Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake Bars
Pumpkin swirl cheesecake bars are creamy, spiced just right with beautiful swirls of pumpkin goodness and perfect for fall! They're made with simple ingredients and can be made gluten free.
Equipment
- 1 8X8 or 9X9 baking pan
- 2 mixing bowls
- 1 hand mixer
- 1 wooden spoon
- parchment paper
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 1 box gluten free cookies of your choices alternatively you can use 8 whole graham crackers, broken into pieces (I like using Simple Mills Cinnamon Cookies)
- 3 tbsp. unsalted butter melted
- 2 tsp. cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
For the Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling
- 1 8 oz. block of cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 flour
- 1/4 tsp. of salt
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray the bottom of an 8X8 inch pan with cooking spray or a little bit of oil and cover with parchment paper so that it hangs over the edges.
- Add cookies to the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times until completely broken up. Add the melted butter and pulse just 2-3 more times. Press the crust into the pan, completely covering the bottom as evenly as possible.
- Bake the crust for 10 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack to cool completely.
- Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
- With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese* and sugar until fluffy and smooth. Add flour, salt, and vanilla; beat until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition until just combined. Set aside.
- In another bowl, use a wooden spoon to mix together 2/3 cup of cream cheese mixture with the pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir until combined.
- Assemble the cheesecake by dropping 1-2 tablespoon dollops of the pumpkin mixture and the cream cheese mixture in the pan, alternating the two to create a checkerboard pattern. With a butter knife or toothpick, swirl the pumpkin filling and the cream cheese filling to create a marbling pattern.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes. Turn off the oven and let the pan sit in the oven to bring their temperature down slowly. After about 10 minutes, remove from oven and let cool completely.
- Refrigerate until chilled, 2-3 hours. Lift the pumpkin cheesecake bars out of the pan, cut into bars and serve. Enjoy!
Notes
*It's super important to make sure your cream cheese is softened. You don't want it to be completely melted, however soft enough that when beat it with the sugar, there will not be little clumps throughout. I recommend placing the cream cheese on top of your oven while it's preheating to soften.
Store these bars in a covered container in the fridge. They seriously only get better the next day!