Description
These pumpkin bars have swirls of pumpkin and cheesecake and a buttery graham cracker crust.
Ingredients
For the crust
- 8 whole graham crackers, broken into 1-inch pieces
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon sugar
For the filling
- 1 pound (two 8-ounce bars) cream cheese, room temperature
- 3/4 cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- Pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons solid-pack pumpkin puree
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
For the crust
- Prep pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a 11-by-7-inch baking dish with parchment paper.
- Make crust. Process graham crackers in a food processor to fine crumbs, about 15 seconds. Add sugar and butter and pulse until combined, about 5 pulses. Sprinkle mixture into prepared pan and press into an even layer on bottom of pan.
- Bake Crust. Bake crust until set, about 10 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack to cool completely.
For the filling
- Prep oven. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
- Cheesecake filling. With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy and smooth, about 3 minutes. Add flour, salt, and vanilla; beat until combined. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition until just combined. Set aside.
- Pumpkin filling. In another bowl, stir together pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Add 3/4 cups of the cream cheese mixture to the pumpkin mixture and stir together until fully incorporated.
- Assemble. To assemble the cheesecake, spread 1 cup of the cream cheese mixture into a thin layer on top of the baked crust. Drop 1/4-cup dollops of the pumpkin mixture and the cream cheese mixture in the pan, alternating the two to create a checkerboard pattern. With a wooden skewer or toothpick, swirl the pumpkin filling and the cream cheese filling to create a marbling pattern.
- Bake. Bake until cheesecake is set, 45-50 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool completely. Refrigerate until chilled, 2-3 hours. Using parchment paper overhang, lift cheesecake out of pan. Cut into bars and serve.