Orange Cheesecake Bars

Orange Cheesecake bars are an easy alternative to a traditional cheesecake. Laced with tangy mandarin oranges and topped with coconut, they are a real summer treat.

Cheesecake bars: A mediocre cheesecake bakers dream.

Y'all know I talk A LOT about the things I love to do and make. I also talk A LOT about the things that give me trouble in the kitchen too. For example, one of my first posts about making INSTANT POT RICE I talk about how I always had failures with making rice the traditional way. Well, I am here to tell you that I have had similar experiences with making cheesecake. They always taste really good but end up having a huge crack in the middle.

So I have found a way around that too! Making cheesecake bars takes all of the stress out of making a homemade cheesecake. You are going to cut that pan up any old way so if they crack, no worries. Adding a really great topping helps conceal any imperfections as well.

So here is my gift to all of us who have a little trouble with cheesecake. Orange Cheesecake Bars!

How to make Orange Cheesecake Bars

I love recipes that have an easy 1-2-3 element to them. This is just like that too. We do the crust, then the filling and then the top. As easy as the first counting you learned as a kid! So let's get to it!

~Ingredients~

For the Crust:

• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup softened unsalted butter

For the Filling:

• 16 oz softened cream cheese
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 20 oz can of mandarin oranges, drained

For the Topping:

• 2 cups unsweetened, shredded coconut
• 2 tablespoons melted butter

~Method~

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine crust ingredients and press into a 9 x 13 baking dish to form a crust.. Bake 20 minutes until golden brown. Cool completely.
2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar, eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Fold in mandarin oranges and spread evenly over cooled crust.
3. In a medium bowl, combine coconut and melted butter. Sprinkle over top of filling in the baking pan. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 20 minutes until top is brown.
4. Cool and slice. Enjoy!

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See? In three easy steps you can have the tropics in your kitchen. The Mandarin Oranges combined with the coconut give this recipe a real taste of Summer!

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Tips and Tricks

• You don't have to have a fancy pan for this cheesecake treat. I use the same 9 x 13 that I cook casseroles in. If you need one, there is a link at the bottom of this post to get one! A good old trusty glass pan always does the trick! If you only have a metal 9 x 13, never fear! You can use it too! You may just need to shorten your cook time by 5 minutes.
• What if I only have salted butter? Well, you are fine there too. This recipe has no added salt so you won't be over doing anything by using salted butter. When most baking recipes call for unsalted butter it is only to cut down on the addition of salt. This trick can help in those times when you only have salted, just omit the salt from the rest of the recipe!
• It is so important to cover this for the first 20 min of cook time. Coconut will brown in a hurry. Add butter to that and it will brown in an OMG hurry! Don't skip this step. Burnt coconut does NOT taste good!

If you make this recipe, be sure and post it to Facebook or Instagram and tag us. We love pictures of food. Also, if you pin this recipe, we would appreciate that when you make it, you use the Made It function in Pinterest too. 

And as always, we would love it if you shared this recipe with your family and friends. Over to the side on this post and all of the others are handy dandy share buttons. We would sure be grateful if you shared the love!

Stuff We Used!