As much as I love making cheesecakes, I'm learning that they can be an intimidating project for a lot of people. These bars take all that is delightful about cheesecake and remove all the scariness. No water bath, no temperature changes, no wrestling it out of the springform pan. These pumpkin swirl cheesecake bars are so easy and so deliciously creamy. And you know I'm using gingersnaps for the crust again!
I told you in my skillet pumpkin crisp post that I have an abundance of canned pumpkin in my pantry and I've been dreaming up ways to use it. I really wanted to create a cheesecake bar variation of my Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake (which is amazing and has been getting lots of love lately!) so I fiddled and came up with this recipe. They are almost too creamy to believe and that gingersnap crust is the perfect spicy, crunchy contrast. And I feel I must mention, they would be completely over the top served with the gingerbread caramel sauce from my Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake post. I highly recommend making a batch of that sauce and putting it on everything. You can thank me later.
A few Cheesecake Bar Tips
These are really easy to whip up in the food processor. If you don't have one, a hand mixer or stand mixer will work fine. I use the food processor for the crust, then give it a good wipe down and make the filling. I'm always looking for ways to avoid a pile of dishes.
And you must, must let your cream cheese and eggs come to room temp. I've been known to blast my cream cheese in the microwave for 30 or so seconds like my dad used to do, but either way it has to be soft before you make these.
Let me know if you give this one a try! I love seeing you all make my recipes. And come say hi on instagram @wild.thistle.kitchen!
Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake Bars
These Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake Bars are impossibly creamy and so easy to whip up. A perfect Thanksgiving dessert!
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 12 cheesecake bars
Ingredients
for the crust
(this is the exact crust from my Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake Recipe)
- 30 or so gingersnap cookies
- ½ stick (4 tablespoons) soft butter
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
for the cheesecake filling
- 24 ounces cream cheese (three 8-ounce packages) at soft room temperature
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ⅔ cup white sugar
- 3 eggs at room temperature
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or extract
for the pumpkin swirl
- 2 cups of prepared cheesecake filling
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tablespoon dark rum or bourbon if you want to get fancy
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 for the crust and line a 9x13 baking pan with 2 sheets of parchment so that it overhangs on all sides.
- In a food processor, pulse gingersnaps until finely ground.
- Add remaining crust ingredients and pulse until totally combined.
- Transfer to parchment lined pan and press into an even layer.
- Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven, reduce oven to 325 and let crust cool while you make the filling.
- Wipe or rinse your food processor bowl and blade and proceed with filling.
- Place all filling ingredients (not the pumpkin or pumpkin pie spice!) in the food processor and blend until very smooth. This is why a food processor is nice because you don't have to add things in stages.
- Make the pumpkin swirl by adding two cups of prepared filling to a bowl with the pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice. Add rum or bourbon if desired. Whisk well to combine.
- To assemble, pour a thin layer of the plain cheesecake filling onto prepared crust.
- Next, add a few pools of pumpkin filling, followed by plain. Keep alternating until all filling has been used.
- Take a butter knife or chop stick and swirl fillings together.
- Bake at 325 for 45 minutes or until the filling is set but still a little wobbly in the center.
- Allow to cool to room temperature and then place in fridge for at least 6 hours but overnight is best.
- When completely cold, lift the bars out of the pan using the parchment paper, place on cutting board and slice into squares as big or small as you like.
Notes
If you don't have a food processor, crush the gingersnaps in a plastic bag and mix crust ingredients in a bowl.
You can use a hand mixer, stand mixer to make the filling but if you do, you'll want to cream the cream cheese and sugar before adding the remaining ingredients.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: dessert, thanksgiving
- Method: baking
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