Christmas Cranberry Cheesecake Squares

Updated December 17, 2024

By Rebecca St. Clair

I love baking Christmas squares. They always pack a flavourful punch, and come together in no time! Cranberry cheesecake squares are easy to make ahead of time, cut, and bring to any holiday party. They are also a great way to use up any left-over cranberry sauce from thanksgiving!

There are so many great recipes, and ideas, for Christmas dessert squares and bars. This recipe uses sweetened condensed milk and cream cheese to make a sweet cheesecake centre! The berry in this original recipe is cranberries, but there is no reason you couldn’t easily replace this with your favorite berry. I’m thinking raspberry or Christmas squares with cherry would look just as festive!

Squares and bars are a perfect way to get into holiday baking without having to spend hours of time making dough, cutting out, and decorating cookies. Everything goes in one pan, then slice it into individual squares!

How to store Cranberry Cheesecake Squares

Fridge

Store the bars in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days or until they are ready to be served.

Freezer

Cranberry cheesecake squares freeze extremely well. To store these squares in the freezer,

• Allow the baked squares to cool to room temperature
• Cover completely with plastic wrap or store leftover squares in an airtight container
• Store in the freezer for up to 3 months

How to make Cranberry Cheesecake Squares

Cranberry cheesecake squares are easy to make. They only have three easy layers.

The oatmeal sugar cookie -This layer is used as a base and sprinkled on top.

Easy cheesecake- A super simple cheesecake layer using only cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, and lemon juice.

The fruit- The fruit in these cheesecake squares is cranberry but you can substitute your fruit of choice. You will need 2 cups of fruit sauce.

How to serve Cranberry Cheesecake Squares

My favourite way to serve these bars is to cut them into small squares and serve cold. They hold together in one piece and can be eaten in a few bites. No plate or fork required!

Perfect to slice and serve at any holiday event.

Substitutions

We already talked about substitutions for cranberry sauce. But how do you make a fruit sauce with a different berry?

Fruit sauce is simple to make. You need your fruit, a sweetener (usually sugar), and a liquid. The amount of each is very much dependent on the type of fruit you are using. Some berries are firm (like cranberries) and some are mushy (raspberries). Some give off more liquid and some are sweeter than others.

For a basic starting-point recipe:

In a medium sauce pot, on medium heat, add your fruit, 1 cup of water, and 1/4 cup of sugar (or sweetener or choice). Cook it down for about 8 minutes or until the fruit is tender. At this point you can judge if you need to add more liquid and you can add the amount of sugar to taste.

Mash the berries to make a sauce. This should work for almost any berry fruit sauce.

What about the cream cheese? When I made this recipe, I had some left over ricotta cheese in the fridge. I actually used half cream cheese and half ricotta cheese. It worked perfectly! The bars held together just the same and had an amazing cheesecake flavour and texture.

Ricotta has a similar flavour and texture to cream cheese and acts similarly when baked. Switching out half the cream cheese, or all of the cream cheese, in this recipe for ricotta is a great option.

Mascarpone is another great option for cheesecake. This cheese is the one that is the most similar to cream cheese. It is very creamy and has a slight sweetness to it, which is why it is often used in desserts. Switching out half the cream cheese, or all of the cream cheese, in this recipe for mascarpone is a great substitution.

How to make Cranberry Cheesecake Squares

Ingredients

Base

2 cups flour 300 g

1½ cups rolled oats 150 g

¾ cups brown sugar 150 g

1 cup butter, softened 225 g

cheesecake

1 (8-oz.) brick cream cheese, softened 250 g

1 (14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

3 Tablespoons lemon juice 45 ml

Fruit layer and topping

1 can or about 2 cups cranberry sauce 500 ml

2 Tablespoons cornstarch 15 g

¾ cup white chocolate chips 130 g

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 °F (180 °C).
2. Combine flour, oats, and brown sugar.
3. Cut the softened butter into small chunks. Mix into the dry ingredients until crumbly.
4. Set aside 1 ½ cups (or just under half) of the mixture to sprinkle on the top later.
5. Press the rest of the mixture in to the bottom of a rectangular (9 X 13 in.) casserole dish or lined cake pan.
6. Bake 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden.
7. Meanwhile, beat the softened cream cheese until smooth.
8. Add in the sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice. Beat until smooth. Make sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as you go, so everything mixes in evenly.
9. Spread this over the cooked base.
10. In a medium bowl, mix the cranberry sauce with the cornstarch. (This will help the cranberry sauce hold together in a solid layer when you cut the bars.)
11. Spread the fruit mixture on top of the cheesecake layer.
12. Sprinkle the reserved base mixture evenly on top of the bars.
13. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the crumb mixture is golden and toasted.
14. Remove and allow to cool slightly. Then sprinkle on top the white chocolate chips.
15. Cool to room temperature then chill in the fridge until ready to slice and serve.

Looking for some more holiday baking? Try one of these easy bar recipes! No-bake Rich Chocolate mint bars Easy Marshmallow Caramel Dessert Squares Homemade Nanaimo Bars – Legendary Canadian Sweet Treat

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