Coquito Cheesecake Bars (Puerto Rican Eggnog)

Creamy cheesecake bars with the sweet flavors of Puerto Rican eggnog made with a buttery graham cracker crust, rum, coconut, and cinnamon.

The first time I tried coquito, I fell in love instantly. You see, I was never a fan of egg nog. It was too thick for my liking and just didn’t taste good. But coquito, man… that was some good stuff. These are the benefits of having Puertorican friends in your friend group. You get to enjoy a delicious variety of Latin goodies. I guess you can also say that’s the beauty of living in South Florida. The melting pot of so many flavors! I digress.

As soon as I tried coquito, I was sold and immediately wanted to add it to everything. First thing on the list were these cheesecake bars! They came out so incredibly creamy. I cannot wait for you to try them!

What is Coquito?

But first things first, let me briefly tell you about coquito.

Coquito (ko-key-toe) is boozy Puertorican eggnog. It’s creamy, tastes like coconut and cinnamon, and spiked with rum. So basically, a party in a cup! Coquito is not as thick as eggnog because of all the booze in it. Ha!

You can just imagine what these cheesecake bars taste like…YUM.

Now to make cheesecake bars, you don’t need a springform pan since we bake these in a square baking dish.

So no water bath needed BUT still resist the urge to open the oven while it’s baking. K? Also, make sure to cool them at room temperature THEN place them in the fridge for a few hours for perfect coquito cheesecake bars.

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Graham crackers, butter, and sugar. The ingredients for our graham cracker crust.
• Softened cream cheese. The key to perfect cheesecake is to use room temperature ingredients. Make sure the cream cheese is softened to room temperature. If not, you may end up with a lumpy cheesecake which is no bueno.
• Cornstarch. Adding cornstarch helps prevent cracks from the cheesecake. It also helps you slice into these bars easier.
• Room temperature eggs. Make sure they are at room temperature so they blend well with the rest of the ingredients.
• Granulated sugar. This is our sweetener.
• Vanilla extract. Delicious flavor enhancer!
• Full fat coconut milk, spiced rum, cinnamon, nutmeg. The flavors of coquito (eggnog) which really take these cheesecake bars to the next level.
• Shredded toasted coconut flakes. The topping for these bars along with more cinnamon. So good!

How To Make Coquito Cheesecake Bars

• Prepare your baking dish. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line an 8×8 square baking dish with parchment paper and spray the pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
• Make the crust. In a bowl, mix crushed graham crackers, butter, and sugar together. Transfer the crust mixture into the dish and press down firmly using the bottom of a cup. Set aside.
• Make the coquito cheesecake filling. In a stand mixer, mix together softened cream cheese, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg until smooth. Add eggs, coconut milk, spiced rum, vanilla, and cornstarch. Mix, while scraping down the sides, until all is well combined. Pour the cheesecake filling on top of graham cracker crust and smooth evenly.
• Bake the cheesecake. Bake for 25-30 minutes. No water bath needed. The cheesecake is done when the outer rim looks set but the middle jiggles when you gently shake the pan. Remove from oven, cool completely then refrigerate the cheesecake for 2-3 hours.
• Cool then chill the cheescake. Remove the chilled cheesecake from the baking dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon and top with shredded toasted coconut. Cut into squares, serve and enjoy!

Tips for Making The Perfect Cheesecake Bars

• Use room temperature ingredients. Perfectly smooth cheesecakes require room temperature ingredients. Similarly, you want to bring the cheesecake bars to room temperature after cooling and before serving.
• Prepare the baking dish well. Make sure to grease the pan well so you can easily transfer the cheesecake to a plate.
• Use cornstarch! To avoid those dreaded cracks, use a tablespoon of cornstarch in your cheesecake batter. It firms up the batter giving it less of a chance to form cracks.
• No water bath needed for these bars. Hooray for no water bath BUT resist the urge to open the oven while it’s baking. Cheesecake bars need steam to bake properly so if you open the oven, you’ll lose steam.
• Don’t stick a toothpick in the middle to see if it’s done. A cheesecake is done when the outer rim looks set but the middle jiggles when you gently shake the pan. It will continue to cook from the residual heat while it cools on the counter and in the fridge.

Bottom line: Making cheesecake requires patience but it will be worth the wait!

I hope you make these and absolutely LOVE them!

You may also like:

• Cream Cheese Flan (Flan de Queso)
• Coquito Sugar Cookies (Puerto Rican Eggnog)
• Arroz Con Leche
• Coquito Spiked Donut Holes {Puerto Rican Eggnog}

Originally posted in December 2018. Retested and updated recipe in December 2020.