Lightened Up Lemon Cream Cheesecake Bars

As a lifetime Weight Watchers member, I don't bake or eat nearly as many cookies as I used to. But I still love to indulge every now and again.

And it turns out cookies and cookie bars are a great choice because they are naturally portion-controlled and come in such a variety of styles and flavors, you can satisfy most any craving for relatively few WW Points.

WW Friendly Lemon Cheesecake Cookie Bars

It's also fun to experiment with ways to make cookies lighter and healthier, though this can be tricky, especially if you want crisp or chewy cookies.

I was able to lighten up these cream cheese bars a little by substituting reduced-fat cream cheese for regular.

They're simple and delicious creamy cookie bars perfect for cheesecake lovers, and super quick and easy to make since they begin with a box of yellow cake mix.

Lightened Up Lemon Cream Cheesecake Bars

How Many Calories and WW Points in these Cheesecake Bars?

According to my calculation, each cheesecake bar has about 160 calories and:

6 *SmartPoints (Green plan)
6 *SmartPoints (Blue plan)
6 *SmartPoints (Purple plan)
4 *PointsPlus (Old plan)

To see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, Click here!

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4.86 from 7 votes

Lightened Up Lemon Cream Cheesecake Bars Recipe

Quick and easy lemon cream cheesecake bars - all the flavors of cheesecake with just 6 Freestyle SmartPoints.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Servings (adjustable): 24

Calories: 160

Author: Martha McKinnon | Simple Nourished Living

Ingredients

For the Crust:

• ▢ 1 package (18.25 ounces) yellow cake mix
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ ⅓ cup canola oil

For the topping:

• ▢ 1 package (8 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
• ▢ ⅓ cup sugar
• ▢ 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• ▢ 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
• ▢ 1 large egg

Instructions

• Position an oven rack in the center and preheat oven to 350F degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan and set it aside.
• In a large bowl, mix together the dry cake mix, egg, and oil until crumbly. Set aside 1 cup to use for a topping.
• Press the remaining dough into the prepared pan. Bake in the center of the oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack.
• While the crust is baking, prepare the topping. In another bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and egg until smooth and creamy.
• Spread evenly over the baked crust. Sprinkle evenly with the reserved dough mixture.
• Bake an additional 15 minutes, until just set. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Equipment

9x13 Baking Pan

Mixing Bowls

Cooling Rack

Recipe Notes

The next time I make these, I'm going to try a box of natural cake mix instead of the standard one. I like the idea of using fewer artificial colors, flavors and ingredients wherever I can.

Serving size: 1 lemon cream cheesecake cookie bar

Click here to see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site.

6 *SmartPoints (Green plan)

6 *SmartPoints (Blue plan)

6 *SmartPoints (Purple plan)

4 *PointsPlus (Old plan)

Nutrition Facts

Lightened Up Lemon Cream Cheesecake Bars Recipe

Amount Per Serving (1 cookie bar)

Calories 160 Calories from Fat 71

% Daily Value*

Fat 7.9g12%

Carbohydrates 20g7%

Fiber 0g0%

Protein 2.1g4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cream cheese cake mix bars, lemon cake mix bars, lemon cream cheese cookie bars

Did you make this recipe?Mention @simplenourishedliving on Instagram and tag #simplenourishedliving - we love to see your creations!

Source: Easy Cake Mix Bar Cookies: 25 Tried and True Recipes (affiliate link) by Martha McKinnon

*Points® calculated by WW. *PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® calculated by Simple Nourished Living; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. SmartPoints® values calculated WITHOUT each plan's ZeroPoint Foods (Green plan, Blue plan, Purple plan) using the WW Recipe Builder.

If you like lightened up lemon cheesecake bars, you might also like:

• Skinny Chocolate Coconut Cake Mix Cookie Bars - Incredibly easy and delicious with only 5 WW Freestyle SmartPoints (Simple Nourished Living)
• Healthy Banana Cookies with Oats & Chocolate Chips - If you are looking for tasty healthy banana cookies that are low fat, vegan and gluten free — this is the recipe for you (Simple Nourished Living)
• How To Make Cookies from Cake Mix - everything you need to know to turn a box of cake mix into yummy cookies (Simple Nourished Living)
• Cooking Light Fig & Cream Cheese Bars - Two layers of goodness (My Recipes)
• Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Bars - I plan on trying these as soon as the weather cools (Weight Watchers)
• Lemon Cheesecake Yogurt Cups - Individually portioned lemon cheesecake baked in muffin cups (SkinnyTaste)

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