These beautiful swirled bars combine the flavors of a pumpkin pie and a cheesecake. Sweet, creamy, and full of warm spice, Pumpkin cheesecake bars are going to be a family holiday favorite!
During my Corporate days when September rolled around, my morning ritual was a cup of coffee and an incredible pumpkin muffin with a cream cheese filling. I was obsessed with the moist, spicy muffin and savored the sweet, creamy filling. I would eat all around the cream cheese filling, saving the center as a special treat to be enjoyed last.
It was traumatic when shortly after Halloween, the coffee shop replaced my favorite muffin with something like gingerbread. It was so disappointing, but probably a good thing for my waistline.
In planning for our Thanksgiving menu, I recreated the flavors of my favorite muffin made into bars.
What’s not to love about pumpkin pie and cheesecake? It’s a tough choice between the two after Thanksgiving dinner, but now you don’t have to make that choice! These bars combine sweet and tangy cheesecake, pumpkin, warm spices, and a hint of vanilla, all on top of a buttery, gingersnap crust. Bonus! They’re easy to make!
These beautiful swirled bars combine the flavors of a pumpkin pie and a cheesecake. Sweet, creamy, and full of warm spice, Pumpkin cheesecake bars are going to be a family holiday favorite!
For the crust:
For the pumpkin filling:
For the cream cheese filling:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray. Set aside.
Place the gingersnaps in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the cookies are a fine crumb. Dump the crumbs into a large bowl.
To that bowl, pour in the sugar and melted butter. Stir until well combined and the mixture looks like wet sand.
Press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the prepared pan. Use the back of a measuring cup to press it into an even layer.
Bake the crust in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until it’s just beginning to turn golden brown and is very fragrant.
Cool the crust on a wire rack while you make the fillings.
Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees.
In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and flour until well combined. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the cream cheese and sugar. Beat until combined and very smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each egg. Stop beating the mixture as soon as the last egg is incorporated. Don’t overbeat the mixture.
Stir 1 cup of the cream cheese mixture into the cream cheese mixture and stir until well combined and no streaks of white remain.
Alternate large spoons of the cream cheese filling and the pumpkin filling over the top of the crust.
Use a butter knife to swirl the tops of the two fillings together in a figure-eight pattern. Take care not to go all the way down to the crust.
Bake the bars in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until the center has a very slight jiggle, but the edges are set.
Turn off the oven and leave the door ajar, allowing the cheesecake to slowly cool down for 1 hour.
When room temperature, refrigerate the bars for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight, before cutting into bars.