The night before heading home last week, I carefully carried a paper plate brimming with brownies over to my friendly next-door neighbors. After quietly knocking, I heard Little C’s voice call out: “Is it Amy?” When his mom opened the door to greet me, he and Miss M, his older sister, rushed out in their PJs to say hi.
The four of us chatted on their front porch for a few minutes, occasionally interrupted by the 4- and 7-yeard old kids each running to their rooms to bring out a toy to show me. Little C demonstrated how his stuffed puppy actually barked and ran, while Miss M pointed out the big black wings on her Barbie-like Frankenstein’s daughter doll.
Eventually, Little C turned to his mom and revealed, “Amy let us go into her house last time! Can she come inside ours?”
The poor mother… She was just trying to read her children a few books before bed, but they decided that they’d rather spend that time talking to me!
She immediately invited me in, where her adorable kids continued to show me more pink-haired dolls, a Disney mash-up short story book (which I nearly borrowed for myself!), and a homemade pipe-cleaner tarantula. After admiring each one and discussing our fall moving plans with their mom, I finally politely excused myself so she could usher her children into bed.
Despite my stressed mood before stopping by—desserts to bake, dinner to make, dishes to wash, and a dog to walk—that tension immediately melted away with the kids’ parting hugs. They always brighten my day!
Just like these Skinny Lemon Gingersnap Cheesecake Bars will brighten yours! Each creamy square is packed with sunshiny citrus flavor, and the subtly spicy crust pairs with it perfectly. Even with their luscious texture and taste, these sweet treats are still low-calorie and packed with protein. In my world, they’re practically health food!
Although my guy rarely eats desserts, he can never resist lemon treats and spicy gingersnaps—that’s how this beautiful combination came to be! We both adore Trader Joe’s Ginger Cat Cookies, so I crushed those up for the base. I used 80 cookies, which produced about 1¼ cups of crumbs. To hold the crumbs together, I mixed in part melted butter and part applesauce, which helped lower the fat and calories. But with the strong ginger flavor, you can’t taste the applesauce at all!
Most of the flavor in the filling stems from lemon zest. Do NOT skip it! You’ll need a medium-sized lemon to obtain the 1 tablespoon of zest, but if you accidently grate a little more, add that in too. There’s never such a thing as too much of that bright sunshiny flavor!
I prefer my cheesecake on the sweeter side and with more vanilla flavor than cheese. I don’t want to feel as if I’m eating a bagel with schmear for dessert! I always add in more vanilla extract than many other recipes call for, and in these healthy bars, it perfectly complements the lemon and helps its summery flavor shine.
Just like with regular round cheesecakes, bake these bars just until the center barely jiggles when gently shaken. It’ll continue to cook through and set as it cools on your countertop. Please oh please, do not overbake them! They’ll turn out tough and rubbery instead of smooth and creamy the way we want our bars to be.
I haven’t tried it myself, but you could probably make these in individual muffin cups instead. Bake them at the same temperature, and start checking around 15-18 minutes. Either way—bars or cups—they’ll still need to chill for a few hours before serving. The waiting is painful, but the sweet reward is totally worth it!
These Skinny Lemon Gingersnap Cheesecake Bars taste just like summer: light, sunshiny and fun! As I bit into one, I immediately pictured myself sitting poolside under a palm tree with little kids splashing and giggling in the background. With their irresistible refreshing flavor and subtle ginger zing, that mental image just might become reality…
All of the men in my family request lemon desserts for their birthdays, and they have quite a few coming up during the summer season!
These low-fat cheesecake bars taste like summer: bright, sunshiny & full of flavor! The subtly spiced gingersnap crust perfectly complements the light citrus filling, making for one irresistible treat. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator covered in plastic wrap for up to 6 days.
- Preheat the oven to 300°F, and lightly coat an 8”-square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- To prepare the crust, stir together the gingersnap crumbs, butter, and applesauce. Press evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan, and bake at 300°F for 6 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
- While the crust bakes, prepared the filling. Add the cream cheese, sugar, and lemon zest to a medium bowl, and beat until smooth. Add the egg white, flour, vanilla, and lemon juice, and beat until thoroughly incorporated. Spread on top of the cooled crust.
- Bake at 300°F for 28-33 minutes, or until the center barely jiggles when gently shaken. Cool completely to room temperature before covering the top with plastic wrap, ensuring that the plastic wrap completely touches the entire surface of the cheesecake. Chill for at least 3 hours before slicing into squares.
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Aww! It sounds like you have really great neighbors! We also have fantastic neighbors and it just makes life better! My little one’s birthday was on Sunday … and their family even left a birthday gift in the mailbox – and their kids are all grown up! 🙂
We are huge fans of all of the cookies at Trader Joe’s! (Our closest one is 30 minutes away … and Shelley doesn’t usually like to go that far … but I just really (REALLY!) stock up when I go!) My kiddos love the chocolate cat cockles and the schoolhouse ABC graham cookies (I like those, too!).
The lemon with gingersnap combo … YUM! Brilliant!! Looks like I need to make a trip to TJs! 🙂
Thanks Gretchen! It’s definitely true; great neighbors make life much, much better. Your sound so sweet — a birthday present even with grown kids?? That’s incredible! I’ll really miss our neighbors when we move this fall, but the kids are convinced that they’re going to move wherever we do so that we can stay neighbors. Precious. 😉
When I was in college, the closest TJ’s was 30 minutes away too, and I’d drive over once every other month or so to stock up on their clusters cereal. I’d buy 8-10 boxes — as many as they had! — and the cashiers would always get a chuckle out of it. You just can’t beat TJ’s! And those chocolate cat cookies are one of my favorites too. Hope you get to go stock up soon!!
These cheesecake bars look divine! I love the idea that they’re skinny too!
Thanks Jess! 🙂
Lemon and gingersnap are perfect together. Love these bars – and your sweet story. 🙂
Thank you Dorothy! I’m definitely using the flavor combination again… My guy already requested a new version of these bars, just sans the cream cheese! (He’s lactose intolerant, which I always seem to forget when I start baking with lemons… Oops!)
Haha… yay for making friends with the next door neighbours 🙂 I don’t actually know ANY of the people who live near me, despite occasionally offering a friendly wave or ‘hello’. You’ve made me want to bake up a platter of cookies and deliver them right on over! Or perhaps these cheesecake bars, if I can part with them… the base in particular looks delicious Amy! x
Thank you so much Laura! That’s the only way I know my neighbors: I bring them huge plates of baked goodies to get them out of my kitchen so I can make more! They they I’m the most generous person in the world, but they don’t realize that they’re actually doing me a favor by eating them. It’s a win-win situation — I definitely recommend “meeting” your neighbors that way! 😉
Love this Amy! Lemon and gingersnap are totally underrated. And I totally get it–kids have a way of lightening up any situation 🙂
Thanks Karen! With your cute kids, your house must be full of smiles and fun most of the time! 🙂
These cheesecake bars look so heavenly! Cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts and I love trying different variations of it! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Thanks Polly! I really hope you enjoy these bars if you try them. I love cheesecake too, and the flavor possibilities are endless!
Kids are the sweetest, aren’t they? They really don’t care if you’ve got makeup on or got your workout in. They are just excited to see you! I’d be excited to see you, too, especially if you had a pan of these. 😉 Lemon and ginger sound incredible together! Lighter in calories, but still rich in flavor!
Aww thanks Mary Frances! 🙂 It’s really true about little kids, although the one time I wore a dress over (on Easter, after taking my new head shots!), the little 4-year-old boy said, “Where did you get your dress? It’s really pretty!” Completely unprompted from his mom or sister. It literally melted my heart!
Mmmm, lemon + ginger? Have never tried that before, but I can imagine it being absolutely fabulous. Will have to experiment with that combo in the near future! 🙂
It’s one of my favorites — sweet, citrusy & spicy all wrapped up together. I hope you enjoy it too!
What a great combo!! And again- that sunny lemon flavor is the best for summertime! 🙂
Thanks Andrea! It already feels like summer here — 90°+ all last week. Oof!
Awwww, how great to have such sweet neighbors! I’m sure you will miss them! These bars sound delish! I wish I had a big piece for my afternoon snack! 🙂
I wish I could give you a few for your afternoon snack! If only they could figure out how we can send real food through the internet… 😉 I’m really going to miss my little neighbors, but they’re convinced that they’re going to move wherever we do. I wish that could be true!