Baklava Cheesecake Bars

Take all your favorite flavors of buttery, flaky, crunchy baklava and smoosh them together with a dreamy cheesecake for the ultimate baklava cheesecake bars. The result is a perfectly salty-sweet dessert that will impress everyone.

Baklava Cheesecake Bars

If you love baklava and cheesecake separately, just imagine how delicious they are when you put them together into a baklava cheesecake. You get all the creamy, luscious, richness of cheesecake AND all the complex, crunchy, buttery, nuttiness of baklava. The result is simply divine and I can guarantee you will enjoy this. I don’t even like normal cheesecake that much, and even I couldn’t stop eating these.

What are baklava cheesecake bars?

Made with a buttery phyllo dough crust, a thick layer of creamy cheesecake, and a nutty, honey and lemon topping, these baklava cheesecake bars are a beautiful medley of flavors and textures. The crunch of the nuts and the phyllo dough perfectly offsets the rich, creaminess of the cheesecake. The honey and lemon in the topping isn’t too overpowering, but gives a subtle flavor to the whole bar. And they’re also just pretty to look at.

Plus, they’re a fun, unique treat to whip up to impress hard to please guests.

Ingredients for baklava cheesecake bars

You’ll need a fair amount of ingredients to put these cheesecake bars together, but they look and taste way fancier than they should for only calling for 10 ingredients.

• Phyllo Dough
• Butter
• Cream Cheese
• Sour Cream
• Eggs
• Granulated Sugar
• Honey
• Nuts
• Lemon Juice

Tips for making silky smooth cheesecake bars

Even though cheesecake is pretty simple to make, it can take a few gos at it to really understand how to get that dreamy texture. Luckily for you I’ve made thousands of cheesecakes, so I have all the perfect cheesecake tips and tricks that will guarantee you the baklava cheesecake bars of your dreams.

1. Make sure ALL ingredients are at true room temperature: I cannot stress how important this is. The cream cheese, eggs, and sour cream must all be at TRUE room temperature in order to beat together into a creamy, clump-free cheesecake. When your ingredients are all the same soft temperature you won’t have to beat your cheesecake batter for as long, which means less air in your batter, which means a creamier cheesecake. I recommend leaving your ingredients out on the counter for at least 2 hours. I usually do it overnight.
2. Do not over beat the cheesecake: Over beating the cheesecake causes air bubbles. And air bubbles mean one thing: cracks. Only beat the cheesecake mixture until it’s creamy!
3. Don’t over bake the cheesecake: The last thing you want is an over baked cheesecake. It turns out to be rubbery and sad. Only bake the cheesecake until it is just set in the middle–about 55 minutes!

How to store your baklava cheesecake bars

These baklava cheesecake bars never last long in my house, but if you have leftovers you’re in luck. These cheesecake bars stay tasty for DAYS. As long as you store them tightly covered in the fridge, these bars will stay fresh for up to 7 days! By day 5, the phyllo dough crust does start to get a little less crisp, but they are still perfectly delicious. I think they’re best eaten on day 2 of making them because the flavors really settle in, but the crust stays crisp and fresh.

Happy baking, my friends!

XXX

• Author: Sofi | Broma Bakery
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 2 hours
• Yield: 16 servings
• Category: dessert
• Method: oven
• Cuisine: american

Baklava Cheesecake Bars

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Take all your favorite flavors of buttery, flaky, crunchy baklava and smoosh them together with a dreamy cheesecake for the ultimate baklava cheesecake bars. The result is a perfectly salty-sweet dessert that will impress everyone.

• Author: Sofi | Broma Bakery
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 2 hours
• Yield: 16 servings
• Category: dessert
• Method: oven
• Cuisine: american

Units: USM

Ingredients

• 6 sheets phyllo dough, defrosted
• 1/4 cup butter, melted (I used salted, but unsalted works too!)
• 16 ounces cream cheese (2 blocks), at room temperature
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 Tablespoons honey

for the baklava topping

• 1/2 cup honey
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 cup pistachios, finely chopped
• 1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

 

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F and line a 9 inch square pan with parchment paper on all sides. Set aside.
2. Cut one sheet of phyllo dough to fit into your pan (this was almost perfectly a half sheet of phyllo dough for me!) and lay in prepared pan. Brush with the melted butter, and cut and layer the next piece. Repeat until you have 12 layers of phyllo dough in your pan.
3. Place in the oven to blind bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
4. While the crust blind bakes, make the cheesecake. Whip the softened cream cheese, room temperature sour cream, honey, and granulated sugar together in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the vanilla extract and then the eggs one at a time, beating until just combined. Don’t over mix.
5. Pour the cheesecake batter over the crust. Drop the pan on the counter a few times to get rid of any air bubbles.
6. Carefully place the cheesecake bars in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 40 minutes, rotating the cheesecake halfway. Do not over bake! The cheesecake will still be wobbly in the center, but this is correct!
7. Once the cheesecake bars are done, turn off the oven and open the door to the oven slightly. Leave the cheesecake in the turned off oven for an hour to allow the cheesecake to cool down gradually.
8. While the cheesecake cools, make the baklava topping. In a heavy bottom sauce pan over medium heat, combine the honey and water and cook until thick and reduced by about half. You’ll know it’s done when the mixture has thickened and will coat the back of a spoon.
9. Remove from the heat and add the nuts, lemon juice, and salt. Stir to combine.
10. Pour the topping over the top of the cheesecake bars, spreading it into an even layer. Cover the cheesecake bars with tinfoil and place it in the fridge to set overnight.
11. When ready to serve, slice into 8 squares for big pieces of 16 for smaller pieces. Enjoy!