Lemon Cheesecake Bars

You'll love these simple bars!  Lemon + cheesecake filling + sugar cookie crust = delish!

Enjoy!

Lemon Cheesecake Bars

Crust:
1 Cup Butter, softened
1 Cup Sugar
1 Tsp Vanilla
2 Cups Flour

Filling:
8 oz Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp Lemon Zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a square baking pan with parchment paper or foil and spray with cooking spray (I like to use the non-stick foil which does not require anything additional).

In a medium mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar, and vanilla together until well combined and fluffy (approximately 2 minutes).  On low speed, slowly beat in 1/2 cup of flour at a time to butter mixture until dough just comes together.  Press half the dough into prepared pan and refrigerate remaining dough until ready to use. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until light golden brown.  Cool crust before continuing on to filling.

In another medium bowl, beat together cream cheese, sugar, juice, and zest until smooth and creamy.  Pour filling over cooled crust and crumble remaining dough from crust evenly on top.  Bake for 30 minutes or until top is a light golden brown.  Cool completely, then remove bars from pan by lifting up foil and setting on flat surface for cutting.

*Once cooled, top with more lemon zest if desired.