, and a mix of fruit by weight (peaches, blueberries, and raspberries) - and it still worked beautifully. Will make again in the future for a gathering, or maybe just for us when we want a decadent treat!
Emma H.
Delicious! I had particularly juicy peaches so I added a tablespoon of cornstarch along with the sugar to thicken them up. I was worried about how thin the filling was but it all baked up to a wonderful firm but creamy consistency. Freeze the whole pan then pop the bars out in one piece and cut into squares while frozen for easy handling and nice clean edges
De Gustibus
Clh53I believe you are baking the crust at 350, and returning the filled crust to the oven at 325. If you bake the crust hours ahead, you’ll want to just turn the oven off when the crust is done. If you’re adding the filling immediately, I wouldn’t worry about timing after lowering the temp. Opening the oven door to remove the crust, and then again to put the filled baking dish back in should drop the oven temp sufficiently.
Kathy
Friends raved over this! I was curious why you needed to cook the peaches for a few minutes to dissolve the sugar. Seemed that would break down the lovely crescent shape of the peaches. So, instead, I sliced the peaches first and added the sugar and the lemon juice. By the time the crust and filling were made the sugar was dissolved and my peaches all still had their shape. The results were excellent.
Cristina
I made this dessert today and it came out great. However, I believe it might be helpful to other bakers to share a couple of things: 1) the filling comes out VERY liquid, but it will harden in the oven and 2) because of the filling being so liquid you will need the parchment paper to overhang on ALL 4 sides.
stephanie
I am so pleased with this recipe! I used Trader Joe’s ginger cookies for the crust (a full container made almost a 1/4” crust). The steps were easy to follow and it’s a nice pace between each step wash up so everything is clean once the bars are in the oven. I had a lot of liquid from cooking the peaches which worried me but it all turned out delicious!
Liza
Make sure you're using a 9x13 pan; they are typically at least 2 inches deep. That depth is what will keep the filling from spilling over. The parchment is meant to make removing the finished bars from the pan easier. When the dessert - crust, filling, and topping - is finished baking, and then cooled to room temperature on a rack, it is not necessary to put the rack into the refrigerator with the pan.
monica flint
Hi John,As a British person living in the U.S I thought about this often and concluded the nearest equivalent to graham crackers would be digestive biscuits.Prompted by your question today I looked up the problem online and found the following quite interesting discussion www.Sugargirlcookies.com/crackers/What-is -the-difference-between-graham-crackers-and-digestive-biscuits. See also:www.sylvestersrestaurant.comEnjoy the recipe whether with Graham or digestiveBest wishes, Monica
Pat
Delicious. You could use just about any combination of fruit. I used peaches and blueberries. I skipped the cooking step for the fruit and just combined with a bit of sugar and lemon juice, then spooned them on. They held up beautifully and kept their color.
Lori
Is possible to freeze these bars?
HC
I made this exactly as written for the filling but substituting a different graham cracker crust because someone coming over has a nut allergy. Totally awesome. My only note is that it should be removed from the oven when the middle is still a little wiggly or it will be a touch on the overcooked side. Will definitely make again!
cih53
A question: When the recipe calls for the oven temp to be lowered mid-way, as this one does, do I wait for the oven to cool to the lower temp, or just continue by returning the pan to the oven? If the former, how long approximately would I expect it to take to reach the lower temp (as this assumes I don't have a proper oven thermometer!)?
RebeccaDDRD
Lovely results! I only had Neufchâtel cream cheese and half-and-half vs full fat for both ingredients, but they were great subs. For those with nut allergies, I suggest using more graham cracker crumbs subbed *by weight* for the crushed nuts or some oat flour by weight to give the crust a slightly nuttier flavor. Appreciated the suggestion to freeze the cooled bars briefly…simplified removing the product from the pan to slice them.
DonnaE
I haven't made this yet, but it reminds me of the 1964 Pillsbury Bake-Off grand prize winner: Peacheesy Pie. Since I loved that, I'm sure this is also a winner.
Francis
Pretty good dessert, love the peach and cheese cake combo, but I found the Graham cracker crust to be very dry.
Tastey
These are wonderful. We are a cheesecake loving family & we all loved it. Fruit isn’t necessary, but if you have it, why not. I also subbed pretzel crumbs for the pecans (because I didn’t have any) and it was divine! Love the saltiness and contrast in the crust. Also, we used raspberries and just added them fresh, it looked amazing, but indeed the raspberries were a bit tart—nobody was crazy for that part.
Alex
This is literally just a cheesecake bar recipe. Still, yum, but it’s a cheesecake. The crust is spectacular. Use cinnamon graham crackers. Makes it delish! 🤩
mallory
Have subbed in both blueberries (excellent) and strawberries (good) and this has become a go to recipe for us
Renee
I made this recipe following all directions with the exception of cooking the peaches. It turned out amazing! The only issue I had was that the peaches had so much juice, it took about double the time listed to cook all the way through. I brought these to a party and they were a huge hit. If you want to put them out for a crowd with a nice presentation, freeze them for several hours then pull them out of the pan and cut them on a pretty wooden board.
colleen
when did you take it out of the pan?
Suzanne
I followed the recipe as written. Cheesecake bars, yes. Peach? Couldn’t find any of the peach flavor in the finished product. As such, we didn’t find them particularly interesting or unique. These were disappointing.
Abby I
Excellent recipe! I found that cooking the peaches produced a lot of liquid - I think next time I will follow the suggestion of adding a bit of cornstarch to the mixture, or possibly mixing them early and just letting it sit for the sugar to dissolve. Next time I think I will also add more lemon zest. You get the lemon flavor but it's not as bright as I'd like. The bars were really tasty but I think that little bit of extra lemon would take them to the next level!
Helen
I didn't have heavy cream so I used sweetened condensed milk instead and skipped the sugar in the cream cheese mixture. Worked beautifully! Crust did come out a little dry as others have noted.
Gigi
Recipe is terrific. I used fresh peaches and raspberries....delicious.
Ruth
Thanks for the recommendation to use Trader Joe’s Ginger Snaps. What a wonderful change over traditional Graham Cracker crusts. I did not need to add sugar as the ginger snaps are perfectly sweetened. Wonderful recipe. I will make again!
DKS
Awful, crust was soggy, cream cheese bland and didn’t look good.
Korla
Very tasty, but did not like the peach slices... They slide off the filling half the time you bite in.
B
Although not specified, I made this with white peaches (unpeeled) but fortunately they had no flavor. Next time I’ll use yellow peaches. I think you might get away with canned peaches off season. Or as other have suggested, you can throw any other fruit in there as well.
ML
A perfect eating peach is Precious, so baking with them needs to be worth it. This is a home run I just buy a few more peaches so I can eat one while baking.
Lynn
Excellent next time keep the pan before removing
Private notes are only visible to you.