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Embrace Fall flavors with these Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars! Indulge in creamy, spiced goodness on top of a buttery graham cracker crust.
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Looking for the perfect dessert to ring in Pumpkin season? Look no further than our Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars. Buttery, cinnamon graham cracker crust, creamy, silky cheesecake, and warm spiced pumpkin cheesecake come together to make the perfect Fall dessert. Serve this as your Thanksgiving dessert and you’ll forget that pie even exists.
Ingredients in Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
- Graham Cracker Crust – made up of graham cracker crumbs, butter, sugar (white or brown sugar), and ground cinnamon. You can also use Biscoff biscuits or Oreo cookies.
- Cream Cheese
- Sugar
- Sour Cream
- Vanilla Extract
- Salt
- Eggs
- Pumpkin Puree – make sure to use pumpkin puree NOT pumpkin pie filling
- Pumpkin Pie Spice – you can also make your own pumpkin spice with a combination of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg.
- Optional: top your pumpkin cheesecake bars with whipped cream, nuts, cinnamon, melted white chocolate, or caramel sauce
Tips for Baking
- About an hour before you want to start baking, set the cream cheese, sour cream, and eggs out on the counter to come to room temperature. This will ensure the smoothest and creamiest cheesecake batter.
- Line the baking pan with enough parchment paper to hang over on the sides. This makes for easy clean up and it also makes it easy to lift the bars out of the pan to cut them.
- Cut on a cutting board with a large knife. You can also wet the knife for easier cutting.
- I prefer using aluminum foil over plastic wrap to cover the pan in the fridge because the plastic wrap can sink and stick to the top of the bars.
- Use a food processor or blender to make the finest graham cracker crumbs. You don’t want any large chunks. A few pulses should do the trick!
- For even more flavor, drizzle with melted white chocolate or with caramel sauce.
Storing and Freezing
Store leftover Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars in a single layer in an airtight container in the fridge. You can also freeze them! Make sure to wrap tightly or store in an airtight container. Let thaw in the fridge overnight before serving. Use within two months of freezing.
Frequently Asked Questions about Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
Yes! Make sure to keep these tasty treats refrigerated.
Make sure to use FULL FAT cream cheese! The low fat versions have ingredients that will make your cheesecake lumpy and not as creamy.
Canned pumpkin, or pumpkin puree, has only one ingredient – pumpkin! It is just cooked and blended pumpkin. Pumpkin pie mix has sugar and spices mixed in.
Read More: The BEST Pumpkin Dessert Recipes for Fall
More Pumpkin Recipes
How to Make Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Crust
Cheesecake Filling
- 24 ounces cream cheese softened (3 blocks)
- 1 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup sour cream room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
Graham Cracker Crust
- Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper so that some hangs over the long sides. Combine graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, sugar, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir to combine. It should be the texture of wet sand.
- Press mixture into the baking dish. Bake for 10 minutes.
Cheesecake Filling
- Adjust oven temperature to 325. In the large bowl of a stand mixer, combine cream cheese and sugar. Mix until the sugar is mostly dissolved. Add sour cream, vanilla, and salt. Mix until just combined. Do not over-mix.
- Add the eggs one at a time. Add the next egg once the first is fully incorporated. Again, do not over-mix. The mixture should be super creamy and glossy at this stage.
- Take 1-1 ½ cups of the cheesecake mixture and add it to a smaller bowl. Mix in the pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice.
- Pour the plain cheesecake mixture over the graham cracker crust.
- Spoon dollops of the pumpkin cheesecake mixture over the top of the plain cheesecake.
- Using a toothpick or a knife, swirl the two mixtures together. Don't let the knife go so deep that it hits the crust.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes. It is done when the edges are set but the middle is still a little jiggly. Let cool on the counter completely and then cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
- Slice and serve. Top with a little whipped cream if desired.
Notes
- If you don’t want to swirl the layers, then pop the pan in the freezer for about 15 minutes after adding the plain cheesecake layer. Then, gently spread the pumpkin cheesecake mixture over the top.
- You can use cinnamon graham crackers instead of adding the cinnamon to the crust mixture.
- For easy cutting and serving, take the whole slab of bars out of the pan and place them on a cutting board. Cut with a wet warm knife.
Made these for a dinner party and they were amazing. I will definitely make these again and again. Great to bring in the fall season. Not only did they taste delicious, they made my kitchen smell good too!
My pumpkin cheesecake bars turned out so delicious and I’m not really a dessert person. I will be making this recipe over and over again especially during the holidays, which are right around the corner. I think I will try to adapt this recipe to fit in a 10” springform pan next time I make it.
So glad you loved it! Let us know how it turns out in the springform!