Cherry Cheesecake Pretzel Bars
Salty, sweet, creamy and topped with cherry pie filling. These cherry cheesecake pretzel bars will be a Summer staple for you!
Course: Dessert
Keyword: bars, cheesecake, cherry, pretzels
Pretzel crust:
- 1 2/3 cup crushed pretzels, about 2 1/2-3 cups whole pretzels
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 cup sugar
Cheesecake layer:
- 8 oz softened cream cheese; 1 package
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 21 oz can of cherry pie filling
Pretzel crust:
Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 7x11 with nonstick spray. Add pretzels to a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs. Once it's a fine crumb, add the melted butter and sugar. Pulse again until combined. It won't form a ball but it should start to come together a little and hold when pinched with fingers.
Press into prepared pan and bake for 7 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool while you make the filling.
Filling:
In a stand mixer, add the cream cheese, sugar, flour, vanilla and egg and mix until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Pour over pretzel crust and spread evenly. Then spoon the cheery pie filling over and smooth it out, leaving a little cheesecake border around it. Bake for 40 minutes until set and the cheesecake edges are browning. Cool at room temp for 30 minutes and then chill in the fridge for a couple of hours. Store covered in the fridge. Enjoy!