The Scoop
Lemon bars, but make them creamy, buttery, and dangerously easy to keep “just trying one more” of.
These Lemon Cream Cheese Bars sandwich a tangy lemon-cream cheese filling between flaky crescent-roll layers, then get finished with a crackly lemon-sugar topping.
Delicious, rich, and wonderfully simple, they’re basically sunshine in dessert-bar form!
Ingredients
- 2 (8-ounce) packages refrigerated crescent roll dough, divided
- 2 lemons, zested, juiced, and divided
- 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons white sugar, divided
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
- Open and unroll 1 can of the crescent roll dough.
- Press the unrolled dough into the bottom of the prepared baking dish, stretching it to the edges.
- Mix the zest of 1 1/2 lemons and the juice of 2 lemons in a bowl.
- Beat the cream cheese and 1/2 cup white sugar into the lemon juice mixture with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.
- Spread the cream cheese mixture over the crescent roll dough.
- Open and unroll the remaining can of crescent roll dough.
- Layer the crescent dough over the cream cheese layer, gently stretching it to the edges.
- Brush the melted butter over the top of the top crescent dough layer.
- Mix the remaining lemon zest and white sugar in a bowl.
- Sprinkle the lemon zest and sugar mixture over the melted butter.
- Bake until the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.
- Allow the dessert to cool for 20 minutes.
- Lift the dessert from the baking dish and transfer it to a cutting board.
- Cut the dessert into squares, leaving it on the foil.
- Return the bars to the baking dish and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.
- Serve cool.
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