Cranberry-Orange Cheesecake Swirl Bars

Prep 20 min
Total 5 hr 0 min
Ingredients 9
Servings 24

We love these eye-catching, deep-dish cheesecake bars! Flavored with fresh orange, swirled cranberry sauce and a Pillsbury™ sugar cookie crust, these festive bars are perfect for anything from a holiday party grazing table to a special wintertime treat with family.

By Pillsbury Kitchens

Updated September 24, 2020

Make with

Pillsbury Cookies

Ingredients

1

roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury™ refrigerated sugar cookies
3

packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1

cup sugar
1 1/2

teaspoons grated orange zest
1/3

cup heavy whipping cream
1 1/2

teaspoons vanilla
3

eggs
1/2

cup jellied cranberry sauce, stirred until smooth (from 14-oz can)
Additional grated orange zest, if desired

Steps

1

Heat oven to 350°F. Press cookie dough evenly in bottom of ungreased 13x9-inch pan. If dough is sticky, use floured fingers. (DO NOT EAT RAW COOKIE DOUGH AFTER PRESSING DOUGH IN PAN WITH FLOURED FINGERS.) Bake 14 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 15 minutes.
2

In large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons orange zest with electric mixer on medium speed about 1 minute or until smooth. On low speed, beat in whipping cream and vanilla; add eggs 1 at a time, beating just until blended.
3

Pour cheesecake mixture into crust. Drop teaspoonfuls of the stirred cranberry sauce onto cheesecake mixture. With knife, swirl cranberry sauce into cheesecake mixture.
4

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until filling is set in center. Remove from oven to cooling rack; cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate at least 3 hours until chilled completely.
5

To serve, run sharp knife around edges of pan. Cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Garnish with additional orange zest before serving. Store covered in refrigerator.

To quickly soften cream cheese, microwave uncovered on Medium-Low (30%) 15 to 20 seconds.
Don’t use whole berry cranberry sauce for this recipe—jellied cranberry sauce works best for giving these bars their beautiful ruby-red swirls.
For easier swirling, make sure cranberry sauce is well stirred until no lumps remain before adding to cheesecake mixture.
Bars are best cut when completely chilled, and wiping the blade between each slice helps ensure nice, clean edges.