Snickerdoodle cheesecake bars, made with a snickerdoodle cookie crust, creamy vanilla bean cheesecake, and cinnamon sugar crumb topping. These yummy cheesecake bars have all the flavors of your favorite snickerdoodle cookies, but with a creamy layer of cheesecake inside.
You might also love this snickerdoodle cake, soft and chewy snickerdoodles, and cinnamon ice cream.
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Why You’ll Love These Bars
Cinnamon and Sugar. I love cinnamon, and the sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar on top of these cookie bars is both delicious and pretty.
Snickerdoodle Cookie Layer. The crust on the bottom of the cheesecake is simply a layer of snickerdoodle cookies. It’s soft and chewy, and the perfect base for the cheesecake and crumb topping.
Creamy Cheesecake. A rich layer of cream cheese gives these snickerdoodle cheesecake bars that tangy flavor that snickerdoodle cookies are known for. And the specks of vanilla bean make it extra delicious.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
Cinnamon Sugar
The cinnamon sugar mixture will be a simple combination of granulated sugar and ground cinnamon. You can buy it already made on the spice aisle, or just make your own. I usually use a ratio of 1/4 cup sugar to 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
Cookie Crust
For the snickerdoodle cookie crust, you’ll be making the same dough that I use for my snickerdoodle cookies. You’ll need unsalted butter, both white and brown sugar, eggs and vanilla for the wet ingredients. Then all-purpose flour, corn starch (to tenderize the dough), cream of tartar (acts as a leavener and adds the classic tangy flavor that snickerdoodles are known for), salt, and cinnamon for the dry ingredients.
Cheesecake Filling
The cheesecake is a simple mixture starting with cream cheese. Use full-fat, brick style cream cheese, not the spreadable kind that comes in a tub. Then granulated sugar, vanilla bean paste, eggs and sour cream, for a rich, creamy cheesecake.
Crumb Topping
And last, but not least, the cinnamon crumb topping to finish off these snickerdoodle cheesecake bars. I like when I can use the same mixture for both the crust and topping in a recipe, so for my first recipe test, I tried making extra snickerdoodle cookie dough and baking some dough crumbles on top of the cheesecake filling. But I just didn’t love it. It was too hard, and just didn’t look very pretty either. So for this reason, a crumb topping works so much better.
The topping is super easy to make. Just combine all-purpose flour, brown sugar, white sugar, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Then drizzle everything with melted butter until moist and crumbly.
Instructions
Cinnamon Sugar
- In a bowl, combine the sugar with the cinnamon until blended together.
- Set aside until needed. You’ll be sprinkling half of the cinnamon sugar over the cookie dough before baking, and half on top of the finished cheesecake.
Cookie Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Thoroughly grease a 9 or 10 inch baking pan with non-stick baking spray, or line the pan with baking paper so that the paper hangs over the edges.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar for 5 minutes, scraping the bowl several times, until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla, and mix on low to combine. The mixture will look lumpy.
- Separately, whisk together the flour, corn starch, cream of tartar, salt and cinnamon. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and mix just until everything comes together into a dough.
- Press the snickerdoodle cookie dough against the bottom of the prepared pan. Sprinkle the dough with 2 tablespoons of the cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, and turn the oven down to 325F. The crust will have puffed up, so while it’s still hot, use a spoon to press it back down into an even layer.
- While the crust is baking, you should be getting the filling and topping ready.
Cheesecake Filling
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese with the sugar for 5 minutes, until smooth and fluffy.
- Add the vanilla bean paste and the eggs, mixing on low (or whisking by hand) until combined.
- Whisk in the sour cream.
- After pressing down the cookie crust (per instructions above), spread the filling over the hot crust.
Crumb Topping
- In a bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Drizzle with the melted butter, and stir together until moist and crumbly.
- Sprinkle the topping over the cheesecake filling.
Bake
- At this point, you’ll have baked the cookie crust for 20 minutes, pressed down the hot crust with a spoon, and added the filling and the topping. Make sure the oven is now set to 325 F.
- Bake the cheesecake for about 40 minutes. The topping should be golden brown, and the cheesecake should still have a slight wobble to it.
- Cool at room temperature for 2 hours, then refrigerate for at least 4-6 hours, or overnight, until well chilled and set.
- Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture on top of the cheesecake, and cut into squares.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
Do these bars need to be refrigerated?
You can store them at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 1 day, and refrigerated for up to 3 days.
Can I use a springform pan instead?
Yes, you can. Note that a 9-inch pan will be very full, with the cheesecake puffing a bit over the edges. For a little more room, you can use a 10-inch pan, or bake this in a deeper 9-inch springform pan.
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Snickerdoodle Cheesecake Bars
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
Ingredients
Cinnamon Sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Cookie Crust
- ⅔ cup (150gm) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tbsp light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk (save the white for another use)
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 2 tsp corn starch
- 1 ½ tsp cream of tartar
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
Cheesecake Filling
- 1 lb (2 bricks) full-fat cream cheese, softened for 2 hours
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup full-fat sour cream
Crumb Topping
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
Cinnamon Sugar
- In a bowl, combine the sugar with the cinnamon until blended together.
- Set aside until needed. You'll be sprinkling half of the cinnamon sugar over the cookie dough before baking, and half on top of the finished cheesecake.
Cookie Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Thoroughly grease a 9 or 10 inch baking pan with non-stick baking spray, or line the pan with baking paper so that the paper hangs over the edges.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar for 5 minutes, scraping the bowl several times, until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla, and mix on low to combine. The mixture will look lumpy.
- Separately, whisk together the flour, corn starch, cream of tartar, salt and cinnamon. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and mix just until everything comes together into a dough.
- Press the snickerdoodle cookie dough against the bottom of the prepared pan. Sprinkle the dough with 2 tablespoons of the cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, and turn the oven down to 325F. The crust will have puffed up, so while it's still hot, use a spoon to press it back down into an even layer.
- While the crust is baking, you should be getting the filling and topping ready.
Cheesecake Filling
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese with the sugar for 5 minutes, until smooth and fluffy.
- Add the vanilla bean paste and the eggs, mixing on low (or whisking by hand) until combined. Whisk in the sour cream.
- After pressing down the cookie crust (per instructions above), spread the filling over the hot crust.
Crumb Topping
- In a bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Drizzle with the melted butter, and stir together until moist and crumbly.
- Sprinkle the topping over the cheesecake filling.
Bake
- At this point, you'll have baked the cookie crust for 20 minutes, pressed down the hot crust with a spoon, and added the filling and the topping. Make sure the oven is now set to 325 F.
- Bake the cheesecake for about 40 minutes. The topping should be golden brown, and the cheesecake should still have a slight wobble to it.
- Cool at room temperature for 2 hours, then refrigerate for at least 4-6 hours, or overnight, until well chilled and set.
- Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture on top of the cheesecake, and cut into squares.
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